Here's a few things I've been trying out (like recipes, tutorials, advice, etc.), that I've found on some great blogs and sites.
I substituted just a couple of things. I used Tony C's instead of Lawry's seasoning, and Louisiana hot sauce instead of Tabasco. My husband doesn't like Tabasco; he says it tastes too vinegary. I also added a little bit of fresh ground pepper and a little garlic powder. I served it on a hunk of fresh-baked, butter-grilled French bread. It was delicious!! My Sexy Beast said it was the best damn cube steak he'd ever eaten! It took him a while to speak too - he finished off two of these big bad boys! Serenity ate it up too! Thank you Ree for this tasty, finger (& plate) licking, deliciousness!
Hmmmm GOOD!Last week I finally got the chance to make some! I purchased Fels Naptha Soap (99¢), and Washing Soda ($4.95/55 ounce box), and Borax ($4.95/76 ounce box - it didn't change the S/H costs by much to add it to my order) from Soaps Gone Buy. How much it's going to cost you to wash each load kinda depends on how much you buy from them. You actually get a better rate if you buy more rather than less, S/H only changes by a few cents the more you purchase - and they ship fast too! Soaps Gone Buy sent some handy recipes along with my purchase. I used this one:
*Powdered Laundry Detergent (96 loads)
6 cups grated Fels Naptha Soap (3 bars) - 99¢/bar
3 cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda - $4.95/55 ounce box
3 cups 20 Mule Team Borax - $4.99/76 ounce box
Mix and store in an air tight container.
I used my food processor like Frugal Upstate and Making Do With The Not So New suggests to mix it; I'm storing it in a 96 ounce OxiClean tub. I use one 1/8 cup (2 tbsp.) per load. It's a great (and don't forget CHEAP) laundry soap that does an excellent job cleaning your clothes.
Frugal Upstate also recommended using Zote for the Laundry Soap, but I never could find it locally. It's not at any of the Dollar Stores or Dollar Tree. After some Google searching, I found a post at Like Merchant Ships that says Zote can be found at Big Lots for only 70¢ a bar. Hey! We got one of those! I'm headed to Big Lots tomorrow (Houma people stay away until I get my Zote bars first!). Ebay has a few sellers who have it and scope out these online sites that carry it too.
Also, Like Merchant Ships posted a link to the only Zote Laundry Soap picture tutorial I've seen online!
UPDATE: I found Zote at Big Lots! It was 80¢ for a 14.01 oz. bar! That's a HUGE bar of laundry soap compared to the Fel-Naptha that was 99¢ for a 5 1/2 oz. bar. Plus it took three of them to make 96-load powdered laundry soap, for a total of 16 1/2 oz. It'll only take 1 whole Zote bar and a little over 2 oz. of another bar to make more powdered laundry soap - if I follow the same recipe. CHEAP! It's got a pleasant smell too!
Check out my post about Zote laundry soap here.
Tonight I followed HomemakerBarbi.com's tutorial to clean my microwave with lemon juice. It works! All the stuck-on bits of food gunk wiped right off with NO scrubbing! So quick and easy! Try it - I know I ain't the only one with a dirty microwave!
I also made my own OxiClean tonight using a slight variation of these instructions I found on eHow. I used an OxiClean 64 ounces jug to store the mixture (it's filled to the top).
SLIGHTLY REVISED:
2 32 ounce bottles of Hydrogen Peroxide (98¢ each)
2 cups baking soda ($6.97/12 LBS)
2 tbsp of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap, Sal Suds, Charlie's Soap or homemade laundry soap.
1/2 cup white vinegar ($2.38/gallon)
In a large bowl, slowly add the vinegar to the baking soda first - when the bubbling stops, add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and then pour into a dark container - like an old Oxi Clean jug. I like this mixture better than the original one I had posted.
UPDATE: I found the dirtiest thing in the house to test my homemade OxiClean on - the cloth pads from my Shark floor steam cleaner. I used 1/4 cup homemade OxiClean and 1/8 cup of Charlies Soap - no bleach! It did a pretty good job of getting the stains out. I could probably let them sit in the sun to get the rest of the stains out! Here are the before and after photos:
Have fun!
*Powdered Laundry Detergent (96 loads)
6 cups grated Fels Naptha Soap (3 bars) - 99¢/bar
3 cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda - $4.95/55 ounce box
3 cups 20 Mule Team Borax - $4.99/76 ounce box
Mix and store in an air tight container.
I used my food processor like Frugal Upstate and Making Do With The Not So New suggests to mix it; I'm storing it in a 96 ounce OxiClean tub. I use one 1/8 cup (2 tbsp.) per load. It's a great (and don't forget CHEAP) laundry soap that does an excellent job cleaning your clothes.
Frugal Upstate also recommended using Zote for the Laundry Soap, but I never could find it locally. It's not at any of the Dollar Stores or Dollar Tree. After some Google searching, I found a post at Like Merchant Ships that says Zote can be found at Big Lots for only 70¢ a bar. Hey! We got one of those! I'm headed to Big Lots tomorrow (Houma people stay away until I get my Zote bars first!). Ebay has a few sellers who have it and scope out these online sites that carry it too.
Also, Like Merchant Ships posted a link to the only Zote Laundry Soap picture tutorial I've seen online!
UPDATE: I found Zote at Big Lots! It was 80¢ for a 14.01 oz. bar! That's a HUGE bar of laundry soap compared to the Fel-Naptha that was 99¢ for a 5 1/2 oz. bar. Plus it took three of them to make 96-load powdered laundry soap, for a total of 16 1/2 oz. It'll only take 1 whole Zote bar and a little over 2 oz. of another bar to make more powdered laundry soap - if I follow the same recipe. CHEAP! It's got a pleasant smell too!
Check out my post about Zote laundry soap here.
Tonight I followed HomemakerBarbi.com's tutorial to clean my microwave with lemon juice. It works! All the stuck-on bits of food gunk wiped right off with NO scrubbing! So quick and easy! Try it - I know I ain't the only one with a dirty microwave!
I also made my own OxiClean tonight using a slight variation of these instructions I found on eHow. I used an OxiClean 64 ounces jug to store the mixture (it's filled to the top).
SLIGHTLY REVISED:2 32 ounce bottles of Hydrogen Peroxide (98¢ each)
2 cups baking soda ($6.97/12 LBS)
2 tbsp of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap, Sal Suds, Charlie's Soap or homemade laundry soap.
1/2 cup white vinegar ($2.38/gallon)
In a large bowl, slowly add the vinegar to the baking soda first - when the bubbling stops, add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and then pour into a dark container - like an old Oxi Clean jug. I like this mixture better than the original one I had posted.
UPDATE: I found the dirtiest thing in the house to test my homemade OxiClean on - the cloth pads from my Shark floor steam cleaner. I used 1/4 cup homemade OxiClean and 1/8 cup of Charlies Soap - no bleach! It did a pretty good job of getting the stains out. I could probably let them sit in the sun to get the rest of the stains out! Here are the before and after photos:
Have fun!
