Just curious who else is living super frugal

[mickey328]

Wow, thanks CC. Definitely gonna try that! Does it work well using cold water? I've gone to using cold for all my laundry. Most of our clothes don't get really filthy (although when gardening they do get some mud...but I try to hose most of that off outside).

Now, we just need to find a recipe for fabric softener, LOL I hang most things out during all but winter...except jeans and towels...those always come off the line stiff as a board. Nothing like fresh sheets from the line on your bed though!

 

[HeatherLynn]

My mom does not use fabric softener at all. She puts vinegar in for the rinse cycle instead ( just puts it in the fabric softeners slot). Not sure how right she is but she says the clothes is not as soft because of a soap build up and the vinegar helps get rid of that. I know her towels are super soft and fluffy so it does work.

Instead of using conditioner we use vinegar too. I know that does work because after a vinegar rinse your hair is so soft and shiny.

 

[mickey328]

True; vinegar is very helpful for getting soap residue out of stuff.

 

[Roxanneinla]

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent recipe

• 1 bar Fels Naptha Soap (~5.5 ounces) ANY BAR SOAP WILL DO.
• 1 ½ cups of Borax (NOT Boric Acid!!!)
• 1 ½ cups of Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
• 1 stainless steel grater
• Water, hot
• Large empty container (1 gallon)

Instructions

1. Use a medium saucepan to heat 2 cups of tap water. Adding a little extra won’t hurt.
2. Grate the bar of SOAP (Ivory,Fels-Naptha, etc.) and divide it into 5 equal groups. A digital food scale is very helpful on this step.
3. Add 1 portion (~1.1 oz.) of the grated soap into the boiling water on the stove. Stir occasionally until it is completely dissolved. It’ll only take a minute or so.
4. Measure 1 1/2 cups each of the Borax and the Washing Soda into a large bowl; stir until well mixed.
5. Measure the powdered mixture into 5 equal portions and store each in snack size plastic bags. Add one portion of this powder mixture into the pot of now soapy hot water; stir well for about a minute.
6. Let this detergent concentrate cool just enough to not melt your plastic jug. Pour it into a one-gallon container. If you’re worried it’s too hot, add a touch of tepid water.
7. Add enough hot water from the tap to reach half-way.
8. Make sure your container has a well fitting screw-on lid and shake the jug like your ridding your body of pent up aggression. The solution needs to be 100% mixed. It won’t take more than a couple of minutes.
9. Let this jug sit all day, or overnight. It will be extremely thick and look like a blob; that’s good in this case.
10. Once the processing time is over, shake the jug for another couple of minutes.
11. Fill the remainder of the jug with hot tap water. Shake for another minute and you’re done.

Notes:
It doesn’t hurt to give the jug a little shake before each use. It takes about ¼ cup to do a very large load of really dirty laundry; there is no need to add any more water to the mixture. Remember this is high efficiency (HE) detergent so don’t worry that you don’t see suds filling the window of your machine.

Lol that the same recipe that i use. Hubby calls it snott...it looks so gross but works way better then a lot of the over the counter stuff. For cloths with really tough stains i just throw them in the bucket for 24 hours and just throw them in the wash. 90% of the time it works. Save a few heavy soiled shirts from the trash can by doing that.

 

[Roxanneinla]

True; vinegar is very helpful for getting soap residue out of stuff.

Vinegar is just awesome!!

Hi all My name is Roxanne and have been living supper frugal for sometime now. Kinda have to be nowadays to just get by.

 

[DennisK]

I wonder what the difference is between laundry soap and dish soap. I really like the idea of stocking up on Borax, washing soda and bar soap knowing that all of my soap needs are covered without worrying about what I am putting into the ground.
I wasn't aware of what Washing Soda was, or where I could buy it; so I googled it and learned that I can turn Baking Soda into Washing Soda by simply baking it in a 400 deg oven.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I wonder what the difference is between laundry soap and dish soap. I really like the idea of stocking up on Borax, washing soda and bar soap knowing that all of my soap needs are covered without worrying about what I am putting into the ground.
I wasn't aware of what Washing Soda was, or where I could buy it; so I googled it and learned that I can turn Baking Soda into Washing Soda by simply baking it in a 400 deg oven.

There is a soap called zote soap that I have tried. It is very good- I bought it at Walmart a few years ago. It is OK for dishes as far as I know.
http://www.zote.com.mx/english/fre_as.htm

Also Octagon is OK for dishes as far as I know:
http://www.amazon.com/Octagon-Purpose-Laundry-Soap-Colgate/dp/B000GCOLQ6/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

http://www.ehow.com/info_10013194_can-use-felsnaptha-wash-dishes.html
this says don't use fels-naptha for dishes but IDK why

 

[Peep_Show]

Been away for a bit and catching up on stuff. Back to the hamburger for a second: I use beef shank for our ground beef.... it grinds up lean and is really flavorful and beefy tasting. It's easy to debone and the bones have easy to access marrow, so great for stock and whatnot. In our stores (and I'm now shopping the Hispanic market where beef shanks are a staple) it is cheaper than chuck by about half. Each week I buy some and if it's not ground, we do osso bucco or a stew or soup.

Love, love, LOVE the meat grinder attachment on my KitchenAid!

 

[ScottnLydia]

Been away for a bit and catching up on stuff. Back to the hamburger for a second: I use beef shank for our ground beef.... it grinds up lean and is really flavorful and beefy tasting. It's easy to debone and the bones have easy to access marrow, so great for stock and whatnot. In our stores (and I'm now shopping the Hispanic market where beef shanks are a staple) it is cheaper than chuck by about half. Each week I buy some and if it's not ground, we do osso bucco or a stew or soup.

Love, love, LOVE the meat grinder attachment on my KitchenAid!

GREAT tips!!! Both the ground meat and the hispanic markets! Beef shanks also are excellent for making stews and pho, Vietnamese noodle soup. VERY flavorful meat with lots of connective tissue that gets very tender when braised a long time. I haven't tried it ground, but you can bet I will.

Hispanic markets are GREAT! I don't have one near me now, but where I used to live there was one. Talk about good prices on interesting cuts of meat! The only thing I stayed away from were the 50 pound bags of oysters. I was just scared of those.

Kitchen Aids are probably the best kitchen 'gadget' since the can opener. Although they are pricey, they can be used on a nearly daily basis, which makes it money well spent. Many gadgets just sit around, but our Kitchen Aid barely gets to cool off!

~S

 

[cassie]

Quote:
I don't think I can access the program, but this is just a comment. I don't know if the program mentions this, but prisoners of war were also used to help out on the farms. And no, this wasn't slave labor. Many of the POW's were farm boys in their homeland, and they were happy to volunteer to be able to do what they knew how to do. James Herriot mentions this in one of his books and I thought it was interesting. The wartime effort also illustrates how important it is for a country to be able to produce its own food and not be dependent on other countries.