Once you’re an adult (or at least forced to move out of your mother’s basement), you realize some important things about life. You have to be responsible for paying your own taxes, you need to get health insurance… and you’ll spend a mind-blowing amount of money every week on the most boring products.
Before, you didn’t realize you could spend $100 on mops, buckets and soap. It’s a tragic truth.
Most people spend money every week on household products that they, most likely, use daily. Not anymore. Those products you use every day are actually pretty easy to make at home. Not only will these DIY products save you money, but they should last a lot longer than your storebought items, too.
1.) Laundry Detergent
You can easily make your own laundry detergent (and scent it as you see fit). All you need for DIY laundry soap is:
1. One four pound twelve ounce box of Borax. You can use 2 smaller boxes. (Laundry aisle)
2. Three bars of Fels-Naptha soap. You can use any soap of your choice. (Laundry aisle)
3. one four pound box of arm & hammer baking soda.(Laundry aisle)
4. one box of arm & hammer super washing soda (Laundry aisle)
5. four pounds of Oxy Clean (one small/one large container/laundry aisle)
6. Laundry softener cyrstals for scent. You can mix these in to your laundry detergent or add them to your loads as needed. (Laundry aisle)
Grate the fels-naptha bars into a bowl, add the other ingredients and then shake/stir it all together. Then, place it into a container of your choice.
2.) Drain De-Clogger
The ingredients for this homemade Drain-O are pretty simple. (Note: this drain de-clogger works, but it might not be very strong.)
1/2 cup baking soda
1 cup vinegar
1 gallon boiling water
Pour the baking soda down the drain (it will begin to fizz). Then, pour 1/2 of the vinegar on the baking soda. Wait for the foaming to go down, then pour the rest of the vinegar in the drain. About 15 minutes later, you can come back and flush with a gallon of boiling water.
3.) Glass Cleaner
To make this glass cleaner all you need is:
1 cup water
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 to 3 drops Dawn dish soap
Empty spray bottle
All you do is combine the ingredients into the spray bottle… and ta-da!
4.) Air Freshener
You can make your very own room spray by using these ingredients:
A spray bottle
1 cup water
2 tablespoons alcohol
20-30 drops essential oil/s
You can use any scented oils you would like.
Pour the water, alcohol and oils into your bottle and shake it up (and make sure to shake it before you use it every time).
5.) Liquid Dish Soap
Dish soap isn’t that difficult to make yourself at home… and it costs just pennies per bottle.
1 tablespoon Borax
1 tablespoon washing soda
2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar
1/2 cup liquid castile soap
10 drops essential oil (optional)
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups and spoons
Whisk
Plastic or glass container
Measure and add the Borax and washing soda to the mixing bowl. Then add the liquid castile soap and white vinegar. Boil the water and then slowly add in the ingredients. You might want to use a whisk during this. (You can also add some scented oils at this point.)
Let the soap cool to room temperature (it will thicken as it cools).
6.) Salad Dressing
Save money and make your own, low-calorie salad dressing at home. The ingredients are simple, healthy and cheap.
7.) Hand Soap
Making your own hand soap is easy, for yourself or to give away as a gift. You will need:
Bar soap (one without additional moisturizers and don’t use Dove)
Glycerin (found in the first aid section of the grocery store or pharmacy)
1 gallon of boiling water
Grate the bar of soap into a large boil while you boil the water. Add the soap shavings and the 2 tablespoons of glycerin to the boiling water and stir until all the soap melts. Remove from heat once all of the soap is melted and let it cool overnight. Then, you can spoon into containers.
8.) Detangling Spray
If your hair tangles easily and you use a lot of detangling spray, follow this recipe to make your own:
Empty spray bottle
Warm water
3 tablespoons of any conditioner
Add the conditioner to the spray bottle, then pour the warm water in directly after. The conditioner should start to liquefy. You can add oils to this mixture if you’d like it to smell more. Then, you shake it to mix everything together.
Use it on dry or wet hair to combat tangles (and make it smell awesome).
9.) Lip Balm
If you’re addicted to using lip balm, follow these steps to make your own. It’s simpler than you may think.
Ingredients (or buy everything you need here):
Flavoring oils (we used spearmint and champagne flavors)
Shea butter
White beeswax pellets
Sweet almond oil
Tools:
Glass jar + lid
Stirring stick
Saucepan
Lip balm pots
1 teaspoon measuring spoon (these will get covered in wax)
1. Before you begin, wash and dry the small glass jar, lid, and lip balm pots.
2. Fill the saucepan with an inch of water and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium.
3. Combine 4 teaspoons beeswax, 2 teaspoons shea butter, and 3 teaspoons sweet almond oil in the glass jar. Place the jar in the saucepan and stir the mixture until it has melted.
4. Turn off the heat and add in 1/4 teaspoon of your flavor oil. If you want to make two different kinds of lip balm, split the mixture in half and add 1/8 of flavor oil into each pot.
5. Put the lid on the jar and shake!
6. Pour the melted lip balm into the lip balm pots. Let the lip balms sit for 20 minutes to harden.
7. Put these in your purse, set them on your bed-side table, or give them as gifts!
10.) Bath Bombs
Bath bombs are all the rage, but now you can make your own instead of spending a hundred dollars at the store. Not only will they make baths amazing, but they are great as gifts.
2 tablespoons baking soda
1 tablespoon of citric acid (or 1/2 tablespoon cream of tartar)
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 tablespoon epsom salts (you can find this in any store these days)
1/4 teaspoon oil (you can use any light oil you like. I actually used plain ol’ canola since it’s fragrance free and wouldn’t compete with the liquid)
3/4 teaspoon liquid*
A drop or two of food colouring
A mold for the bombs (cupcake pan, tins, etc)
Mix the dry ingredients (baking soda, acid, cornstarch, and salts) into a bowl and whisk together to remove lumps.
In a small jar, shake together the wet ingredients (oil, liquid, and coloring).
While whisking, dump the wet ingredients into the dry mixture. You’ll see a slight reaction (if you’re using citric acid), but keep on whisking until the mixture has started to clump together and is completely dyed the color you added. It should still be a little crumbly which is what you want. If you add any more liquid, the citric acid will start to foam.
Spoon the mixture into a mold and pack it in as tight as you can. Allow to dry for at least 5 hours before trying to get them out of the mold. Let dry for another 4 hours before plopping one in the bath or let them dry another 1-2 days before storing them.
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Being creatively thrifty isn’t as hard as it seems. Impress your friends, family, guests and significant other by using this cheap alternatives to store bought products. Not only will you seem awesomely frugal, but you’ll show them just how creative you are.
Share these awesome recipes with others. It’s time to start saving some serious money.
