We have a graywater system, so I've been taking care of that since we moved here, 5yrs ago, and much of my life (including now) has been in housing with septic tanks. Hot process soaps can be used immediately. In fact, I use the residual soap in the crockpot(I picked one up at a resale shop for $3) to wash everything I used, to make it. Cold process soaps, depending on their content, take anywhere from 4 weeks to 6 months to cure. I prefer doing hot process, because I'm impatient, and the cost & time investment are the same. The cost of each is entirely dependent on the oils you choose, which, combined with the oil/lye ratio (aka superfat %) is also the primary deciding factor in each soap's purpose.
A lower fat content is more drying, and will help break down grease and oils better, so I use a non-super-fatted soap (0% superfat), and some borax, for household things like dishwashing and as stain sticks.
My hair is curly and long, so the ends tend to get dry, so I use about a 5 - 6% superfat, for
shampoo bars, with a bit of lemon juice as my conditioner. I'm getting a bit older, and my skin isn't holding moisture as well as it used to, so I want a 6 - 7% superfat, for that, and have split the difference, going with a 6%superfat, using tallow I render, myself (from fat trimmings off the meats we eat), for ease - 1 type of bar for my head-to-toe use makes things so much simpler! I can and do infuse my oils with herbs (some of which I manage to grow, myself), use goat
milk from my own goats, and a bit of
honey (which will, starting next spring, come from my own
bees), for a better lather. As you might deduce, the narrower your chosen spectrum of oils, and the more ingredients you can supply from your own homestead &/or foraging, the less expensive your soap becomes. I like some argan, hazelnut, jojoba, avocado, and castor oils in my body bar, but they're all used in small amounts, and if I had to, I could easily do without them - but, I like their effects, so I'd pout. (And, John doesn't like when I pout, so he keeps me well supplied.)
Those vinegar based cleansers are cheap, easy, effective, and environmentally sound. For non-glass cleaning, I infuse all my citrus fruit peels into plain white vinegar. The size container I start with depends on how many peels are available, and how much I want to make. A gallon container, roughly 1/3 full of roughly chopped citrus peels and topped off with plain white vinegar, lidded, and set aside to infuse for a few weeks costs only the price of the vinegar, if you were eating the citrus, anyway. This is then poured off & diluted (or not) as needed(I don't usually bother straining it, until it's needed). For strong grease cutting, use it straight. For general cleaning, a 1:1 dilution is sufficient, if not too strong. For floors, it would depend on the floor material and the mess you're cleaning up.
For glass cleaning, a 1:1ratio of straight white vinegar &
water will clean the most stubborn grunge and leave it streak free - especially if you dry it with the black&white, non-slick pages of a
newspaper.
Baking soda or salt & a slice or half of a lemon make an incredible scrubbing team, on the caked-on ick of pan bottoms, grills, tile, etc.
I do buy Meliora brand laundry soap, because we also have a HE front loading washer, and I'm unimpressed by homemade laundry soaps, in that. I only use white vinegar, for softening, and occasionally will put a few drops of essential oil on a cloth and throw it into the
dryer, for freshening/scenting - especially in winter (or rainy weather), when I'm not able to get outside, to hang my laundry. Many permies hang their laundry out, year 'round. My disabilities too often make that an over-the-top effort, for me, and my livestock takes priority for my available
energy.
The thing is, just starting somewhere with a thing, as you run out of the store-bought versions of whatever you need, will ease your budget, increase your self-reliance, and help you tread more lightly through your environment, one step at a time. Most of this - except for making my own soaps & shampoos - I've been doing since I was a kid, because that's just how my families did things. The rest I learned out of necessity, as an adult, as I developed allergies & sensitivities to commercially available products.
4
