DIY Household Products

I like to make my own cleaning supplies and toiletries. It's a fun thing to do on a weekend afternoon, and it saves me money. I'm still working out the kinks on my homemade shampoo and moisturizer. I'm happy with these recipes, though:

Powdered Dishwasher Detergent
1 cup Borax
1 cup washing soda
½ cup kosher salt
5 packets of Kool-Aid lemonade

Mix it all together. One tablespoon per load. Pour in a little white vinegar to the rinse compartment.

Powdered Laundry Detergent
1 cup Borax
1 cup washing soda
1 bar (4.5oz) laundry soap (I use Fels-Naptha), grated

Mix it all together. I use a blender to make the Fels-Naptha a fine powder. I grate it first with a cheese grater, but it's never as fine as I want it. One tablespoon per load. Works well with cold water.

I didn't create these recipes, but I've looked at a bunch of different recipes and these two are the easiest and have the fewest ingredients/steps. Some recipes for dishwasher detergent call for food-grade powdered citric acid, and that's just a waste of money when the Kool-Aid is dirt cheap and does the same thing.

I've been using these recipes for months and am super happy with the results. My dishes are spot-free and my clothes smell good. The Fels-Naptha is a stain-lifter, too. For bad stains I keep a small chunk of un-grated Fels-Naptha to rub directly onto the stain before washing.

I feel like the kool aid would make it sticky...?

Every time I try to make something from scratch it ends up costing me more than if I'd just bought a box of it from the store

No sticky from the Kool-Aid. I think the sticky would come from the sugar added for drinking, but this just uses the flavoring packet. The more expensive version is with powdered citric acid (canning section of grocery store) instead of Kool-Aid.

That makes sense. We don't have Kool-Aid here so I didn't realize it didn't have sugar.

I wash my clothes at a laundromat, but it technically doesn't need soap. But we add it anyway. And often mix it with baking powder. Just because. I don't know if it does any good but the clothes smell better than when you don't use it.

I have a dishwasher in my new place. I haven't tried using it. It's scary.

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