The moment you realize you can make your own homemade laundry detergent, with simple natural ingredients, you’ll never go back to commercial laundry soap again! Homemade natural laundry detergent is a fantastic way to control the ingredients that come into contact with your clothes and skin. In this post, I’ll show you the benefits of making your own natural laundry detergent and provide you with simple tried and true recipes!
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Benefits of Homemade Natural Laundry Detergent
Store bought laundry detergent was supposed to make your laundry clean and fresh, however it’s just concealing harmful to your health ingredients. Making homemade laundry detergent recipe gives you the ability to control what goes into your laundry thus making your home a healthier place to be.
Clean Healthy Ingredients
Your skin is the largest organ on your body, and putting harsh chemicals and overpowering fragrances is not serving your health holistically well. Toxic ingredients often found in laundry detergents like sulfates (for lather), phthalates (fragrances), parabens (and other preservatives) can cause inflammation, allergies, have endocrine hormone disruptors, affect fertility, and irritate your bodies nervous systems. Making homemade natural laundry detergent can be an easy switch to control what goes into your clothes and next to your skin. It’s easy to get fresh clean clothes with simple clean ingredients.
Make It To Your Preferences & Needs
One of the perks of creating your homemade laundry detergent recipe is the ability to customize it to suit your preferences. Whether you have sensitive skin and need a fragrance-free option or want to experiment with various essential oils for a pleasant scent, homemade detergent allows you to tailor the formula to your liking. You can also adjust the concentration of ingredients based on the level of cleaning power you require, giving you full control over your laundry routine.
What If I Don’t Want To Make Natural Laundry Detergent?
You can get some really nice non-toxic laundry detergents with simple ingredients. Try one of these options #affiliate if you don’t want to DIY your own laundry detergent:
Molly’s Suds Laundry Detergent Powder
Molly’s Suds Laundry Detergent Pods
Ingredients for Homemade Natural Laundry Detergent
Here’s a list of ingredients you can choose to put in your homemade powdered laundry detergent, and a few extra options for liquid detergent. Jump to my go-to recipe at the bottom.
Washing Soda
You can make washing soda by putting baking soda on a tray in the oven at 400 degrees for one hour. Washing soda has a higher alkaline PH of 11 than baking soda with a PH of 9. The higher alkaline makes it better than regular soap at degreasing and removing stains. However, if you choose to just use regular baking soda it still will clean and deodorize your laundry naturally.
Borax
Borax is a natural white mineral, with a high PH alkaline, and has a rich history. It’s sold ground up in a powder, that you can find in most laundry aisles. You can use borax for cleaning, getting rid of pests, and as laundry detergent. It can irritate your skin so make sure to wash it off well and pour in a well-ventilated area. Borax is great at pulling out strong smells and brightening your laundry. I used borax on my thrifted wool sweater and it pulled out about 99 percent of the atroshious perfumes sprayed on it just after two cold washes. It is a mighty detergent!
Castile Soap
Castile soap is a pure and gentle soap made from vegetable oils to make a sudsy solution. You can get it in bar form or liquid. It is biodegradable and environmentally friendly, making it an excellent choice for any homemade soap-making, like laundry detergent. Castile soap helps to lift dirt and stains from your clothes while being gentle on sensitive skin.
Salt
Surprisingly salts are a great way to clean your laundry. Not only can you use salt to soften hard water, but it can be great for soaking your laundry in. Soaking in salt can help pull out smells, degrease, and remove stains. You can use any kind of table salt, or epsom salt.
Powdered Laundry Detergent
Making powdered laundry detergent is the faster option, but you have to wash your clothes in warmer water. Here’s the simple recipe for it!
What You Will Need:
- 1 Box of Borax
- 1 Box of Washing Soda
- 1 Bar of Castile Soap Finely Grated (OR leave out and use liquid castile soap separately)
- A large brown grocery paper bag (or any unscented garbage bag will do)
Steps to Follow:
- In a well-ventilated area, pour all ingredients into your bag.
- Seal the bag, and mix by lifting the bag back and forth with your hands.
- Once everything is mixed well, open the bag, place the entire opening of the bag inside your glass container, and shake it gently upside-down until the bag is emptied. This method will help prevent breathing in any of the powders.
Tips
- You only need 2 Tablespoons per wash.
- This detergent works best in warm or hot washes to help dissolve the powders.
- Store in a half-gallon jar with a lid.
Liquid Laundry Detergent
For those who prefer a less powdery detergent, this recipe is just as uncomplicated.
What You Will Need:
- 1 cup of liquid castile soap OR 1 bar of grated castile soap
- 1 cup washing soda
- 1 cup of borax
- 16 cups of water
Steps To Follow:
- Mix 4 cups of water, the washing soda, and borax on the stovetop, until the mixture has dissolved. (If you are using a bar of castile soap, grate it and add it in here to melt it into the hot water too.
- Remove, let it cool.
- Add the other half of your water, and essential oils if desired, and add your castile soap if you haven’t. Once everything has been assembled, you can transfer it into a glass container or jars.
- Let it thicken overnight, and then it should be ready to use.
Tips
- You can use this in any washing machine.
- You only need about 2 TBSP of this solution for each load of laundry.
- Most find this turns gel-like, so put this mixture either in a large 5-gallon bucket with a lid or in glass jars.
Hard Water Solution
If you use 1/4 of epsom salt you can soften your water in your washing machine. Salt will also pull more smells and stains out of your clothes best if you soak them for a time in the salt water. It’s an extra step, but why not get the most out of your salt while your washing with it.
Fabric Softener Solution
Vinegar is an excellent fabric softener. You can put this right into the fabric softener drawer if you have that option with your washer. Or pour directly into your washer. Once your clothes go through the dryer, the smell of vinegar disapates. In a pinch, vinegar can help any musty smells in your washed clothes, especially if you forgot your laundry a tad too long in the washer. You could try soaking a cloth with vinegar and running through the dryer to see if that freshens your load.
Cloth Diaper Safe Laundry Detergent
You can make natural laundry detergent cloth diaper safe simply by following the powdered laundry detergent recipe, leaving out the bar of castile soap, any essential oils, and vinegar, and only using a small amount of pure liquid castile soap separately in your wash.
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Is Homemade Natural Laundry Detergent Effective?
Making homemade natural laundry detergent can be effective depending on the ingredients you choose. It will look different than store-bought laundry soaps with potent chemicals in them. People associate clean with thick suds, strong “clean scents”, and brighter whites, and laundry companies have made their soaps do that with additives. Soaps containing borax, castile soap, or washing soda are capable of effectively cleaning your clothes, but depending on how you wash with them might give you different results. If you are determined to use natural ingredients, you might want to store each ingredient separately in jars, and add depending on your load.
Homemade Natural Laundry Detergent
Equipment
- 1 Half Gallon Jar With Lid
- 1 Large Brown Paper Grocery Bag OR unscented garbage bag
Ingredients
- 1 Box Borax 4 lbs
- 1 Box Washing Soda 3 lbs
- 1 Bar Finely Grated Castile Soap OR use liquid castile soap separately
Instructions
- Grate as finely as you can a bar of castile soap.
- In a well-ventilated area, pour 1 full box of borax, 1 full box of washing soda, and your grated castile soap into your bag.
- Seal the bag, and mix by lifting the bag back and forth with your hands.
- Once everything is mixed well, open the bag, place the entire opening of the bag inside your glass container, and shake it gently upside-down until the bag is emptied. This method will help prevent breathing in any of the powders.
Notes
More Natural Living Posts
- How to Make Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar
- How To Make Thieves Chest Rub
- How to Sew A DIY Birthday Banner
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This page contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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