I don't really like "green" so I'm going...

Blue...lol..that and I'm not a sheep..I march to the beat of my own drum...but essentially blue is green...it's the new green..lol..

If you know me well you know I amass certain talents that "normal" people (I use that term very loosely..you see I think I'm normal, and the rest of them are a bit off..lol..jk) would never even think twice about. I can make my own french fries, potato chips..cereal, granola bars..other random items of food you can purchase at your neighborhood grocery store for ridiculous amounts of money I can make for about half the price, calories, fat...yeah, you get the picture.

Recently I added laundry soap to that list...yes, I make my own laundry soap. It's easy, quick and you wouldn't believe the amount of money I've saved by making it rather than buying it. I bought one box of Borax, one box of washing soda and three bars of soap and spent about six bucks. That was a month ago..I still have about 2.5 gallons of liquid soap left and a whole lot of borax and washing soda. The soap, sadly, I used because it smelled good..lol..so six bucks for five gallons of liquid laundry soap and about twenty minutes of my time...and I work a full time job AND  go to school..so if I have time you do too.

Now this past weekend we had a freak disaster...the toilet in our front bathroom decided it doesn't like us and flooded...it flooded the hallway, all the way out into my dining/living room, the hallway in front of my room, my linen closet and it seeped through the wall into my bathroom (which is on the other side of out front bathroom). My husband went all Martha Stewart with the shop vac, but living in Florida where it's hot and humid you can imagine what happened next.

If you guessed that the carpet didn't dry fast enough and started to smell funky, guess what, you get a prize. No, not really, but you'd be right. So naturally the sour smell came...we baking soda'd the rugs...still didn't kill it..used some Gold Bonds medicated foot powder..that helped (and made my house smell like Peppermint Town) but didn't eliminate the odor completely..so this morning I whipped up a batch of Borax, washing soda and high quality H2O (lmao..if you call city water high quality) and scrubbed the carpets. Let the mixture sit for an hour (to dry) then vacuumed it up. I think it worked because it doesn't smell anymore..

But the main point of the post...going "blue." I don't know about you, but I like to use carpet powders on my floors before I vacuum. I have this thing against cleaning products...my throat & lungs are sensitive..I think its because I used to smoke...but anyway...a lot of them make me cough, especially carpet powder..so I found a way to use it that doesn't choke me out.

I make my own! :)

It's easy...if you have a left over Parmesan cheese container that works great. Wash it out, let it dry, add some baking soda, some cinnamon or cloves or nutmeg or whatever spices float your boat. Mix it up and viola...carpet powder that is not going to make you cough to death, it's safe for kids and pets and smells like you are baking cinnamon buns..delish!

And if you were interested, the laundry soap directions are below:

1 quart boiling water
2 cups bar soap (grated)
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda
2 additional gallons of water

Some Notes:
1 bar of Dial grated up (I use the food processor) makes two cups of soap.
The mixture, when done will look like congealed grossness, it won't bubble up when you add it to the wash..I don't know why, but it doesn't. However, it does get your clothes clean...in fact I think it gets my clothes cleaner than regular detergent. Just my opinion.

Ok now the directions:

1. Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low heat until soap is melted.

2. Pour the soap water into a large, clean pail and add the borax and washing soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.

3. Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.

4. Cover pail and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. Once it's cool, add 5 - 7 drops of your favorite essential oil per gallon. Stir the soap each time you use it (it will gel).

I have nodded essential oil to mine because I have found that if you use a bar of pleasant smelling soap, you won't need the oil. If you use unscented soap then oil away. If you keep your soap someplace that is warm it will start to look like it is separating...give it a stir, it'll be fine.