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How to stretch products

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:27 pm
by Emptynester
BookSaver wrote:I started the morning by dealing with a sink full of dirty dishes. As I was standing there using a funnel to pour hot water into the dish soap jug to get the last little bit of soap out of the bottom, I woke up enough to think, "Now this is a Depression Era task." I've been doing stuff like this since I was a kid, learned from my mom who learned from her mom.

I think there's only once in my life when I didn't take the time to get that last little bit of dish soap out of the bottom of the bottle. It was during the days at the theatre when I was literally having to make a choice between taking the time to eat or shower.

Re: How to stretch products

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:34 pm
by Emptynester
Indiana wrote:
Booksaver
I do the same thing with dish soap, shampoo, and conditioner, I also will have a new bottle of catsup sitting on the counter with a funnel and the old one upside down for the last remaining goodies. The same with steak sauce, bbq sauce, etc. My favorite trick with mustard (other than yellow) is to add the vinegar that I would use for the salad dressing and then add the rest of the ingredients.

I save butter wrappers to use to grease pans.

We throw so very little away.

Re: How to stretch products

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:38 pm
by Emptynester
BookSaver wrote:Indiana ~ I just did the same thing with the end of a jug of laundry detergent. I think that's why it's so easy for me to recycle, it just makes total sense in my head to make the effort.

I also eke out a container of fabric softener by combining it with cheap vinegar. I buy the cheapest generic brand of softener with a scent I like, and the cheapest vinegar I can find. I mix roughly 1 part softener to 3 or 4 parts vinegar. Once the clothes are dry, I've never been able to detect even a hint of vinegar smell. Hmm, I think maybe I learned this tip from Harriet, so y'all probably already know it. :geek:

I used to hang clothes out on the line, but then we got new neighbors with a seemingly untrainable dog. They said they were going to put up a fence, but I haven't seen any signs of it yet. :x

Almost everyone in the Sewing Guild saves scraps and remnants. No, not saves ... finds a further use for (?) We combine them into tote bags, lap quilts, and other community service projects to give away, and even the smallest fragments are gathered as stuffing for dog pillows for the animal shelter. I am currently saving colorful cotton prints to put into aprons and decorative wall hangings ... someday. ;)

We have bottle and can deposits here in Iowa. A lot of people throw them away anyway, which is throwing away a lot of nickels. I've always taken them back for refund ... although I might sometimes mutter a few unkind words about a certain DH who can find the time to stop and buy the things but never takes back the empties :|

Part of why I do these things, though, is because we have space in our house. It goes back to what I said before about accumulating things for a garage sale. You decide for yourself if the effort is worth the cost. ROI, Return On Investment.

Re: How to stretch products

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:46 pm
by Emptynester
Sadie wrote:Cut open toothpaste tube when you get to the bottom of it. You can get a few more brushings from it. Use just a smidgeon of soap powder for towels and washcloths.



Re: How to stretch products

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:53 pm
by Emptynester
Sunny wrote:We have also been doing some of the same things to save $$$. I always add water to bottles of dish liquid, laundry soap & fabric softner. Also shampoo and conditioner. I use bar soap to a sliver then stick it to the new bar.

Re: How to stretch products

Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 10:49 pm
by Harmony
If you are in the market for a new washer, consider the front loaders. I'm sure I'm making up for the price of it with saved water and electricity. Also, soap powder and liquid soap seems to last forever now. I use less than half in each load. Also, food goes pretty far in this house as we eat up all the leftovers, sometimes making other things out of what's left. Even one serving of something will make a nice lunch dish.

Re: How to stretch products

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:51 pm
by Indiana
Save on printer ink by using the Century Gothic font, which a recent study showed consumes about a third less ink than industry-standard Arial. That saves about $20 a year for a home user printing 25 pages a week.

Re: How to stretch products

Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 1:13 pm
by Nancy
It takes way less soap for laundry than you would think!

Re: How to stretch products

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 11:04 am
by Harriet
and I talked with repairman once and he said commercials that show pouring the detergent cups of dishwashers full are inaccurate and manufacturers never intended them to be filled full. That is the detergent company's idea to put that "visual" out there!