It took me a while to get in to pinterest. Not sure of what I was doing, like a lot of people. To be frank, I am still not sure of what I am doing! I view pinterest as a great source of ideas for me. It means I don't have to search all over the web-others have done my searching for me! :)
The first thing I tried from pinterest was the laundry soap (you know, the one with the soap, washing soda and borax). I've been wanting to try it for a while, but the hubby scoffs as my attempts to save money. He is VERY brand name oriented. Anyway, I used fels-naptha soap as my hubby has very sensitive skin. I also didn't add any of the fabric softener stuff as there is only certain types that don't bother him. I didn't want the bother of making the liquid stuff-this was supposed to be easy! The first time I made it, I hand grated the soap-the second time I chopped it into chunks and threw it in a food processor. I use an old coffee scoop to measure it, as it is 2 Tbsp. We use 1/2 to 1 scoop per load. I made my first batch on 4-15-12 and just made a new batch. Hubby won't use it often - he has a thing about using the named products.
I think it works well. It smells pretty good, but not over powering. You can find the stuff at Wal-Mart and the boxes of the borax and washing soda will last you a while. I haven't done the math, but I am fairly certain it costs way less than our typical bottle of all free and clear!