Pink ZOTE Soap Makes Fabulous Homemade Laundry Powder

Hi everyone,
Okay, so one of the things that I've gotten sidetracked from is talking about how a single girl like myself budgets and makes things work or do without. Or to phrase it better how I have champagne taste and still manage to live on a soda pop can budget. Oh, no I don't drink..but you know  what I mean about having an eye for luxury, but still living on a budget :) :) :) 

This is a sweet little place that I spotted while out driving yesterday (Wednesday) with my father. It is actually an equestrian center. Isn't so beautiful and red with the typical Oregon skies? I would so love to have a place of my own just like this someday.

Do you remember me mentioning pink ZOTE soap? It's a soap that's made in Mexico. Apparently most  of my friends can buy it near them, except for me. So when I discovered the Lehman's in Kidron, Ohio sells it..well, I was very happy!!!  They are a fabulous business that caters to Amish and non-Amish. It's got all kinds of things for every need. I'd recommend browsing around their online website and even ordering a catalog or two. it's well worth the price :) :)

So I decided to purchase some of this soap. A really sweet blogger lady, Maryjane over at The Beehive Cottage has this fabulous recipe for pink homemade laundry powder.  In fact, I think it was because of her that I went in search of this wonderful product in the first place. So I'll give you the recipe here as well as the cost of materials. 

First you need ingredients, plus a few extras. You will need one full 4-pound box EACH of BORAX, Baking Soda and Washing Soda.  Borax and Baking Soda are very easy to find in just about EVERY store.  It's funny to think that one of my cleaning supply ingredients is actually found in the baking aisle, but hey, who am I to complain? Baking soda has many fabulous uses. Washing soda  is a bit harder for me to find. However, I can readily find it at my local Fred Meyer store in the laundry supplies section, right next to the BORAX. Here's a nicer bullet-point list of what you'll need to start:

- 1, 4-lb box of Borax
- 1, 4-lb box of Baking Soda
   (I use Arm & Hammer brand)
- 1, 4-lb box of Super Washing Soda
   (again, I use Arm & Hammer brand)
- 1 1/3 bars of pink ZOTE soap, 14.1oz/bar
   (or 3 full bars of Fels Naptha)
- 1 air-tight container large  enough to hold all this laundry powder.  I used a Rubbermaid container that holds 9.5 gallons...large!!!

I had read that these bars of soap are big. However, no one told me how HUGE each individual bar really is. Each bar is the size of a small brick. That is my hand holding a single bar of this pretty soap :)  :) :)

You will only need 1 1/3 bars of pink ZOTE soap for this recipe. Yes, it really is enough and  when you see for yourself how large  these bars really are, then you will understand why you only need that much. Each bar of pink ZOTE soap is 14.1 ounces.  You will need a knife to slice the soap into sections. I used a standard butter knife. The soap was extremely easy to slice since it has a minimum fatty acid content of 66%. You don't have to use pink ZOTE soap, any other soap of your choice would be fine...just make sure it's about 18 oz, give or take an ounce. You could also use three bars of Fels Naptha or another bar soap of your choice.

You will need something to grate the soap. I started out with a traditional grater. However, this soap is so soft, I switched to my rotating cheese grater from Pampered Chef. Note, I only use this grater for soap now and nothing else. You could probably use it for grating soap and cheese as long as you washed it really well in between. However, I prefer to designate my grater for soap ONLY!!! I did cut the pink ZOTE soap into sections to make it easier to use in this grater.

When you are all done grating the soap, this is what it looks like. It looks like finely grated cheese. I use a grate that is fine for parmesan cheese or something slightly softer. I don't think it really matters as long as it's finely grated. It'll also break up a little bit more when you mix it in with the other ingredients.

Then you mix in a full 4-lb box EACH of Borax, super washing soda and baking soda. Mix it all together well. I use a fork, but a spoon would work just as well.  Isn't this just about the "prettiest" homemade laundry powder you ever saw?  This makes nearly  16 pounds of soap all together. Actually more like 13-14 lbs. It only takes 2 Tablespoons per load of laundry. That's all you need.

I did read that if you have an HE front-loader washer, dissolve 1-2 Tablespoons in warm water to form a liquid. Then you can add it to the machine and it'll work fine. I've never tried that since I still use a tradition top-loading washer.  However, if you tend to wash your clothes with cold water, you could still do the same thing of dissolving the soap in just enough warm water until it becomes a liquid. Then add it to your cold water wash.

That's basically it. Now what did all of this cost me?  Not a lot at all...  Since I had to order the pink ZOTE soap from Lehman's , there was the matter of standard delivery shipping. Shipping was $7.95 from Lehman's. Remember, I did order something else..so I did some math and figured that the shipping for the soap alone would have worked out to about $2.07 cents for three bars of pink ZOTE soap. Okay, here's a breakdown list of what I used and what it cost me:

--- 1, 4 lb box of BORAX $4.49
--- 1, 4 lb box of Super Washing Soda $ 3.19
      (I used Arm & Hammer brand)
--- 1, 4 lb box of Baking Soda $2.99
      (again...I used Arm & Hammer brand)
--- 1 1/3 bars of pink ZOTE soap ca $1.76
      NOTE: 3 bars of pink ZOTE soap from Lehman's catalog cost $3.95. That's a GREAT deal. So 1 1/3 bars of this soap is about $1.76

This recipe is supposed to last for 150 loads of washing. That is a LOT of dirty laundry. So if I do NOT factor in the shipping I paid for soap, that would be:

$12.43 for EVERYTHING together
$0.08 cents/load

If I DO factor in the cost of shipping that would be:
$14.50 for EVERYTHING together (including shipping)
$0.10 cents/load

So I'll definitely be keeping track of this as the weeks go by...and when I've finally used up that last lovely tablespoon of pink laundry soap, there'll be a final tally to see what it really cost me.  Thanks for hanging in there with me. I  love talking about unit cost, especially when things are tight financially. This really helps me a lot.  I'm all about figuring out ways to get the job done for less and making my dollar stretch as far as it can!!! Oh, in case, I don't "see" some of you until the new year, I want to wish you all a very Happy CHRISTmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year !!! That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather :)

365 Day Photo Challenge for November 1 - November 5, 2010 !!!

Hi everyone...

Eeek...I'm missing three weeks worth of photos...from October 6th thru October 31st. So I'm not sure what I"ll do to catch up...I think I'll start doubling up on photos for each week...keep your eyes out for that because I'll make sure to let you know when those are coming :) :) :)

Here is my installment for the last five days...I've included some brief comments...

Monday - November 1, 2010 (photo actually taken on November 2, 2010 - Tuesday) There's something really neat about a barn...new, old, lonely...lots of paint..no paint...This one is pretty..and so far the only one I've been able to take a photo of from a moving car ;) :)

On this day...it was my only day off...my days off are split during the week. I was a bit grumpy and not really wanting to go anywhere so early in the day. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because my father and I were able to get some errands done. On this day, we drove to Ashland and Jacksonville . . . looking for a Bible (in J-ville) and some very nice knitting yarn in Ashland. The yarn was a gift from my father :) :)....gotta feed my fibre habit!!!

Tuesday - November 2, 2010    This photo was taken from the car. My dad and I drove to this little Christian bookstore that's housed in this old brick building. This building used to be a doll hospital at one point in time..so I thought I'd take a photo of the view down the sidewalk :)

My father found a really nice new study Bible here which he was going to keep for himself. However, after some thought, he put a new leather hide cover on it...and is planning on giving it away to someone who could use it..besides that...Jacksonville is so pretty, it's like stepping back in time 150 years.  You can't help but WANT to take a walk around and see what there is to see :) :)

Wednesday - November 3, 2010 - This is my latest project...a knitted Christmas stocking. The pattern has a really unusual twist to it...It's actually pretty cool. I'll be posting about this later :)

A great, super fun knitting project is always worthy of a photo. Oh, and notice the very nice "Create and Decorate" magazine on the background? I'm making that stocking...although I manipulated the yarn choice every so slightly. Hey, if you like any kind of crafting from knitting & sewing to punch needle embroidery...this magazine is FOR YOU...TRULY!! It's front cover to back cover...super cute...and great craft ideas. Click here to visit their site. You'll go crazy happy over all the crafty eye candy :) :) I can only count five magazines...that I think are worthy of the title  "front cover to back cover" good and this is one of them!!!!

Thursday - November 4, 2010  Okay...okay...more knitting...this store is the source for my knitting habit :) :) It's a great store...I always enjoy paying them a visit...and I never leave disappointed.  There's always a new yarn to try.  It's like being a kid in a candy store.

I like to visit The Web*sters whenever time permits. It's a really nice upscale yarn shop. Yes, they do focus on luxury yarns...but they have something for everyone and in every price range. The quality is always really good...so that's the main reason I LOVE shopping here whenever time and money permits. Usually I buy cotton yarns. Those tend to be the least expensive and they make great projects for the home :) :)

Friday - November 5, 2010 This is a sneak peek at an upcoming project.....no spoilers!!!

Those are my photos for this week.  I'll make up for the previous three weeks worth of photos throughout the month of November :)  Oh, work was very challenging today.   It was  one call after another with no pause in between. I'm so thankful to be home for the rest of the evening ;) :) :)

That's pretty  much it for this week. I'm going to finish up one project this weekend....until then, I'll be starting another one tonight. Knitting is really relaxing...for me anyway...knitting and coffee....extra love and hugs :) :) That's the news from Oregon today. Bonus love and hugs, Heather :)

365 day photo challenge from July 17th till July 23rd, 2010.

Hi everyone.  I'm going to keep it really simple today because I have a bit of a headache. Here's my next installment of photos for my 365 Day Photo Challenge.


Saturday ~ July 17th, 2010 Looking at the traditional art of crochet in a new way.


Sunday ~ July 18th, 2010 Super cute vintage trailer.

Monday ~ July 19th, 2010 Bon Ami is Mon Ami.


Tuesday ~ July 20th, 2010 Oregon farmland


Wednesday ~ July 21st, 2010 I was desperate for a photo today..so I just posted all the tea things, heart-shaped rubber ice cube tray for " romantic" iced tea, and three little spools of crochet cotton..all of these for just under $13 all together!!


Thursday ~ July 22nd, 2010 A beatiful orange rose.

Friday ~ July 23rd, 2010 The tea strainer I found at a yard sale today for just $0.50. It's made in England and it's quite heavy.

 

I bought a package of 10 CD-R's today. I wanted to burn all of my photos to CD before I deleted them off my camera's memory card.  Oh, I ruined three CDs trying to figure it out.  Long story short, I figured it out and it's really, really easy. It was just extremely time consuming because I had almost 1000 to go through and decide if I really wanted to keep them or not.

 

Needless to say I was very frustrated. I wasn't kind and I didn't trust that my dad could help. Well, lo and behold, he could because he saves a lot of his Bible study notes and journal entries to CD-R's.  So when I got over my stupid pride, we figured it out. Now it's really easy and I'm very happy about the process.

 

Let me say that worry and stress do no good. I have a headache because I decided to rely on my own ability instead of praying and asking God for wisdom and patience. That's how I look at it anyway :) :) I did apologize to my dad for being frustrated earlier this evening.

 

In other news, I found some great things at a yard sale today...and some awesome tea things at two thrift stores yesterday.  I'll talk about them as I post them during the week.  Stay tuned to see what comes up..:) :) :)

 

That's about it for the moment. My head still hurts a little bit, but I couldn't go to sleep without posting something :) :) See, I kept it "short"...just like I said :) :) That's the news from Oregon. Love and hugs, Heather :)