Got No Dough - Saving Money in Slim Times

I’ve been debating whether or not I would add the CommentLuv plugin since I read Encouraging Comments with the CommentLuv Plugin. Then I began to procrastinate and haven’t felt like tweaking my blog.

Well, good old RT wrote Backlink Building with DoFollow Blogs and the CommentLuv WordPress Plugin yesterday and once again he gave me the kick in the pants I needed to actually make a change. And yes, it was a GREAT kick….I think this guy should be a motivational speaker. Maybe he can tell me I need to get off the computer and clean my home…nah, nobody is THAT motivational.

I installed the plugin and it appears to be working - I won’t know for sure until someone leaves me a comment. In return for a lovely comment, you get a lovely link to your last blog entry. If you don’t have a blog - well tough luck I guess.

I like to choose projects that *look* easy and that’s probably my biggest mistake.  After making my own dishwasher detergent and failing, I decided to try to make disinfectant wipes.  The kind that you purchase at the store are expensive and I figured this is something that I could definitely use.

The instructions are pretty simple.  You’re supposed to get a roll of paper towels, take the cardboard out of the center, cut the roll in half and then put the roll into a plastic container of some sort.  Then you add the disinfectant of your choice and pull the towels from the center of the roll and it’s just like the containers from the store.

Ok, let’s break this process down so the world can see what went wrong every step of the way:

1. Take the cardboard roll out of the center of the roll.  I’ve yet to find instructions that mention that manufacturers GLUE the cardboard to the paper towels.  So, I expected the sucker would slide right out and it didn’t.  I ran a long thin knife down inside to pull it loose and it really chewed up the paper towels.  Nothing fatal though because I could just throw away the first few that I pulled out.  After performing major surgery, the cardboard roll came out.
2. Cut the roll in half.  Again, nobody mentions that you need a hack saw to cut this thing in half.  I tried a regular kitchen knife - didn’t cut.  Tried scissors - didn’t cut.  So I finally got out a bread knife which seriously resembles a hacksaw and it worked.  However, it also made confetti out of the paper towels as I cut and I was left with pile of paper towel dust when I was done.  Definitely not pretty, but it got the job done.
3. Put the half roll into a plastic container.  I looked at the store for a plastic container that would hold half a roll of paper towels but really couldn’t find anything.  I decided to use something I already had at home.  This was probably the best part of the whole project.  If you want to get REALLY fancy, you can even drill a hole in the lid so they dispense real pretty.  I opted not to do this and instead have to remove the lid every time.
4. Add the disinfectant of your choice.  I used 1 part Lysol kitchen cleaner to 2 parts water.  I think it’s breaking down the paper towels though because they feel weaker and weaker each time I use them.  I probably should have used more water…but then would they really disinfect?
5. Pull from the center and wipe.  The paper towels come out of the center and my husband was very amused that I was able to make something like this.  However, I feel like the wipes are getting thinner by the day and there is still some paper towel dust in there.

Will I Do It Again?

Nope.

A Better Alternative?

Buy a bottle of disinfectant, spray it on the surface and use a paper towel to wipe :)  Seriously though, I heard this on a show the other day and it is a great idea.  Bleach is one of the best and cheapest disinfectants there is.  Fill up your sink with bleach and water (read the instructions for the proper dilution).  While the water is in there, throw your sponge, scrub brush and anything else that needs disinfecting.  You can even use a white towel dipped in the water to wipe down your counters.   The smell is not the greatest and you’ll need to ventilate, but you can have peace of mind knowing that you’re kitchen is clean and that you’re saving some bucks in the process.

And you won’t have paper towel dust everywhere.

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Dishwasher detergent was one of the first “make it yourself” projects that I took on. It was very simple to mix, the ingredients were easy to find, and it seemed like something that could save me money since I run my dishwasher every single day. I looked up the recipe on several sites just to see the different variations on it and they were basically all the same.

To Make Your Own Dishwasher Detergent

You’re going to need:

• Baking Soda
• Borax
• Container to store it in
• Scoop

You can make the batch up in any size you’d like, just mix equal parts baking soda and borax. Some other recipes call for Koolaid but I opted not to add it. Use 1-2 Tablespoons of your mixture (less for soft water, more for hard water). A very important consideration for this is to make sure you’re using a rinse aid. Again - do it yourself! You can fill up your rinse aid dispenser with vinegar or add a bit to the rinse cycle.

My Verdict on Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Indeed it was easy to make - it took a whopping minute to measure and mix. Definitely inexpensive - two positives so far. Now, here’s the killer! My dishes didn’t come out clean and they had this nasty powdery residue left on them. I even ran them through an additional rinse cycle and the gritty mess wouldn’t come off. Long story short, some of my dishes still had grit after several wash cycles so I had to wash them by hand. I investigated this on the internet and some people said that maybe I used too much detergent, so I cut back. Better, but still not acceptable. Some people say it was the rinse agent, so I added extra vinegar to the rinse cycle. Again, better, but there was still too much grit on them for my taste (no pun intended because you could actually TASTE the baking soda on the glasses!).

This little experiment probably cost me more than it saved me because I had to wash the dishes so many times. This is not something I recommend because for me it just did not work well no matter what I did to correct the problem.

So what do I recommend? I went out and bought the largest box of Cascade I could find. Why the name brand? Because the larger box was cheaper per ounce than the generic! And the results?? My dishes sparkle again and are super clean.

Now if you want to try to save a little more money just cut the amount of detergent you use in your cups. This is something you’ll have to experiment with based on what kind of water you have but I find that I can fill each one half way and it works fine. Some people are able to leave the prewash cup empty and fill the regular cup 1/4 full and it works for them. Just experiment and find out for yourself!

A lot of time has passed and while I’d love to say that I’ve been out working on a super secret research project - I’m just not a good liar.  The truth is that our cable was shut off and with the cable goes my internet connection.  No internet connection = no blogging.

On a side note, I guess I’ve technically been researching some things though.  You know all those sites that tell you how to make your own “fill in the blank” and save money?  I’ve actually been trying some of those things out and I’m a little surprised.  Some things were difficult to make, some didn’t work how they were supposed to and some of the things I thought would be most difficult were a piece of cake.

I’ll let you know the results of my efforts over the coming days (maybe weeks if I can’t get a wireless connection).  It’s definitely been a journey!