Reader’s Question: Dingy Clothes w/Homemade Laundry Detergent

Dear Frugal Upstate,

I’m using you laundry detergent recipe but, my whites are getting dingyier and dingyier. I live in North Carolina and have 2 boys aged 7 and 9. They stain everything in the red clay here. I’ve tried bleach in with the detergent on the long soak cycle but, still dingy wash. What would you suggest?

Mary

Mary,

I’ve been using my homemade laundry detergent recipe for years and have never noticed that particular problem with my clothes~the homemade has always worked fine for me~so I don’t have a really good answer for you. First and foremost, if you are saving money but you aren’t happy with the quality you are getting then you should consider switching back to store bought laundry detergent. Just shop the sales and cut your coupons of course.

I think if I had some OxyClean at home I would experiment with throwing some of that in each load and see if it helped. I haven’t tested it myself so I can’t swear to the effectiveness of it in this particular situation, and of course you’d have to figure out the change in the cost per load with using the OxyClean to see if it continues to be cost effective compared to store bought.

Readers-help Mary out! Have any of you had this problem? What have you done to fix it?

Giveaway: Complete the Cycle

Laundry.  It just never seems to be done, does it?  I swear that by the time I’m done washing everything, folding it and putting it away, all the dirty baskets are full again!

I actually don’t mind cycling the laundry through the washer and dryer-or hanging it on the line when the weather permits.  Actually-I find hanging laundry on the line to be quite zen-like, plus I fold it when I take it down so I’m that much farther ahead.

I absolutely detest folding laundry. Not really sure why!  I frequently wind up with laundry baskets full of clean laundry that sit around for a week or so before I get around to folding it and putting it away. . . Hey, I’ve never tried to pretend I’m perfect.

Recently the folks over at Collective Bias asked for several bloggers to document their typical laundry routine from purchase to completion.  I did mine using a Whrrl Story:

Remember, just click on that picture above, and then to view the full “Story” (like a slide show) all you have to do is click on “See the story”. No need to sign up! You only need to sign up for a free account if you want to make comments or create your own Whrrl Stories.

Well Collective Bias and their client, Clorox, used our input to come up with this free printable “Complete the Cycle” laundry guide. It covers how to use various additives and has a handy stain removal chart!

Most of you know, I make my own laundry detergent, and just use a stain stick, dishwasher detergent soak and maybe some bleach for most stain related needs.

It’s not that I’m adverse to store bought detergent, I just feel that I save so much by making my own.

Sometimes however I’m out and haven’t gotten around to making any detergent, I am sent a particular type to try or there is a stain I can’t get out. In those cases I don’t mind using a store product that works. For example, Buddy is joining soccer this fall and I have already admitted to myself that I may need a little bit more help getting the uniforms clean. . .

As part of the entire “Complete the Cycle” campaign, the folks at Clorox & Collective Bias sent me a very nice little laundry kit, and have given me FIVE kits to give away here on Frugal Upstate! Each kit includes:

* A laminated copy of the Complete the Cycle Laundry Regimen Guide
* 50 oz bottle of Gain Laundry Detergent
* 34 oz bottle of Downy Ultra
* 22 oz bottle of Clorox 2 Ultra
* A Clorox Bleach Pen
* Coupon for 1 Free bottle of Clorox Bleach
* A Flip Fold- Ultimate Folding Tool
* A laundry basket

So now on to the rules!

This giveaway will run from 8/27 until midnight EST 9/2.

To enter:

Leave a comment telling me your best laundry related tip. This can be organizational, time saving, clothing maintenance, or money saving.

Entered once but want additional entries? Leave me a comment for each of the additional entries.

1) Tweet/and or post to Facebook once a day about the contest linking back to this post and include the hashtag #completecycle
2) Subscribe to Frugal Upstate
3) Subscribe to the Frugal Coast2Coast (aka Joint Frugal Upstate & Being Frugal.net) Newsletter. The signup box is on the sidebar over at Frugal Coast2Coast.

Good Luck!

***This is a sponsored post***

Festival of Frugality

Hello and welcome to the 191st Festival of Frugality!

I hope that besides enjoying all the fabulous entries for this week you spend a little time browsing around here and getting to know me.

Now I’ve always enjoyed it when someone comes up with a cute theme to arrange the festival around~but I’ve got a confession to make.

I couldn’t think of anything. Zip.  Nada.

When you are looking at getting rid of debt and saving for the future you really only have two choices.  You can either make more money, or you can save more money.  So I went the simple route with this week’s Festival of Frugality and divided the 50 or so entries up those categories, plus a third for posts that dealt with general frugal philosophy or information.

Of course I have a few Editor’s Picks-these are just a couple of articles  that particular stood out to me.

Editors Picks:

A.B.  might not be talking about bargain basement cheap in Mmmm, Seafood! posted at Modern Tightwad-but there is a great point in there. You shouldn’t dismiss seafood as “too expensive” out of hand. And even if it is a bit more sometimes, it is still much less than a meal out.

I really liked this article on Man Vs. Debt Should You Hate Debt… Should You Hate Anything?. It’s an interesting thing to think about-can hate be constructive? When does it become destructive to your debt/frugal living goals? Since I’m not actually in debt, my attitude towards saving/frugality/money is aimed on the positive-doing it makes me FEEL good. On the other hand, my attitude towards other personal goals, such as weight loss, are based more on hate.

VH was totally speaking my language with Delayed Gratification: The frugalist’s secret weapon posted at Funny about Money.  I think this is one of the simplest ways that anyone can start on the path to a more frugal lifestyle-just by waiting to make those purchases.

And now on to the rest of the Festival. . .

Photo by Jenn_Jenn

Making Money

Mark Brown presents 11 Easy Ways to Get Free Money posted at Money Hacker.

MoneyNing presents Rental Property vs REIT posted at Money Ning.

Photo by Winter of Discontent

Saving Money

Len Penzo presents Is Your Employer Stealing From You? posted at Len Penzo . Com.

GP presents Fun Family Vacations-No Kidding « Musings from Montana posted at Manely Montana.

Finance Tips 101 presents Pocket Some Hard Earned Cash By Saving On The Electric Bill posted at Finance Tips 101.

David presents How To Save Money On Your Prescriptions. | My Two Dollars posted at My Two Dollars.

Tyler presents Improve Your Water Heater Efficiency And Save $125 A Year posted at Frugally Green.

Oneadvice presents Are YOU a Victim of the Credit Card Debt Trap? posted at One Advice.

FMF presents An Interesting Way to Get Premium Cable for Free posted at Free Money Finance.

JvW presents How to Vacation on a Budget posted at The Good Life on a Budget.

Raj Patel presents Quick Guide to Paying Down $10K in Debt posted at DebtGoal.

Paul Williams presents 10 Ways to Clip Your Food Costs without Clipping Coupons | Provident Planning posted at Provident Planning.

FFB presents Saving On Prescription Drug Medication posted at Free From Broke.

FIRE Finance presents Back To School – Savers Guide posted at FIRE Finance.

Make it from Scratch presents Gift Tins posted at Make It From Scratch.

DR presents 11 Things We All Buy, But Don’t Need posted at The Dough Roller.

Jim presents Chinese Brown Sauce & White Sauce Recipes posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Billeater presents 16 Ways to Save Money on Laundry Day posted at Billeater.com.

Wojciech Kulicki presents Why I Canceled My Collision and Comprehensive Insurance posted at Fiscal Fizzle.

Patrick @ Money Saving Deals presents Quicken 2009 Coupon Codes posted at Money Saving Deals.

Tom @ Canadian Finance blog presents 10 Money Saving Tips | The Canadian Finance Blog posted at The Canadian Finance Blog.

Jason presents 5 Mistakes that Led Me to Financial Automation posted at Automatic Finances.

BeThisWay presents Wise Spending on Landscaping ? What to Hire, What to Do Ourselves posted at Are You Going To Be This Way The Rest of The Time I Know You?.

Madison presents Manage Your Budget by Tracking Your Spending posted at My Dollar Plan.

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Budget Travel Tips from a Travel Pro posted at Cash Money Life.

Cool Mommy presents Meals for a month, 30 days of savings! posted at MyCoolMommy.

Coupon HoundDog presents Lane Bryant $50 off! Colwater Creek 60% Off! posted at Coupon Hound Dog.

RC presents Save Money Grocery Shopping- Try Shopping at a Salvage Grocery Stores posted at Think Your Way to Wealth.

Mama Squirrel presents Baby Shower-and no chocolate on diapers!” posted at Dewey’s Treehouse.

Photo by Brian Hillegas

Philosophy / Information

Aryn presents Big Home vs. Small Home: How Much House Do You Need? posted at Sound Money Matters.

Jason presents I Need a Personal Loan Quick But I Have Bad Credit posted at Finance, Credit, Insurance and all.

Alex presents My Wife’s Spending is out of Control posted at MoneyStance – Money Making Opportunity Reviews.

J. Money presents Interview w/ Ramit Sethi: NY Times Best Seller & Blogger! posted at Budgets are Sexy..

PT presents Would You Consider a Move for More Job Opportunity? posted at Prime Time Money.

American Banking News presents Account Review: ING Direct’s Electric Orange Checking Account posted at American Banking News.

InvestingSchool presents Scottrade Promotion and Review posted at Investing School.

Madison presents Manage Your Budget by Tracking Your Spending posted at My Dollar Plan.

Mrs Bankrupt presents Being cheap is not thrifty posted at Mrs. Bankrupt.

Dominic Joseph presents Credit Cards for College Students: A credit card review for first timers posted at MadHubber.

ABC presents Investment Real Return posted at ABCs of Investing.

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed these wonderful articles.  Thanks to all the great bloggers out there who submitted them.

Find next week’s Festival of Frugality by visiting the official website and checking out the hosting schedule.  Speaking of which, it looks like they are looking for volunteers for the next few Festival of Frugality.  Why not contact Jim and let him know if you are interested in being a host?