Hey y'all! I am in love with making my own household cleaners and laundry soap. I started making my own products because of my health. My mom had recently gotten sick and soon thereafter I was on the same path. At the time I had 4 small kiddos and an amazing hubby, I knew I needed to do what I could to be as healthy as I could for them, and I want that for them too! I decided I needed to be careful with not only what I put in my body but also what I put on my body. That included what I clean with, in my house and in my shower. Then it transformed into making homemade cleaners and things for my kids and at that time my baby. They were 6, 4, 2, and almost 10 months. 

The cost savings was huge, which I did not expect! I was thinking this would be an expensive passion of mine, it was worth the investment, but guess what?? It saved our family a ton of dough. And that was much needed with our large family living on a firefighter income. 

This journey started over a decade ago. Do I still make these recipes? Absolutely! They are my family favorites. I have lazy times when I come home with a body wash from Natural Grocers, but the kids always ask where their good stuff is. It is totally worth the small amount of effort. My family loves it, I feel good knowing I’m trying to do what I feel is best for my family, and I love keeping some things old-fashioned in this modern organized chaos farm life that I love.

My Kids Favorite Recipes

They love my laundry soap! I keep it simple, and I use my homemade bar soap in it. It smells so yummy! No fragrances, just good ol' essential oils. I've tried so many recipes throughout the years and some of them worked good, but not as good as I would like. We have dirty farm clothes, delicate gym clothes, and everything in between. I wanted a recipe that would be soft with my delicates, get the mud out of my boys clothes, and get the sweat out of my hard working man's clothes. Here is what I came up with y'all!

Mamacita's Laundry Soap

1. 1 bar homemade cowboy bar soap, shredded. (or your favorite bar soap of choice)
2. 4 cups oxi clean. Note: use baby oxide clean, its the purest form and gets the job done y'all
3. 1 cup epsom salt
4. 1/2 cup critic acid (I use lemi-shine or this one off amazon if I can't get to Natural Grocers)
5. 1/2 box borax (you can get this on the cleaning isle at most retailers)
6. 1/2 box washing soda

Mix all the ingredients and store in a glass jar. I keep the scoop from the oxi clean box and use 1/2-1 scoop depending on the size of the load and how dirty the laundry is. Use white vinegar as a fabric softener. For one, it's cheap. Second, it's an odor eliminator. Third, it makes everything so stinking soft! 

Note: I usually double this recipe. You can add downy unstoppables or something like that if you'd like. I usually just add some oils like On Guard for extra cleaning properties and awesome smell! I love oils y'all!

Another Family Favorite

My cowboy bar soap is a favorite for sure! It's for cowgirls too y'all, so don't worry. I usually do a hot process soap when I make it for the family because we are impatient and we don't want to wait weeks to use the good smelling stuff. Stay tuned for the YouTube how-to video y'all! I'll update this post when it is up.

There are so many more recipes we love, click here for the full recipe book. Use code COWBOYSOAP for 20% off. 

My Cleaning Routine

I use a cleaning bag y'all, it's the easiest thing. I don't like having a million cleaners all over in every room. I have disinfecting wipes in every room, and everything else (except room specific items) go in my cleaning bag. 

So this is what is in my cleaning bag:

• dusting cleaner
• bon ami
• mr clean eraser 
• glass cleaner
• fresh brush in a zipped bag and fresh brush refills~this is the way to go y'all, toilet brushes are nasty
• all purpose cleaner/disinfectant
• swiffer duster extender and refills
• 4 gallon trash bags (plastic sacks if it floats my boat)
• an old toothbrush
• electronic glass wipes 
• disposable gloves (I keep a baggie with a bunch of gloves, I don't want to reuse a cleaning glove, just seems gross, to each its own.)
• screwdriver
• flat spatula and cutips, use your imagination y'all

With this bag I can grab my broom and swiffer mop, head into each room and slam it out like no ones business. I open one of the trash bags to throw away stuff as I go. I wipe all table tops and baseboards weekly when cleaning each room. Why not? It takes just a couple minutes and I never have to worry about build up.

When do I schedule my cleaning days? Check out how we plan our days here. 

Cleaning With Kids

Get them involved!! Letting go of some control actually feels pretty good, especially when your kids are entering adulthood and you realize they can totally run a household when they're ready to take that step. It all starts young, seriously, young! What can your kids do at each age? It is totally different for each kid and each household. Make constant assessments and see what they're capable of. Slow down and have them do the work with you, as they get older, they can help here and there and know how to do it right. It builds memories and when they do get old enough to help out, they know how to do it correctly.

I used these cleaning checklists for my kiddos when they were younger. We did a star chart which was awesome, and the checklists made sure they didn't forget anything. They earned rewards for helping out and being nice to their siblings, it's a win win! Here is a sample of rewards they could earn.

They got to 'cash' it in every 2 weeks, they loved it, and so did I! I adjusted the list as they grew and their likes changed. This just give you an idea of how it worked. 

Busy Days

There are these days now and then when you just can't think, you know? I have several health problems and I need to use this flow chart to get through my day sometimes. This has been super helpful, by the end of the day I've gotten several loads of laundry done and the house is 'up to par'. I hope it helps y'all as much as it has helped me! 

Hope y'all like the laundry soap! Don't forget to check out all of our Organized Chaos line in the store. You'll find all kinds of organizing and cleaning downloads, organized chaos in a modern world. Y'all come back now!