I promise I won't depress you with my thoughts this time around. :-D Here are some next-to-nothing ways to make some household items we typically buy.
Laundry detergent:
1/3 C Laundry Soda
1/3 C grated Fels Naptha soap (grate it yourself)
1/3 C borax
1 old pan
1 5-gallon bucket
Put some water into the pan and add the ingredients. Heat the water, stirring occasionally, till the ingredients melt and dissolve. While you're doing that, add water to the 5-gallon bucket, but don't fill it all the way up. Allow the stove top mixture to cool, stirring occasionally. (You really do need to stir it here because if you don't, the ingredients all rise to the top, forming a crust. They need to be mixed into the liquid.) Add the warm water to what's already in the 5-gallon bucket and stir. Let it sit overnight before using. It'll end up being kind of globby.
I use an old laundry detergent bottle to put a small amount of it into, as this makes it a lot easier to use on a day-to-day basis, and then I keep the bulk of it in the bucket. Those bottles are constructed to allow liquid to pour into them easily. My family and I have all been using this for about 2.5 years now. Our clothes are still fine and we have yet to run out of the first set of ingredients we purchased, which cost us about $10.00 total at the time.
Shampoo:
1 T Baking soda
1 C water
Stir till the water's clear and use immediately.
Conditioner:
1-2 T Apple cider vinegar
1 C Water
Stir and use. (Yes, you will smell like a pickle!)
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Having just washed my hair with these solutions, I need to admit that the laundry detergent is better. I used both the shampoo and the conditioner recipes together, so it's hard to say which of them is the real culprit, but my hair feels clean, yet very slightly sticky. It's also a little harder to detangle. My assessment is that the baking soda and vinegar solutions are fine for days off, but if you're working or job-hunting, I'd suggest using the real thing on the days you're in action. That said - I'm going to keep toying with this. My mom says that when she was young, she used to use the vinegar solution all the time, and her hair was fine. She believes it was the baking soda 'shampoo' that caused the issues I'm having. I'll continue to experiment. :-) Bottom line - my hair is clean and tangle-free, but not as good as otherwise. :-)
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