Price check at register 12...

Over at Bossy's Poverty Party today, they're talking about laundry detergent. It's expensive, but sometimes trying to save money on it results in dingy whites and faded colors. And dingy whites and faded colors make me feel, well, they make me feel all dingy and faded.

photo borrowed from here

One blogger suggested that you only need a fraction of the recommended amount of detergent. (Note that this tip came from a washing machine repairman who probably never does his own laundry) I've tried this, both in the interest of saving money and the environment. I was not impressed. Dingy. (Although when everything's dingy you don't always notice that it's also not clean) She also recommended using a very highly concentrated brand of detergent from Sears, and says that she's still using a box of it she bought a year ago.

This made me take a trip downstairs to the basement to peruse the labels on our detergent bottles. I used to buy whatever brand was on sale at the best price, figuring they're all pretty much the same, right? Until I bought Tide a few times on sale, and then went back to using All or Cheer or whatever was cheapest. Guess what? Yep, dingy, dingier, then after awhile, really dingy. (I love that word: D-I-N-G-Y!) So, now I buy Tide when it's on sale, and I stock up. We use the unscented, uncolored formula for all the clothes and towels and sheets because Dave thinks the regular formula makes him itch. Then we use the Febreze-infused formula to wash all the slipcovers and dog towels and bedding, because they stink. (sorry, pups - but it's true)

So here's what I noticed:

I rubbed my eyes, then looked on the back for the explanation...

Oh yeah. That really explains it.

Guess I'll be writing an email. I'll let you know what they say. In the meantime, check out Bossy's Poverty Party for a link to the Duggar Family website, where you can learn how to make 10 gallons of laundry soap for about $2...and they'll even throw in their famous Tater Tot Casserole recipe!