keeping it clean | laundry

Recently I was talking to my roommate about cleaning (a passion of mine, haha!), and was sharing some of the little cleaning tips and such that I have learned through blogging and those that I've picked up on my own through (much) trial and error.  I commented to her how I'd like to make my own list(s), so here we go!  Note, these are not revolutionary or ground breaking, they are mostly just common sense things that took me (too long) to pick up on.

Backstory on making that image...I work at a job with some awesome graphics programs.  I haven't invested in my own Adobe Creative Suite yet, and I didn't make this at work, so I made it at home.  On power point.  I can feel some work ladies indignation from here, and hear others laughter.  Carrying on now.

the laundry room & laundry

• I wear skirts and dresses a lot, which means I wear tights at least 3/5 days a week if not more.  More often than not I have really damaged my tights because of tossing them in with the wash, instead of tossing them in the wash inside one of those delicate's mesh bags.  Solution?  I keep a mesh bag with my dirty clothes, so when I'm tossing the day's outfit into the hamper, the tights can go right into the bag and not get lost.  
• Those mesh bags are a laundry budget saver saver.  I wear a lot of dresses that say "dry clean only."  Unless it has some beading on it (none do), I put them in the bag (I use a double lined large sized one for dresses and cardigans, etc.), run them through the machine, and then dry them on the drying rack.  I haven't had anything mess up yet.  
• I also keep the stain spray/wipe things where I put my worn clothes.  I'm far more likely to actually use it when the stain is fresh if I don't have to go hunting for it.
• I don't like washing kitchen linens (napkins, towels, wash cloths, and table-wear) with my clothes or with my sheets & bath towels (no rhyme or reason, I just don't).  My solution?  I keep a spare, small laundry basket on top of the dryer, put dirty/used kitchen linens in it, and when the basket is full, I have a full load read to go.  
• Folding the laundry immediately when the dryer finishes is one of the most satisfying feelings on the planet to me.  It also feels like one of the most time consuming activities on the planet.  I've timed it before.  Surprise, surprise, it's not.  When I just get-it-done, it's worth the entire 4-7 minutes it took to fold it.  Every time.
• My favorite detergent--my own!

I hopped on the DIY laundry train after my friend Mary gave me some of hers that she had made.  It smelled SO good and wasn't full of weird chemicals.  A couple weekends ago Julie and I hung out to make our own batch.  It took 5 minutes.

step 1, assemble ingredients:  washing powder, baking soda, borax, oxi clean, and soap.  These were all bought to the tune of $20 from Publix.

step 2, grate the soap.  Or as the children called it, the cheese.  You can do this with a box grater, or do as Julie did and bust out the food processor.  Box grating the soap would have added some time...this took about a minute.  Julie is brilliant, BTW.  And Si is the button-worker in this process.

step 3, dump all of the ingredients in a large, clean receptacle (we washed this one).  We got wise, and added them in layers so it'd be easier to mix them all together.

step 4, add and mix, mix and add.  Try not to breathe in the clean dust cloud.

step 5, continue mixing.  Try not to cuss like a sailor when the washing power gets into cuts on your hand.

step 6, smile at your finished product, and transfer into smaller, air-tight containers.  This makes a lot!

step 7, use 1 tbsp. ish per load.