For those wanting to be more self sufficient...

[BrahmaMama]

No problem, good luck in your search

 

[Henrietta23]

Quote:
I've found it not too long ago. It was probably Walmart or the grocery store here.

 

[Southern28Chick]

You can use baking soda instead of washing soda, I've done it before. Washing soda is so hard to find.

 

[pattycake]

Ruth, that is a nutty price to pay for heat, especially where it doesn't get all that cold. I thought we were paying a lot here in NY state, $400 a month for electric and gas in our 150 yr old farm house with old windows. Since it's your first bill, maybe they were using last year's bill to estimate? I found out the elderly lady who used to live in our house kept it very very hot and the first month they billed us an estimate based on her usage!

Consider getting a woodstove or two. We turn off the central heating in the afternoon and fire up the two woodstoves. It's the only time all day I ever feel warm, too. It saves a bundle, I'm sure, since we only use our central heat part of the day.

 

[pattycake]

I used cloth diapers for both my kids and they never got much in the way of rash at all. I used the plain old cotton ones with pins because the velcro ones scratched their skin and the all in ones were so expensive.

One word of warning with pins -- if you leave them on the changing table the kid can grab them and poke himself in seconds! Mine grabbed them once and nearly poked himself in the eye before I got them away from him. I still think about that.

I still have tons of old diapers (and the washcloths I used instead of wipes) around for rags -- and my youngest is seven. I'm still saving money on paper products, years down the road...

 

[fosterchick]

Ok I did try to make the laundry soap with baking soda. I let it sit over night. The top 1/4 gelled and the rest is still like water. I did stir it up this morning to mix it. Well I just got home from work and the top is gelled and the bottom is like water. Is this the way yours turned out? Do you know what I did wrong?

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
Baking soda and washing soda are not the same thing.

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

 

[fosterchick]

I know that they are not the same. I can't buy washing soda around here. I will have to buy some when I go on vacation this summer. I did try the baking soda. I have read here and else where that it can be subsituted. I was just wondering if that is why it gelled that way or if I did something else wrong.

 

[MissPrissy]

When made with washing soda and fels naptha the entire bucket will jell.

 

[TheMartianChick]

For those who are having difficulty in finding the Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda... Oftentimes, store employees don't REALLY understand what you are looking for when you ask for it. (I had this happen in several stores years ago.) All of the stores that I had gone to actually carried the product, but didn't recognize it for what it was when it was on their shelves. The box is bright yellow and resembles the powdered Arm and Hammer detergent box. However, many stores place it on the top shelf instead of at eye level. If you can find the 40 Mule Team Borax, often the washing soda is nearby. The box that I buy is usually about the size of a box of cereal. I hope that this helps... Although I've heard of people using washing soda to make other cleaning products, I've never tried it for that. I tend to use it to boost the performance of my laundry detergent since we have extremely hard water in our region and detergents tend to underperform here.