Sustainability | Home make cleaning products

Do you know that many people are spending most of (if not more than) a week's pay every year on dish
soap, laundry detergent, and other cleaning products?Yet the recipes for cleaning products are as numerous
as recipes for dinner. Share with you here are just a few to help with dishes, clothes and more.

Dishwasher Detergent

Simple recipe for dishwasher soap:
• 1 cup of borax
• 1 cup of baking soda
• ¼ cup of table salt
• 2 packets (half an ounce) of unsweetened lemon Kool-Aid

You can try to save even more by buying ingredients in bulk, but another idea is to find smaller and much
cheaper boxes at your local dollar store: a good idea to since you'll want to try a small amount at first to see
if you like the results. The amounts listed above are good for 16 loads -- one tablespoon each -- so even
small batches will last a while.

Some other recipes online vary: For example, we found one that suggested combining only borax and baking
soda, 1 tablespoon each per load. Another suggested adding a little citrus essential oil to make it smell nice:
We didn't try that one, however, because we had difficulty finding inexpensive citrus oil online. Then there's
this recipe, which goes in a different direction altogether:

• 2 bars of shredded Octagon soap
• 1 cup of baking sod
• ¼ cup of washing soda
• ¼ cup of lemon juice

This one calls for melting the shredded soap in five quarts of water and then mixing in the other ingredients. If
that sounds a little like the recipe for laundry detergent we wrote about last year, that's because it is.

Laundry Detergent

When speaking of laundry detergent, that's easy, too. You'll need:
• 4 cups of water
• ⅓ bar of cheap soap, grated
• ½ cup washing soda (not baking soda)
• ½ cup of Borax (20 Mule Team)
• 5-gallon bucket for mixing
• 3 gallons of water

First, mix the grated soap in a saucepan with 4 cups of water, and heat on low until the soap is completely
dissolved. Add hot water/soap mixture to 3 gallons of water in the 5-gallon bucket, stir in the washing soda
and Borax, and continue stirring until thickened. Let the mix sit for 24 hours, and voila! Homemade laundry
detergent.
Other Cleaning Products

If you like the results of your homemade concoctions on clothes and dishes, why stop there? The next time
you're at the store, instead of picking up a bottle of some expensive cleanser, grab these six items and make
your own cleaning supplies:

• Vinega - It may smell a little weird, but vinegar can handle everything from dishes to laundry and even
weeds. We've written about the wonders of vinegar before.

• Baking soda - Eliminates odors and helps with stains, and also works as a natural method of pest control -- cause ants hate it.

• Borax - This mineral salt beats bleach as a toilet cleaner and is also useful for scrubbing walls. And as you
see in the recipes above, works with laundry, too.

• Fels-Naptha soap - This one's actually made by one of those big cleaning companies: Dial. They recommend it for "pre-treating" stains. In other words, "use this in addition to a bunch of our other expensive
products, like Purex!" But you can turn the tables by using it as part of a recipe for your own laundry
detergent, and they can keep the Purex.

• Rubbing alcohol - Works as a disinfectant and is also a great glass cleaner. It also gets grime off plastic and metal surfaces like patio furniture or bathroom fixtures.

• Lemon juice - This cuts through dish grease and is an ingredient for homemade furniture polish -- but it's not the easiest thing to preserve long-term.

If making your own cleaning products sounds a little extreme, there are still simple ways to save. The best?
Buying generics. And if you insist on using name brands, at least clip those coupons -- but only the ones
worth your time.