DANTAisms

There are a lot of things my mother has gotten used to by having me as a daughter: the “trail” of belongings I leave behind me when I come home to visit, the fact that I am the only one in the family (aside from her) that will eat real food (Dad and my brother would live off frozen pizza and potato chips if we let them), and that I am a bit of an environmentalist. I like recycling, and I try hard not to produce a lot of waste – whether that means not using paper napkins, trying to buy items with less packaging, or singing the “Wasted Food Cheer” from Glen Helen attempting to guilt my brother into clearing his plate (Dude. It’s just green beans.).

Having an environmentalist daughter inspired my mother to try something new: making her own cleaning products. Its not difficult, better for the environment, and better yet, it costs less money!

A quick Google search brought my mom to a website called “Fabulessly Frugal.” The cleverly names site provides different ways to save some money. Something we all can relate to. Of course, they have a fabulous recipe for some homemade fabric softener. Since I would like to give them full credit, you will find the recipe and its exact measurements HERE.

Picture from FabulesslyFrugal.com

The recipe is 3 simple ingredients: white vinegar, hot water, and whatever scent of hair conditioner you desire. Mix them all together according to the directions, bottle it up, and BAM. Inexpensive fabric softener. The website calculates the math at this recipe costing you a mere 6 cents a load. Six pennies! Do the math on the commercial softener you currently use, and see if it comes out less than that. Better yet, it actually works too! This wont be one of those Pinterest fails you see on other news sites.

Creating your own bulk cleaning products is a great way to reduce your impact on the environment. White vinegar is a natural ingredient, so there is no harm to the environment there. The only “issue” could possibly be the hair conditioner, if you want to argue about parabens and all the things that go into creating that. However, the same things (and potentially more) are already in the fabric softener you currently use, and you have to replace that softener more often, meaning those plastic bottles are going to pile up. Sure, those can be recycled of course, but isn’t it better just not to create the waste in the first place?

Do you DIY your housekeeping products? Let us know in the comments below!