The Great Laundry Expirement

Last May I was 8 months pregnant and at the height of my "nesting" frenzy. Unlike my first pregnancy, this time nesting came in the form of stock piling supplies like it was Y2K all over again. I saw a commercial for a popular website's "subscribe and save" program and decided to try it out. What new mom wants to run out of toilet paper or laundry detergent, right? I did the math, found a good deal, and ordered 40 rolls of toilet paper and two huge boxes of detergent. After three months I still had quiet a bit of both so I canceled the next shipment. How long does two huge boxes of detergent last a family of 4 with lots of out of town guests and the occasional babysitter who will work for free laundry? Apparently, and surprisingly, 6 months! I ran out right before Christmas. And as for the subscription, I won't be renewing it. Ounce for ounce it wasn't the best deal, even with free shipping. Instead I will pull out an old blog post I bookmarked and try my hand at homemade laundry detergent.

Supposedly better for the environment and cheaper than commercial detergent, homemade detergent is simple to make and (so far) works well. In fact, it was a great project to do with Matthew when trying to banish the winter blues. If you are interested in trying it yourself, check out these great articles which explains what the different ingredients do, and offers a number of recipes you can try. I used Crystal's simple method and found all the ingredients at my local grocer. I'll try it for a while and see what difference it makes on our clothes or our budget.

Oh, and about those 40 rolls of toilet paper . . . 8 months later we still have not run out! Don't worry, I don't plan on trying "homemade toilet paper" when we do :-)