home made laundry detergent!

just a quick one
I have tried to find a good homemade laundry detergent...........I find the ones from the store always leave my washing machine which is a HE front loader gunky.

So here it is and although the cost is quite high initially it does last me nearly a year! which is always great.

2 boxes borax

2 big boxes baking soda

1 box Calgon water softner ( we have very hard water here)

2 buckets oxy clean

1 box clorax color brightner

2 bars of sunlight soap

2 boxes of washing soda

2 bottles of purex crystals just for smell.

1 big container to store it in

1 smaller container to put by machine

 

Most of this can be found in the isle with all the other laundry stuff

 

Just mix it all together

grate the sunlight soap

I put it all in one big container and fill the smaller jar and keep that by my machine.

You only need to use about 1tbsp for a regular load.

 

Gerbil Cages!

SO I Obviously have not been on here that much not that I haven't been busy cause well I have been just the whole DIY stuff has sorta slowed down and been taken over with work and other things.  But my dear sweet children somehow conned me into letting them get gerbils the other week and after doing some research on the little critters I knew that the homes we had purchased for them just would NOT do soooooo I made my own ( of course I did haha)
Here are some pictures and some instructions and of course please if your gonna buy a pet research first cause ugh. 


Shopping list: clear plastic containers.
                        Hardware cloth (got mine at home depot)
                        good knife!
                        measuring device - ruler or measuring tape
                        Tin snips
                        wire
                        duct tape
                        nuts and bolts
                        Jiffy marker
                   






Step one:  buy some clear plastic containers bigger is better, try to get ones that have no ridges or bumps in the inside and that have lids that shut securely




these are the two I picked to fit and suit my daughters rooms
 

 Step two:  Assemble all the good stuff you are gonna need to make a gerbil cage!  here is all the stuff I used

 

  

all the good stuff I used to make the cages

 

 

Step three:  mark where you want to cut on the lid.  I left a strip down the middles for this one for more support 

 

 

Step four:  Now here this part is where I cursed and swore a bit (kids weren't home so thats ok right?)  cutting the holes out was the hardest part of the whole project!



 

 

 Step five: cut your hardware wire down to fit over the lid I just left it as one big piece and then start drilling holes for your nuts and bolts I used 10/32 1/4" bolts and of course the nuts to go with them.  Its easier to drill the holes as you are attatching the hardware wire to the lid cause then all the holes line up. (yes this was a lesson learned)

You can end your cage here and the little guys would be quite happy with you with more room and lots of space to tunnel and build nests.

But of course I have gone a few extra steps further

 

 

 

Step six: I had some scrap wood hanging around so I made a little platform for the gerbils as a halfway mark to the top.  The little cage on top is the one the pet store sold us telling my girls they were fine for gerbils which they are not....glad I did a bit of research on the critters I brought home.

To put the cage on top I cut a square out of the hardware cloth (make sure no sharp pointy parts were sticking out)  I then basically sewed the little wire cage to the hardware cloth with wire. 

 

 Step seven:  add a good layer of sawdust and all the rest of the stuff that gerbils love!  some boxes, toilet paper rolls, toilet paper itself, straw (clean please) and I added some dried moss.



So here are the two finished gerbil cages all and all a purty easy project oh and one more note to get rid of the sharp pointies on top of the cage I used some fun duct tape.

 

 

Since they have had these cages I also added a wheel to the side of the cage. 

and those gerbils are soooo happy!!!