Wednesday, August 11, 2010


Room by Room

So, I thought I'd go "room by room" and give any tips or thoughts that come to mind for you gals just starting out or those (like me) always looking for new ideas. My laundry room is always my home office/sewing room. This lends itself toward disaster! It is probably my toughest challenge to keep clean. Some things I do to work on that:
1. We bought those round slider things (cheap, cheap at WalMart) and put on the bottom of the washer and dryer. If I need to pull them out to grab a sock or clean the floor (this is getting desperately needed, at the moment ;o), I can slide them out without help.
2. I don't feel too guilty about it being my 'drop zone.' I'd rather have one space to drop misc. items than all over the house. If you have a hot spot like this one, just spend 5 minutes a day decluttering. It's amazing how much you can sort in 5 minutes.
Some ways I practice frugality in my laundry room:
1. I make my own laundry soap. Here is the recipe. The ingredients are readily available at Publix. I make 5 gallons at a time, and the stuff lasts forever! OK, on actually making it. I only let it sit 8 hours before pouring it into the gallons. This is my least favorite part of the process. The stuff literally gels up and looks like (how is the feminine way of saying this?) OK, snot. Begging many pardons. Try not to think about it, and you'll have great laundry detergent (more effective than any I've found) for just a few cents. I use a kitchen funnel to put it into old water gallon jugs (60-something cents from Wal-Mart).
2. White vinegar works as a liquid softener. I use this when I can't find the wonderful Snuggle on sale.
3. Dryer sheets. Confession time. With as much money as I save elsewhere, I BUY THE BEST! I adore the smell of Snuggle. So with apologies to the money-saving purists out there, it is my little investment in happiness!
4. One thing I despise is soured laundry (especially kitchen and bath linens- ugh!) I put a dab of Chlorox 2 (color-safe bleach) into ALL my laundry. The Wal-Mart brand works, too. And no nasty smells.
5. I set aside one block of time a week for ironing. I pop in a DVD and get to work. I used to HATE ironing. But now it's the one time I can be still ;o) I love this relaxing time!

Life in my laundry room is very, very real. About once a week, I rewash a load instead of ironing it (heehee- I KNOW no one else does this). About once a month, I vow it will never become cluttered again. About 10 times a day, little people drop toys or books in there. But it is my workspace, and I think worth the effort to keep it running smoothly. Any tips for me? I'd love to hear them!

3 comments:

Leah said...

Hi Charity! I am not sure if you remember me or not but I took a class with you at Hobe Sound a looooong time ago! At least it was a long time ago to me! :))) I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoy reading your blog. For those mommies that are younger than I, I wish so bad I would have learned some of these things a long time ago. But now my children are grown and I am so thankful for what God has done for them in spite of my mistakes! Great blogs!!!

Kim M. said...

I make my own laundry soap too, but I just leave it all in a five gallon bucket. I don't tighten the lid... it just sits on there. It hides discreetly behind the door. I use a plastic soup ladle to scoop it out. I wouldn't enjoy pouring that snotty stuff into jugs either. This works well for me. I enjoy your posts!

Lanee M. said...

Hi Charity, enjoy reading your blog. Quick question. I have one of those washers (brand new, my old one bit the dust a couple of wks ago) that prefers HE detergent. The laundry soap you make, can it work for these. I must confess, Laundry is my most despised chore and I still call my mom for help on laundry issues. :)
Might be a silly question, but again, just don't know. Would like to make the laundry soap if it will work. Thanks