[needssomehelp]

its a great feeling isnt it joyfull, to make somthing yourself, thats normally so expensive.....AND IT WORKS YAY 

[Auntiemogs]

Thanks so much Needsome and Joyfull. Down to the hardware shop for me next week! 

[needssomehelp]

just a quick update, last night i made tumble dryer sheets
just cut up an old cottn pillow case, shirt or scrap of fabric into squares, dab each square with one drop of essential oil, i used fresh linen smelly, and put them all into a container with a lid. the smell penatrates the whole sheets. i used them this morning and it made my whole kitchen and clothes smell lovely. i dont use my dryer that much but it will be nice having the sheets sitting there ready for me at the cost of a few pennies 
once used re-oil them and you ready to go again.

[jamima]

Well it all sounds very fasinating , i might have a go at the washing liquid.

[joyfull]

yesterday I made some washing up liquid and left it overnight (seems to be very similar to your clothes washing liquid needssomehelp in that it thickens overnight) and have tried it today. it does wash pots ok but there are very few suds which seemed a bit weird. I'm not sure I could trust Jim not to use loads when doing the dishes in the hope of getting suds. It did work and cut through muck and grease very well though. So I read through John and Vals' book Low cost Living  and they used their old washing nuts boiled up which also didn't produce many suds but work well.
Just in case you want to try it here is the recipe I used:-
10g soap flakes, 10g soda crystals, 1 teaspoon vinegar and 1 litre of boiling water.
mix together then leave to thicken.

[joyfull]

will try those tumbledryer sheets thank you 

[Springlands]

This has been a really interesting thread to read. Only one comment about the tumble dryer sheets - if I remember correctly my instruction book for the tumble dryer said that you should not use essential oils in the dryer because of the danger of fire.

[needssomehelp]

This has been a really interesting thread to read. Only one comment about the tumble dryer sheets - if I remember correctly my instruction book for the tumble dryer said that you should not use essential oils in the dryer because of the danger of fire.

you only use one drop per sheet,  and only use one sheet per load.i was telling a neighbour this afternoon about the dryer sheets and she said that said she puts put a few drops on an old sock in her dryer and and adds more to the sock every time she puts in a new load. she has been doing the for a few years.  perhaps it depends on the dryer, but if in any doubt dont do it.  i think it will be fine as it is such a small amount.

[Mrs Bee]

just found a recipe for washing powder rather than having to boil up for a liquid.
I bar of soap - finely grated, 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of soap crystals. mix together and use 1 - 2 tablespoons per wash load (depending on how dirty the clothes are).
I will have a go at making this today as it takes up less room - just got to find some borax.

I got mine from Amazon as the local hardware place only sold borax substitute. Was a bit pricey tho'.

Needed it to kill mould spores on fabric as we have had a bit of a prob with mouldy drawers

As I have all the ingredients in the cupboards must have a go at making my own washing stuff. EVerything else is homemade

Borax is also good if you like doing home crafts such as marbling with your kids. You dissolve some of the borax in a bowl of water and float oil based paints on the water to make pretty patterns and gently drop paper on it. Let it dry and you can use it as wrapping paper or cards

[Auntiemogs]

Made some bodywash last night (have two young men in the house so we get through a LOT, even on special!). This is the original recipe with notes:-
2 cups soap flakes (main ingredient tallow - not sure about others)
8 cups water (increased to 10 after it solidified after cooling)
1/2 tsp essential oil
1tbsp glycerine (will use 2 next time - apparently Boots is cheap for this)
Stick in a saucepan and simmer until soap dissolves. Leave to cool.
I found that when it cooled it set in my saucepan, hence the extra water, so I whizzed it in my blender.  Does have a slightly 'snotty' consistency but I don't really care. Made 3 litres for about 60p.
Add extra water for hand wash. :-)

[needssomehelp]

got to give that one a go, where do i get soap flakes ?

[joyfull]

I had to go into several shops for mine and found some in costcutters in the laundry aisle. Mine is called Grannys original, but years ago I remember buying Lux soap flakes for woollens.

[needssomehelp]

i'll go on a soap flake hunt today 

[Auntiemogs]

I think any tallow based grated soap could also be used but I was unable to find anything suitable locally. I'm going to try it with some Imperial Leather mens soap I found on offer for the boys but this wasn't tallow based so will let you know if it works The soap flakes were quite dear (£1.90 at trashco) although I only used about a third of a box. 

[Can you eat that?]

If you fancy home made soap too it's very very easy. Much nicer than soap flakes, has it's own natural glycerin. Which is removed as a by product in commercial soap production and you can get all the ingredients from the super market.