A Squeaky Clean Experiment: Results

The Results are in!! After a week of washing my dishes with just baking soda and vinegar I have come up with the following conclusions:

• If you have any dishes that you used butter, grease, or oil with I would just sprinkle a little baking soda in with a couple of drops of dish soap. Baking soda alone was not good at cutting grease/oil.
• The vinegar rinse (using either distilled white or apple cider) was great for glasses! You can even add a couple of drops of essential oil to make it smell pleasant. 
• Using just Baking Soda and Vinegar for regular, everyday dirty dishes worked great. Very simple and easy.
•  Make sure you have a good scrubbing pad for stuck-on food.
• The best mixture I found was 1/4 c. baking soda and 1/2 c. vinegar. This was for a full load. Considering how much "All Natural" Dish Soap is, it may or may not be worth your time and money.

So in the end, I have decided for my family to continue to use baking soda and vinegar. I am going to pick up a small bottle of dish soap for my greasy messes, but overall it worked great. I was very pleased with the results and it was a great learning experience.
I'd love to hear if any of you try it and if it works for you!

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Karah Lorbacher UPDATE: I've gone back to using regular dish soap, it works best for my family this way. Sometimes life is all about changes. :)

A Squeaky Clean Experiment

Yesterday when I went to tackle a sink full (and counter full) of dishes I discovered I did not have anymore dish soap. Well, there was no way around it I had to wash dishes. So I thought, what do I have to use? Baking Soda and Vinegar! I am trying a seven-day experiment on washing my dishes with baking soda and vinegar. So stay tuned to find out the results of my experiment!

Leave a Legacy,

Karah Lorbacher

"It All Comes Out in the Wash"

          All of this rain lately reminds me of how God washes me daily with his grace. Many times a day I say what I shouldn't, don't say what I should and react before I think. But how wonderful it is that God forgives me and all of my failures truly do "come out in the wash." And speaking of washing...is it just me or does the laundry seem to pile up quicker when it rains? We've had many rainy days this week and I've spent what seems like hours in my laundry room. Luckily, I have my homemade Lavender Laundry Detergent and Fabric Softener to give me that boost of calm that I eagerly desire.
          Almost a year ago I found a recipe for homemade Laundry Detergent (thank you Duggar Family!) and with a little tweaking have been using it ever since. Thanks to a wedding gift of laundry detergent and making our homemade version, I've never bought laundry detergent since I've been married! If it all truly does come out in the wash, why not make it yourself? There are many benefits to making your own detergent and fabric softener, below I've listed a few of my reasons:

• It's much cheaper than buying detergent (no matter what size you buy)
• I can make it personalized (our first batch was Lavender-Vanilla and this batch is Lavender)
• The fabric softener not only softens your clothes but also cleans your washing machine at the same time!
• And my new favorite reason...it's cloth diaper safe!! You don't have to buy separate detergent for your cloth diapers or for baby's clothes! 

So without further ado, here are the recipes for homemade laundry detergent and fabric softener:

Laundry Detergent

• 4 cups of hot tap water
• 1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
• 1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
• 1/2 cup Borax
• 10-15 drops essential oil per 2 gal (I use about 5 Tablespoons for the whole bucket)

1. Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
2. Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda, and borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. 
3. Fill bucket to the top with more hot water. (Add your essential oil if you want). 
4. Stir, cover, and let sit overnight.
5. Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill the rest of the way up with water. Shake before each use.

Notes: Laundry soap recipe yields 10 gallons! For a top loading machine, use 1 cup per load. For a front loading machine, use 1/2 cup per load.

Fabric Softener

• 1 Gallon of Distilled White Vinegar
• 2T of essential oil of your choice

1. Pour essential oil into Gallon of Vinegar. Shake before each use.
2. Use 1/2 cup per load.

          Have any of you ever made these recipes? I would love to hear about your successes and failures with them (and would love to rejoice with you!).


Leave a Legacy,

Karah Lorbacher