Happy Columbus day everyone!  What does a military mommy do on her day off? Shop?  Maybe a little.  Clean?  BINGO!  Usually my off days entail cleaning house and catching up on laundry.


It's embarrassing, this picture is REALLY my laundry area. My in-laws joke that I prefer to buy clothing than wash it...there may be some truth in that statement.  With all my laundry fun I ran out of detergent. I have had DIY laundry detergent on my agenda for quite sometime...but have never had the time or energy to try it.  This was the weekend to overcome and conquer!  Instead of buying the overpriced name brand stuff, I decided to join the Homemade Laundry Movement.  Most of all I was curious to know if this was as easy and cheap as everyone was proclaiming.


There are several "recipes" on the internet, but I chose to use the Duggar Family Recipe.  I figured a family with that many children (and laundry) cannot be wrong.

What you will need:  

• Large Pot
• Cheese Grater
• Large 5 Gallon bucket (I used 2- 3 Gallon buckets)
• Several containers to hold the finished product
• Fels-Naptha Bar Soap (approx $1)
• Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (approx $2.99)
• Borax (approx $2.99)

The last 3 ingredients were found in the laundry aisle of a local grocery store.  The washing soda and borax may seem pricey, but only a cup will be used out of each, meaning that you will be able to make several batches of laundry soap with each box

The Recipe:

And here is the finished product!  It made more than I anticipated, so I had to raid my recycling bin for extra containers. Also, it was VERY easy and much cheaper than I thought it would be.  If you have the time, this Mom highly recommends it and since it saves the family money, it is also Husband approved.

Clumping and turning into gel is normal....so remember to shake well before each use.  Best of all, this is safe for High Efficiency or HE washers!

For normal soiled clothing use the following recommended doses.  For heavy loads, adjust accordingly.

- Top Load Machine 5/8 cup per load         
- Front Load Machine 1/4 cup per load        

********UPDATE********

~ Jan 2015

I have been using this recipe since I first posted in 2013… it is tried and true.  I still use it as is and have saved $$$$!!  

I have found that the clothing smells great without being overpowering.  There was one instance where I ran out and had to use store bought detergent. The smell was too powerful for my asthmatic child.  Since heavy perfumes can be a trigger for his asthma, I had to REWASH the clothing and dilute the detergent.  Craziness!  Now, if I feel that I have a very stinky load, I use Purex scent crystal to give a slight boost in odor control.   It is not needed every load, just for the load with my hubby's work out clothing.  (<------- eeeeww)   

I also use homemade powder detergent for washing towels.  Powder detergent is EASIER than making the liquid detergent and it saves just as much $$$$$!!  

7 Oct 2013

I was sent, kicking and screaming to training for almost a month.  While I was away, a few friends from church (and a neighbor) offered to cook a meal for the family I was leaving behind.  This may sound like a small gesture, but it makes a large impact.  No....HUGE impact.  It was a burden lifted off of my shoulders and a blessing to my hubby.  At an appointed date and time, a home-cooked meal was graciously delivered to my doorstep (we chose Mon and Thur).  This meant that my stressed out husband was fed for 2 nights. For the rest of the week, he could reheat left overs...which meant less days to plan and prepare for.  I have a toddler who likes to eat and like most 2 year olds, is super cranky when hungry.  Cooking and keeping one's sanity is almost impossible with her attached (and screaming) to said chef's leg. I tried to help. I stocked up on plenty of frozen pizza's and snacks, but when leaving for an extended period of time a mother can only prepare so much. And experience has shown me that space and time are limited for freezing meals.  Help from friends went a LONG way.

Mealtrain.com is an excellent tool to communicate and organize meals.  My church uses it for postpartum meals, when someone is extremely ill or receiving medical treatment or when Mom is called away for work (usually the military).

How does it communicate and organize?  It is displayed as a calendar with date options. You can choose to offer consecutive days (a week) or intermittent (every Mon). Participants will have to register and have an account, but will able to view what days are available and most of all, what OTHERS are already preparing.   This option will hopefully prevent redundancies in entrees.  Who wants to eat Lasagna three days in a row, right?

I wanted to show my appreciation to my sweet, sweet friends.  I made these cute little gift bags with a little Thank You message.  Each contained a little "Stress Relief" hand sanitizer.  Two things a mom can never have enough of.