Homemade Laundry Detergent and Fun

 Lying on his deathbed, the rich, miserly old man calls to his long-suffering wife. "I want to take all my money with me," he tells her. "So promise me you'll put it in the casket."

After the man dies, his widow attends the memorial service with her best friend. Just before the undertaker closes the coffin, she places a small metal box inside.

Her friend looks at her in horror. "Surely," she says, "you didn't put the money in there."

"I did promise him I would," the widow answers. "So I got it all together, deposited every penny in my account, and wrote him a check. If he can cash it, he can spend it."


So... we all have issues with having enough cash to go around. If you are anything like us the first thing to go down is the food budget. Spend a bit less on food, buy some generic items, find filling foods (yikes..sometimes those add so much weight), and just do with LESS!

Here is a simple yet very cost effective way to cut an expensive item out without sacrificing quality. The following recipe is not very time consuming, but does the job better than commercial detergents in my opinion.

Powdered Laundry Detergent (Liquid recipe coming very soon)



1   Fels-Naptha soap bar (The bar is also the BEST pre-treater from the depression days)
1  Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
½  Cup Borax
Few drops of any essential oil (optional)


Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon, yes only ONE Tablespoonful. For heavy, super sized loads, or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (About 40 loads).



*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda"  Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

You will find all these in the laundry detergent aisle!!