Eco-friendly dish washing soap

The last time I was at the grocery store, the price of a small container of Cascade liquid dish soap was about $6. The generic store brand wasn't much better at $4.

I'm all for saving money, and one of my constant expenses is dish washing soap, as I run the dish washer pretty much everyday.

I'm also all for being eco-friendly and getting back to natural products, remedies, etc. Besides, I do not like all the strange chemicals, preservatives and other things that are constantly showing up in everything from cleaning products to food.

So I have decided to take a look at things that cost me money and see if there is a cheaper way to do it, as well as an eco-friendly way to do it.

Running the dishwasher is considered "greener" than doing dishes by hand, especially if you only run the unit when it is full, use a cold water setting, and have an Energy Star model.

So after a little research I found a recipe for an eco-friendly dish washer detergent.

1. One part baking soda (or Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda)

2. One part borax (as in 20 Mule Team Borax)

Some people complained of a film left on the dishes when they used baking soda. So I am going to use the washing soda, borax and put white vinegar in my rinse agent.

I hope to try it tonight and will post how it comes out.

Do you have any cost cutting/eco-friendly tips for household chores?

My next project will be to wean myself and my family off the constant paper towel use :)

Blue Monday

I'm pretty sure that I do laundry everyday.

Or it seems that way at least.

I'm not really sure why, but ever since I had children the laundry has become never-ending.

And I have numerous friends that say laundry is the worst of the household chores.

Today as I was starting yet another load and finding myself growing irritated with it, I thought back to my grandmother and my great grandmother and realized how wherever they are they must be shaking their heads in disbelief at me.

A lesson in laundry of the "good ole days":

Monday was always wash day. (Yes, there was a set schedule for chores!)

The wash place was always located next to a water source, such as a stream or a well. Cast iron pots were used to boil clothes, get the clothing wet and then scrub them on scrub boards or beat them with rocks. There was no such thing as laundry detergent so homemade lye soap was used and in even earlier times sand was used.

After the clothes were cleaned and rinsed, the wet clothing would have to be rolled and twisted to remove the excess water. This process ultimately led to the invention of the ringer, in which you fed each individual article of clothing through two tension rollers to squeeze the water out.

Even once washing machines and wringers were patented, they were still manual and had to be cranked by hand.

It wasn't until electricity became widely accessible in the 1930's that the washing machine started evolving into what we have now.

The amount of time it had to take to do laundry b

ack then is amazing. Everything was done manually as there was no automation of the laundry process. AND, there was no such thing as a dryer. Clothes were either hung on a line or laid out in the grass to dry.

Sometimes I need a little perspective so as not to take things for granted.

No more complaining about laundry for me...