Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

Brie

@basketcase
I don't know about your egg pellets but I do agree with your mom.  We've been buying the packets of wash tabs for years.  There's always 2 in a packet and we always have used just one - despite being in a hard water area.  I always use half the recommended amount of fabric softener too.  

And now I'm off to look to see if the blackened bananas are still useable for making a cake.  Too nasty to eat once they get freckles and normally I would freeze them but after the OH thawed some out thinking they were sausages I've been more cautious.  Also I've only got 2 and my muffin recipe calls for 3.  I can reduce the rest of the ingredients and just pick the smallest egg to use so that shouldn't be a problem.  If I end up with 10 instead of 16 muffins I'll be perfectly happy.  And I can put them in the oven before/or with the pork roast to save on the heat!

tboo

basketcase said:

An idea prompted by reading how many people use less washing powder/liquid.

I've divided the pellets in my Eco Egg into 2 equal piles, returned one half to the egg and put the other half into a Ziplock bag.

Do you think this would have the same effect as using less powder/liquid, which is what I normally do?

As an aside, my mother always used to use far less powder.  When I said that wasn't what the pack said, she said "No.  But (1) we live in a soft water area, so don't need as much as people in a hard water area do and (2) they're selling it!"

I believe the point of the pellets is they last for x amounts of washes and dissolve due to the water. say 90 washes.

Dividing them up will just mean you put the other lot in sooner eg 45 washes then 45 washes.

If they do last a tad longer then great idea.

Brie

tboo said:

I believe the point of the pellets is they last for x amounts of washes and dissolve due to the water. say 90 washes.

Dividing them up will just mean you put the other lot in sooner eg 45 washes then 45 washes.

If they do last a tad longer then great idea.

I disagree - it's still going to take 90 washes for them to dissolve at their slow rate.  Just cuz there's less in there doesn't make them dissolve faster.

tboo

Not sure I make it clear, dividing them up won't make them last any longer.

If they are designed for x amount of washes then that's how long they will last.

Fair do's if they do.

basketcase

tboo said:

Not sure I make it clear, dividing them up won't make them last any longer.

If they are designed for x amount of washes then that's how long they will last.

Fair do's if they do.

I don't understand the logic of this.  I'd thought the same as Brie.

Surely if you have, say, 100 pellets which are designed to last 70 washes then if you divide them into 2 lots of 50, that batch of 50 is still designed to dissolve at the same rate.  So would last for 70 washes - or at last more than 35?  Maybe slightly less because there's not as much 'bulk'. 

But why would they last half the time if they're designed to last for a certain number of washes?  If you divide a washing tablet in 2 it lasts longer.  Of course, there may be some science of which I'm not aware and I'd be (genuinely) interested to know what it is...

YoungBlueEyes

I think they'll dissolve at the same rate, but you'll only get half the dose per wash.  So you'll get your 90 washes, but each wash will be... weaker?

basketcase

YoungBlueEyes said:

I think they'll dissolve at the same rate, but you'll only get half the dose per wash.  So you'll get your 90 washes, but each wash will be... weaker?

That's what I would have assumed.  Which I thought would be the same as using half a tablet?  As I said, if that's not right I'd be genuinely interested to know (aot to being snotty!)

SadieO

basketcase said:

As an aside, my mother always used to use far less powder.  When I said that wasn't what the pack said, she said "No.  But (1) we live in a soft water area, so don't need as much as people in a hard water area do and (2) they're selling it!"

I had a guy out to my broken washing machine once and he told me that almost all issues with washing machines are caused (or at least exacerbated) by people using too much detergent, and that typically you need about half as much as they packs say. I always do that anyway as I am tight  a money-saver! Use as little as you can get away with as long as your clothes look and smell clean!

(The problem with my washing machine was just that it was an absolutely ancient one in a rental property and simply at the end of its life, but the landlord understandably wanted to check if it was fixable before shelling out for a new one.) 

basketcase

SadieO said:

basketcase said:

As an aside, my mother always used to use far less powder.  When I said that wasn't what the pack said, she said "No.  But (1) we live in a soft water area, so don't need as much as people in a hard water area do and (2) they're selling it!"

I had a guy out to my broken washing machine once and he told me that almost all issues with washing machines are caused (or at least exacerbated) by people using too much detergent, and that typically you need about half as much as they packs say. I always do that anyway as I am tight  a money-saver! Use as little as you can get away with as long as your clothes look and smell clean!

(The problem with my washing machine was just that it was an absolutely ancient one in a rental property and simply at the end of its life, but the landlord understandably wanted to check if it was fixable before shelling out for a new one.) 

So she was right.

Again...!

It really is the rinsing that makes the real difference, not so much the detergent.

PipneyJane

Do you know the thriftiest thing I ever learned to do?  Quarantining my money.  I have a dozen or so different savings accounts, each for its own purpose.  Once it’s in its designated pot, the money is quarantined and can only be used for its designated purpose.

It all started with setting aside £10 a month in a “Leather Boot Fund” after I realised that I needed winter boots but never had the money for them and that the ones I wanted never came up in the sales.  I figured I wouldn’t miss £10 from my regular spending money.

- Pip