i recently made a facebook post regarding laundry detergent.
it went an little something like "i made some laundry detergent today. it smells good"
little did i know that that little tidbit would pique so much interest!
so i'm going to write a little bit about my household cleaning supplies, and my you never need to buy expensive, scary chemical based cleaners ever again.

 first off, you need a few staples:
vinegar
borax
baking soda

keep these on hand all time and you're pretty set.

other goodies to have handy:
lemons or lemon juice
coarse sea salt
essential oils (orange and lavender are really useful; orange oil is really good at removing adhesives, like price tags and other sticky stuff, plus bugs have an aversion to citrus and lavender is a pretty decent disinfectant, among other things.  there are many different oils that have many different uses, and i'm not getting into them here, but do some research. we have a small arsenal and they're great)
hydrogen peroxide (a non bleach whitener and disinfectant)

so laundry soap...
what you'll need:
4 cups baking soda
3 cups borax
2 cups soap flakes (or about 2 bars glycerin or castile soap)
a bout a tablespoon of whatever essential oil you like.

we use bars of soap, 2 does the trick. the easiest way to grate them is to shop the bars into small bits and toss them in a food processor or blender. (our blender has a little processor attachment. it does the trick.) though you can grate it by hand with a cheese grater. that method sucks, by the way.

basically just mix all the components together and call it a day.
you only need to use 1/8 cup per load, so it's cheap, easy, great for sensitive skin and lasts forever.
if you're feeling really ambitious (and have a big bucket) you can double or triple the recipe.

i usually keep an all-purpose cleaning spray handy
old spray bottle
1 tablespoon borax
vinegar (enough to fill half to 3/4 bottle)
a few drops lavender oil
enough water to finish filling the bottle.
mix it all together and shake the hell out of it to get the borax to dissolve. if there are still chunks don't fret, let it sit, they'll dissolve eventually. (but be careful because those chunks will clog the sprayer.)
give it a good shake every time you use it to re-mix the oil.
i use this to clean stuff in the kitchen and bathroom

drain cleaner
baking soda
vinegar

dump a bit of baking soda into the drain (a half cup or so)
follow it with some vinegar (at least a cup)
it'll get all foamy and fizzy.
let it sit for at least 15 minutes and rinse it with some very hot water.
doing this from time to time will help keep drains clear and stink free.

 to clean my floors i fill a bucket with hot water, a 1/4 cup borax and about 4 cups of vinegar and some a couple drops of orange oil.
not only do i get clean floors but my house smells AMAZING

just plain vinegar and old newspapers replaces windex.
scrub pots with borax or baking soda and lemon.
running your washing machine empty (smallest load setting) with a cup of lemon juice will get rid of any funky smells (sometimes yuck builds up, you know that weird smell...)


that's all i have right now because life is distracting me.
hopefully this is helpful