Saving money with homemade products

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Schieffelin

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Hi everyone,

I’ve been looking lately for creative ways to save money by using homemade or reusable products. I haven’t completely taken the plunge because often you have to experiment and fail a lot to find good methods and you end up wasting time and money just in that process. For example, experimenting with a homemade laundry soap recipe and finding it’s a huge pain to make and it doesn’t get your clothes very clean after all.

So I really want to hear your tried-and-true methods instead of relying on unreliable google results! Have you ever made your own of any of these and what recipes worked for you?
–laundry soap
–dishwasher soap
–shampoo or conditioner
–counter cleaner
–floor cleaner
–deodorant
–clothes/accessories

I’m also really interested in ways you recycle or reuse items. I’m considering switching to reusable feminine products. We don’t have kids, but feel free to post kid-related ideas as well for the benefit of others.

Thanks for contributing 😃
 
Foods that take skill to make and preserving foods that are cheaper and higher quality in summer than in winter. For instance: homemade freezer jam. It lasts two years (at least) in the freezer, tastes far better, and is lots cheaper. Just follow the directions enclosed in the MCP pectin box.

It actually saves money to only wash your clothes as often as you need to and to use lukewarm water when that will do (instead of warm or hot).

With shampoo or conditioner, it saves money to look for inexpensive brands that work well on your hair, rather than making it yourself. For instance, you’ll see EDTA and sodium laureth sulfate in nearly every product on the market. Those make shampoos work better than the chemicals you are likely to come up with at home.
 
Good advice! What other types of things specifically do you prepare in huge batches and freeze for the winter?
 
Lemons and salt make excellent cleaners.

I use a lemon wedge covered in salt as a scrubber for pots, pans, counter tops, etc.

A measuring cup with about 1cup water with a lemon wedge in it is great for cleaning the microwave. Just put it in there, set the microwave so the water will boil, and it will release the acid, etc from the lemon, and will loosen whatever is stuck in there. Then scrub with the lemon wedge.

Everything will smell lemon fresh too.
 
For a good all purpose cleaner fill a spray bottle with half water and half vinegar (I suggest apple cider vinegar or another light one, not balsamic lol.) . There are tons of uses for vinegar as a cleaner around the house. It is also non-toxic so that is a plus. Here is a site where you can see tons of ways to use vinegar as a cleaner thenewhomemaker.com/vinegar
 
Pinterest will give you more than you could ever imagine in this area.

I use a water (2 cups)/white vinegar (2 cups)/rubbing alcohol (quarter cup?)/lemongrass (few drops? This is a natural disinfectant. Has even been proven to kill staph. Smells nice too!) extract mixture as an all purpose cleaner. Best I’ve used so far.

Also use a quarter cup of white vinegar in the rinse cycle. It helps remove detergent residue and is a natural fabric softener.

White vinegar and olive oil is a good wood cleaner/polisher.

We use cloth in lieu of paper towels. Have never looked back.

I’ve heard coconut oil makes a good deoderant. I use it as a facial moisturizer. Its good stuff, solid at room temp.

I also use apple cider vinegar as an astringent on my face. A half-half mixture is a wonderful rinse for the hair now and then. Will make it shine.

I do use a Lunette, which is an alternative to the Divacup. Takes a couple cycles getting used to (I felt it in the first couple months, and had some cramping too, but now I forget about it), but once you do, you never look back! It even seems to have made my periods lighter, which I’ve heard from other women as well (less irritation from chemicals?). I want to get some cloth panti liners as well.
 
Coconut oil makes not only a great moisturizer, but it is a good make-up remover as well. It is a natural anti-inflammatory and is good for some skin conditions. I use it to help treat my seborrheic dermatitis. It is great in cooking, it doesn’t add any flavor to food and isn’t chemically extracted from the plant like corn, vegetable, and canola oils.
 
Schieffelin said:
Good advice! What other types of things specifically do you prepare in huge batches and freeze for the winter?
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Canning, too…like prepared spaghetti sauce from seasonal tomatoes, mostly. I think fruit for pie fillings and fruit sauces freezes well–I make blackberry barbeque sauce and raspberry sauce for desserts from it–because it can be sugared. It depends a lot on what you can get and what you eat, though.

Many people I know also buy a quarter or a half (or a whole) cow and have it butchered to order. Some do this with a pig. I’ve never gone that far.

Certainly it saves a load of money not to eat out, but especially not to have liquor served out. The markup on wine, beer, and spirits in a restaurant is astronomical! :eek:
 
Make sure to know your surfaces, as well as your cleaners.

Vinegar is a great multi-purpose cleaner (it can remove hard water deposits, for example) but should not be used on stone surfaces (even cultured stone) as it can dissolve some types.

Baking soda is a great alternative cleanser.
 
I buy a gallon jug of white vinegar every month or so.

It’s great for cleaning windows, lino, laminate floors, in the dishwasher to cut grease.

Windows: 1 cup in hot soapy water. Dry off the window with newspaper. Does a great job.

Floors: 1 cup in hot soapy water, use a mop or sponge mop.

Dishwasher: half a cup right into the dishwasher before you start. Makes a big difference in hard water areas.

Cleaning eye glasses. Similar solution to window washing but on a far smaller scale with less soap.

I use it to wash bugs of my helmet and visor, and to clean them off my bike too.
 
Not only do I cloth diaper but I make my own reusable wipes too.

I do
Boiled tap water (cooled down)
Castille soap
Vit E oil with lemon essence
Witch Hazel
Olive Oil

Mixed and poured into a spray bottle and a few squirts on a wash cloth will clean everything.

I spent about $25 on everything and haven’t bought wipes in over a month.

All natural too so baby’s bum isn’t exposed to alcohol or chemicals or allergy inducers.

I plan on making my own baby food when she is old enough.

I’ve saved so much money just by taking the time to do this.

Also…baking soda and vinegar are fantastic for everything…I use it to clean the diapers but you can use it for stain fighting and fabric softener too in your regular laundry.

Get a cheap sewing kit and use it to repair rips and tears in clothes
 
Witch hazel!!

I buy large bottles of witch hazel since I discovered that lots of fairly expensive over the counter remedies include it.

It’s great for reducing swellings, and also puffy skin (baggy eyes). It’s a cleaner and astringent also. It makes your skin feel good.

It shrinks swollen veins and capillaries so with a bit of imagination you know what it can be used for:p

Being a guy I just put a bit on tissue paper - you gals wil probably mix it with essence of this and that, and a few rose petals:p

I also use it when my eyes feel sore. I mix a few drops with distilled water and rinse my eyes. It works as well as the much more expensive eye drops. (Obviously use common sense: if your eye doctor has prescribed some eye drops or ointments then follow their directions)
 
I freeze a lot of fruits and veggies that are on sale in season. Berries of all sorts freeze well. Just wash dry and place on a waxpaper lined cookie sheet, seperate so theyre not clumped together, and freeze a couple hours then pop them into a zip lock baggie and freeze. Theyll keep for months. Veggies like diced or sliced peppers, onions, celery freeze very well. I also grow my own herbs in containers on my porch and either freeze em or dry em and have enough to last me all winter. I freeze and/or dry chives, dill, basil, oregano, thyme, mint. I also make my own Bisquick mix. and cake mix they keeps at room temp for a couple months. You can get many more frugal ideas on www.hillbillyhousewife.com
Hope this helps you.
 
I use the liquid and powder laundry soap recipe from the Duggar Family: www.duggarfamily.com

It works great! They also have a homemade fabric softener recipe too!
 
Allegra said:
:eek:
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This is not pre-Civil War reusables. These are products of modern invention. I don’t use them, but the women I know who do seem quite satisfied with them. (I think they use the stuff put out by Diva.)
 
Kelfa28 said:
Not only do I cloth diaper but I make my own reusable wipes too.

I do
Boiled tap water (cooled down)
Castille soap
Vit E oil with lemon essence
Witch Hazel
Olive Oil

Mixed and poured into a spray bottle and a few squirts on a wash cloth will clean everything.

I spent about $25 on everything and haven’t bought wipes in over a month.

All natural too so baby’s bum isn’t exposed to alcohol or chemicals or allergy inducers.
Click to expand...
I just use apple cider vinegar watered down in a squirt bottle and squirted on terry cloth at changing time. Its the cheapest, is very good for the skin, cleans great, and it was the only thing that finally fully got rid of my twins’ yeasty rashes, which we struggled with for a year and not even different prescriptions fully got rid of.
 
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