Doing it Duggar-Style: Homemade Laundry Detergent
Have you seen the Duggar family do laundry? It's amazing. I feel like I am constantly doing laundry for 5 people, I can't imagine doing it for so many, but they've got a great system. We've had 2 new revolutions in laundry this past month:
1. Big Sister has learned to fold clothes! Wow, what a difference her help makes! We actually fold it together while watching the Duggars after the little ones go to bed. She gets to stay up an hour later than the others; this privilege is special to her, and not to quote Spiderman, but we try to have an equivalent responsibility for each privilege. So 2 nights a week, we do laundry (and we watch the Duggars together while we fold).
2. We made our own detergent using the Duggar Family Recipe. The girls were eager to help.
Grating the Fels-Naptha Laundry Soap.
Stirring the borax and hot water.
They eagerly took turns melting the soap.
The recipe makes 10 GALLONS of detergent! I stored the concentrate in the bucket. We've been using it for 2 weeks now--it works great! The clothes smell clean, but not perfume-y (which I don't like anyway). It took the 3 of us about a half an hour to make it. I don't think I would've tried this years ago before having kids--they were actually a big help in preparing it, and it is because there are 5 of us that I feel like I'm spending a small fortune on laundry detergent. This recipe is a huge money saver! The supplies cost apx. $6, and will make multiple batches of this. My friend, who is mother of 5, said they last her the entire year. Bucket = $2, separate cheese grater (25 cents at garage sale). Total bill = less than a gallon of Tide or Cheer, or 2 bottles of Purex or All!
1. Big Sister has learned to fold clothes! Wow, what a difference her help makes! We actually fold it together while watching the Duggars after the little ones go to bed. She gets to stay up an hour later than the others; this privilege is special to her, and not to quote Spiderman, but we try to have an equivalent responsibility for each privilege. So 2 nights a week, we do laundry (and we watch the Duggars together while we fold).
2. We made our own detergent using the Duggar Family Recipe. The girls were eager to help.
The recipe makes 10 GALLONS of detergent! I stored the concentrate in the bucket. We've been using it for 2 weeks now--it works great! The clothes smell clean, but not perfume-y (which I don't like anyway). It took the 3 of us about a half an hour to make it. I don't think I would've tried this years ago before having kids--they were actually a big help in preparing it, and it is because there are 5 of us that I feel like I'm spending a small fortune on laundry detergent. This recipe is a huge money saver! The supplies cost apx. $6, and will make multiple batches of this. My friend, who is mother of 5, said they last her the entire year. Bucket = $2, separate cheese grater (25 cents at garage sale). Total bill = less than a gallon of Tide or Cheer, or 2 bottles of Purex or All!
