Just curious who else is living super frugal

[DennisK]

I would be concerned about the concentrate of Borax. But the proof is in the doing. I'm almost out of commercial detergent. Haven't bought any in 3 years, I think. So... it's ALMOST time to make some!

I've been reading on the internet that Borax isn't any more dangerous than Baking Powder. It also warned that we should not confuse Borax Acid with just plain Borax when determining toxicity. The chicks have been around it for a couple of years, but never the less, I will keep a more critical eye on them to make sure I'm not slowly undermining their health. Right now, they are molting and some of them look like death warmed over!

 

[islafarm]

I can't buy borax or washing soda here, so we still use the commercial detergent - which is loaded with potassium and nitrogen, making it a pretty straight up fertilizer, coupled with the particles of organic waste that come off our clothes, the plants by our grey water system love it. Which makes it a good little micro environment which means our chickens would love it too, if they could get to it.

 

[donrae]

Growing up we always had our grey water from the washer running onto the back lawn. A fair amount probably made it to our garden, but I can't remember for sure. We used commercial detergent and the lawn always looked way nicer than the front.

 

[Talithahorse]

Don't know whether anyone else uses soapnuts but I love my soapnuts. They are easy to use and compostable. I haven't calculated the cost but I buy a big bag and it lasts me a couple of years. It is also great for sensitive skin. I use it as a shampoo as well. Just thought I would post that there is another natural option.

 

[DennisK]

Don't know whether anyone else uses soapnuts but I love my soapnuts. They are easy to use and compostable. I haven't calculated the cost but I buy a big bag and it lasts me a couple of years. It is also great for sensitive skin. I use it as a shampoo as well. Just thought I would post that there is another natural option.

Thanks for the post, Talithahorse. I've never heard of soapnuts before. I looked them up on the internet and found that they are offered by Amazon.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Looked em up... they are in the Lychee family.... and can be grown in the US in frost free climates. VERY interesting indeed. It only takes four or five husks to do a load of laundry.... Considered a droop...

http://exeterra.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-grow-soap-nut-trees.html

interesting the following article is almost word for word identical to the article above with regard to growing them from seed

http://www.soapnuts.pro/2009/07/15/soap-nuts-trees/

The Soapnuts pro site seems to have the most info.... VERY interesting indeed

deb

 

[Arielle]

Yup, our clothes smell funkie.

Even washing two times, OR trying 2 times the soap doesnt seem to do more than mask the odor. I try to hang up asap to dry asap. But generally speaking, heat treatment via a dryer seems to fix the problem every time. I am guessing that is why loooong ago, clothes were washed in boiling water. Makes sense to me. As for the drier, we take the mostly dried clothes to a laundromat to finish drying. ( Less than drying a load just out of the washer but more than air drying.) If already well dried off the line, we just live with it. Though I worry about being socially acceptable at times. . . . . I have enoucouraged the youngsters to use deoderant which is perfumed, and have used up bottles of perfume myself to smell " nice" even though we are actually clean and the clothes are "clean".

I'm living in the wrong century. lol

 

[donrae]

I thought they washed clothes in boiling water to kill the creepy crawlies

 

[Arielle]

lol

kills the mold type stuff too.

Washing drowns the creepy crawlies like fleas!!!

 

[Talithahorse]

and you can reuse them. Since I have a HE front loader, I boil up 5-6 husks in about a quart of water and then pour it into a quart jar. I keep it in the fridge and use it during the week. For me 1 quart does my laundry for a family of four. I then add water and boil them up a second time, pour this off and keep it in the fridge for use as my shampoo. It will only last about a week but it works for me. I will sometimes add essential oils (just a few drops). Lavender is my favorite but I have a friend who uses the citrus. Some people use it in the dishwasher and as a household cleaner. I use vinegar and water for cleaning house (with a few drops of essential oil if I am feeling adventurous), so I haven't tried it there. I only tried the dishes a few times and it did OK. If I really rinsed the dishes it did fine but the hard stuff I found it wasn't quite enough. I will have to try it again... maybe a bit more concentrated next time.