Busy days , Crafting nights.

It seems just when I think I am going to have a slow  day that I can spend with my needles and hooks that those  darn household  "chores" get in the way !  I  was  going to do a load or two of laundry to hang out in the  sunshine and  cool breeze , and  wouldn't you know.......... I was  out of laundry soap and  my  DH neglected to inform me.  So I try to make most anything I can from scratch  to save money, and yes I make our laundry soap.  My daughter  thought I was nuts the  first time or two I made it, but  once she tried it  she too was hooked.  It  costs me about a dollar to make 3 huge  bottles that I have recycled.  It works fantastic to take out South Carolina red clay stains out of my clothes and  I really like  making it, as it makes me feel better about what I use on my clothes and I am saving  a lot of money.... and that makes the husband happy.  It is very easy on our front loader washer, as it does not make suds, and it gets the clothes really clean.  It only has 3 or 4 ingredients in it, although I have discovered that if I add a little of liquid fabric softener  to the bottle before I pour in the soap, it makes the soap smell great ........ and it  does make the clothes softer  even when I hang them outside.  It  really is very easy to make and it does not take me more than an hour to  make it. The only down side is you really need it to cool and set for a day before you use it , but I have used it just a couple hours and it seems to work just as well , just a bit more  runny  until it cools.  This is all the ingredients I use.......................... and the  recipe is  so simple .  You can email me or leave me a question and I will gladly send the  recipe or place it here.

I have 2 different bars of soap shown, but I only use one in a recipe.  I usually use the  octogon, but I just  recently found the  Zote at walmart, and I love  it !  It is twice the size, and I only  have to use 1/2 the  bar per batch and the best part is it is under a dollar a bar, the octagon is also but I have to use the whole bar per batch.  The Zote works so good and smells great.  I have used Fels Naptha but I found it so harsh to our skin and it is SO hard to grate and more  expensive. The Zote smells  better, is pink so in turn makes the laundry soap pretty, and it is softer and easier to grate.  The Octagon is not quite as soft , but still easy and it has a slight lemony  smell. 
Now  not only  do I make our own laundry soap , I  use my  outside clothes dryer all the time here on any sunny day the Lord provides me.  Yes I hang clothes in the winter too!  If you have  never hung  your clothes out on a cold  windy winter day ....  You have to try it at least once, the way they smell and feel is so amazing!  
Well anyway  on to the  crafting.  I found this really cute pattern on line for a dish cloth and I had to try it.  It was  crochet and I figured it would be quick to make , it  was . I made it and the  scrubby, in one night.  In fact out of just one small ball I made the cloth and the matching little scrubby.  
I love to make the scrubbies, they work so well, they hold up forever and they work great for those tight spots like skinny glasses and cups.  I also use them like a sponge as they soak up so much since they are double thickness.  I have quite buying sponges  and started using them all the time.  I save money , and  no more germy sponges.  I can wash and reuse them all the time, and I bleach them when I wash them to sanitize them so I know they are clean, and I use different patterns if I want more texture for a scrubby feel.  They are wonderful and my  daughter requests them all the time.  

 I also made these other two dish clothes in an evening of tv watching.  Just  simple crochet but  with a slight twist,  I added a picot edge on each one to dress them up a bit.  Think I am going to have to find an outlet to sell all these dish clothes as I am getting quite the collection of them.