Dead Dishwasher

Well....not exactly dead, but might as well be.  I'm at a turning point in my relationship with dishwashers.  I've committed to so many of them and they've done nothing but let me down.  It's not me I promise.  I really do stay with my appliances until "death do us part"!  But,  my dishwashers all start doing a lousy job after just a few years of doing an ok job, but never really a great job!  Yes,  I've cleaned them with all the cleaners...to no avail.

I've just about decided never again to buy a dishwasher.  Then....sometimes when the dishes pile up and I've a lot of other responsibilities demanding attention...then I think about getting a new dishwasher. 

But for what?  Just to be let down again?  I've also thought, "Maybe this is a nudge in the right direction.  You know, my decision to phase out appliances that perform chores I can do easily by hand or without electricity, like hang clothes out,  wash dishes, mix and chop things for everyday things....(I do use a food processor and mixer for the big stuff)....

Wellll....I've just about decided...No new dishwasher.

In case you don't know how to wash dishes by hand.  Here's a vid on how to, and which is better....By Hand or Dishwasher?  I think I know.

Unnatural Disaster

I've discovered someone on YouTube, and I believe I'll be reviewing a lot of her videos for helpful hints. Her bread making series is extremely interesting and I will be trying her method soon. I just have to find a really big shallow wooden bowl. Now where can I find that.

Here is her video on tackling housework when it gets a bit overwhelming. At first I watched this video with mouth agape, and thought how does anyone let their house get in this condition in the first place? Well then, my next thought turned immediately to my sister Ginger and realize that yes it is possible for your house to quickly get into this unnatural disaster state. So to my sisters, except Melba, this is for you. (hee hee, snicker snicker)

Seriously, How do you tackle all that mess after a busy weekend or time in your life. Like for instance: Halloween? I woke up to piles of dirty costumes and laundry on the bedroom floors, thread, needles and fabric on the coffee table, leaves, hay, and clumps of mud on the tile, mugs, plates, and forks in the sink. bobby pins, rolled up socks and wet rags on the girls bathroom floor....you get the picture!

I always tackle the most smelly and obvious first. This is how my clean up day usually goes (after breakfast of course):

First decide what we are going to eat for dinner and take out of freezer if necessary

Gather all the dirty laundry and deposit in the laundry room

Get the first load of dirty clothes washing in the machine

Make up my bed (the girls clean their own rooms)

Remove burners and spray stove with vinegar spray (let set)

Unload and load dishwasher, wash any pots and pans

Wipe down stove, scrub stubborn stuff with borax

Scrub sink with borax and wipe dry

Change the table cloth put lovely centerpiece back on

Sprinkle Borax in the tub, sink and toilet (leave a while to do other things)

Finish picking up strewed items and deposit them where they belong (everything should already have a place)

Scrub bathroom fixtures and clean mirrors with vinegar water spray bottle

Sweep the entire house and vacuum up pile and corners with shop vac

Spot mop with damp mop

The rest of the day is spent working in the garden, cooking, going to appointments or meetings, or working on other projects or reading or blogging, while intermittently putting on laundry to wash, hanging them to dry, and folding and putting up.

If I follow this routine daily my house cleaning might average an hour a day. The only things I do not do everyday is dust, oil the furniture, vacuum the rug, clean the bathroom fixtures, wash linens, clean light fixtures, wet mop the entire floor. I only do these things as it becomes necessary or when I have a large block of time available. Also I routinely give things away that are no longer used, remove trash and de-junk. The best way to keep junk out of your house is not to bring it in.

Whew.....Now, how do you keep your house from becoming an unnatural disaster. Or is your house one and you're just happy with it...THANK YOU!

How To Make Laundry Powder

Previously I gave a recipe for making laundry soap liquid. Lately I have been making this laundry powder recipe. It's not as inexpensive as the liquid, but it is still very inexpensive. It's very simple and takes less time to make and works quite well. My washing machine is a high efficiency machine, and the laundry powder works just fine in it.

Ingredients:

2 bars of Fel's Naptha soap
3 cups borax
3 cups super washing powder

Method: Grind soap to powder. I use my food processor. Be careful. It grinds very fine, I use a mask to keep from breathing in any particles. Allow soap powder to settle then transfer to a large enough canister with a lid.
Add 3 c. borax and 3 c. super washing power to container.
I tape the lid shut to keep particles from escaping. Shake and rock back and forth gently until thoroughly mixed. Use 2 tablespoons per laundry load. Use a little more for a very dirty load.

You can also use 1/2 a cup of vinegar as a fabric softener. Don't worry, it doesn't make the laundry smell like vinegar.

Now line dry for the freshest smelling laundry ever!!! The sun also will help whiten white clothing.

Dishwasher Powder and First Day of School

Here it is. My first batch of dishwasher powder. The important thing first- Does it work? I washed two loads with it and yes it does work. My glasses and flatware turned out sparkly and didn't have any spots on them. The cheese grater that I grated some chedder cheese on didn't come out completely clean. In honesty, it never does, even with other brands of tabs, gels or powder, maybe it's just my washer which is on the old side. I threw the grater in with the second batch and it did come out clean after the second time.

Cost Comparison:

According to my best calculations, the batch of powder cost $1.05 to make (this price does not include the essential lemon oil). Each batch makes enough for 41 loads. So load cost is .03 cents. For comparison here is the load cost of several popular brands:

Cascade tabs- .15 (Sam's club price)

Gain Liquid- .14 (Sam's club price)

Ecover tabs- .25 (Whole Foods price)

Homemade Powder- .03 (Significant Savings)

The powder was extremely simple to make, took very little time, and the lemon essential oil makes it smell wonderful. It also does not contain phosphates like most other dishwasher soaps.

Here is the recipe again:

Dishwasher Powder

1 cup of Borax (usually can be obtained locally also can buy on internet)
1 cup of sodium bi-carbonate (baking soda easily obtained at grocery store)
1/4 cup of salt
1/4 cup of citric acid (can find at health food stores, cheese supply, soap making supply and other sites on internet-this is also used in making cheeses and bath fizzies)
30 drops of lemon essential oil (I buy mine at Wholefoods)

Mix all ingredients together. Stir well and store in air tight container. Use 1 tblsp per load.


Oh yes, today was the jittery, squealy, skipping, jumping first day of school. Look at all the groovy shoes and book bags.

Dishwasher Powder Recipe

Finally! I found a dishwasher powder recipe. I'll let you know how it works. I'll try to calculate it's actual cost as well and post my findings later. Dishwasher powder is the only cleaning item that I still currently buy and do not make. Most every cleaning supplies you will ever need can be made from very simple cheap ingredients: Vinegar, sodium carbonate, sodium bi-carbonate, essential oils, jojoba oil, soap, and borax.

Dishwasher Powder

1 cup Borax
1 cup bi-carbonate soda (baking soda)
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup citric acid
30 drops citrus essential oil

Mix thoroughly and store in an airtight plastic container. Use 1 tablespoon at a time.

How to make homemade laundry soap - step by step

I often have requests for this recipe. It's ridiculously inexpensive and easy to do. A family size box of Tide at Sam's Club cost $19.48 (Sam's is the cheapest in our area). It gives you 108 loads. This averages out to a little over 18 cents per load. The best I can figure is that this recipe costs me 75 cent to make. It makes two gallons. There are 16 cups in a gallon. So if you use 1/2 cup per load that will give you 64 loads. That comes out to a little less than 2 cents per load for laundry soap. I told you saving money is like earning it. Being at home allows me to come up with all these ridiculous calculations! Another bonus is your homemade detergent will not be filled with a bunch of additives such as optimizers (see Seventh Genenrations "Naturally Clean" book).

First gather all of your ingredients and tools.

Ingredients: 1/3 bar of Fel's Naptha Soap (avaiable on-line at Soaps Gone Buy see link)
1/2 cup of Super washing powder (available on-line at Soaps Gone Buy)
1/2 cup of Borax (Usually available locally)
Essential oils (optional)
Tools: Bucket large enough to hold two gallons
Saucepan
Measuring cups
Grater
Spoon for stirring
Gallon jug (I use this to have a gallon of water quickly available)

1. Grate 1/3 of the Fel's Naptha Bar soap
2. Measure out 1/2 cup of borax and 1/2 cup of super washing powder set to side
3. Put four cups of hot water in Bucket and set to side
4. Add six cups of water to saucepan and the grated Fel's Naptha soap

5. Heat until Fel's Naptha soap is completely disolved.
6. Add Borax and Super Washing Powder, again heat until disolved.
The mixture gets thick almost like lemon pie filling.

7. When mixture is completely disolved pour into prepared bucket. (That's the bucket with four cups of hot water already in it.) Stir thouroughly.

8. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir well.
9. At this time you can add your scent if you wish. I use lavender and orange essential oils.

10. Let mixture set stirring occaisionally. It will set into a thick gel usually, just stir this up and mix thouroughly. The consistancy varies. I'm sure there are some technical reasons why. I don't worry about it. It works just fine whether it is thinner or thicker. Your soap should be ready to use the next day! Use 1/2 cup per load.
Please let me know if anything about this is confusing :)

Clean and Green

I totally quit using chemical cleaners about three years ago. My house is just as clean and we don't get sick! Even without the 'industrial kills 99.9% of all germs" sprays. Simple old fashioned products is all you need. Not only is it much better for the environment, it's great for the budget as well. Even laundry detergent is easy to make and costs about .75 cents for two gallons. All you need is 1/2 a cup for each load. I'm not sure how many loads that is. I think around 40 or so.

I use a mixture of lavender essential oil and water for spraying my kitchen counters. Some things you should take extra care with. Such as, not using the same knife to cut the lettuce that you just cut raw meat with. Vinegar and water is all I use for cleaning surfaces, mirrors, glass, and my porcelain tile floors. I clean my bathroom toilets, tubs and sinks with a sprinkling of borax. Then I apply a little elbow grease to remove any buildup. Then I spray the entire area with lavender spray. I use a micro-fiber cloth to dust and old cut up bath towels and cloths for cleaning. To polish my furniture, A mixture of lemon essential oil and jojoba oil works beautifully.

Here's my cleaning recipes: Vinegar Spray-1/2 cup vinegar to 4 cups of water, Lavender Spray-20 drops lavender essential oil to 1 cup of water. For polishing furniture I just sprinkle a few drops of jojoba oil and lemon essential oil on a rag and rub.

Homemade Laundry Detergent:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha soaps (other bar laundry soaps may work, I buy Fels Naptha from SoapsGoneBuy.com)
1/2 cup washing soda (sodium carbonate)
1/2 cup borax powder
You will need a small bucket to hold at least two gallons

Method: Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap melts. Add washing soda and borax, stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Add your soap mixture and stir. Then add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the mixture sit for 24 hours and it will gel. Use 1/2 cup per load.

For scent I add 10 drops of lavender essential oil and 10 drops of orange essential oil. You can add your favorite scent of essential oils.

The texture of the soap gel varies for me. Sometimes it is thicker and sometimes it is like egg drop soup. I keep a spoon in my bucket to stir it each time I use it. I have a very modern high efficiency washer and the laundry soap works fine in it. My husband just finished building me a wonderful clothesline. I will include a picture in upcoming posts.

I really believe most of the products we buy are unnecessary. Advertising does a great job of making us feel inadequate, so we buy their products believing it will make life better. In reality most of these products further complicate our lives. That could be another long, long, long, discussion!