Did you ever wonder how much money you are spending on laundry detergent each year? Let us answer that for you: a lot! Detergent and laundry products have become one of the most expensive and polluting products in our households. Today, we’ll show you some natural and environment friendly recipes you can use to go green and help your planet (and your wallet!) by using our homemade laundry detergent recipes.
Although making your own laundry detergent might seem like a lot of work, in reality it is easier than you might think. In this article we’ll show you how to get a start making your own laundry detergent.
What Are Laundry Detergents and How Do They Work?
Detergents are cleaning agents that remove dirt and grease from the surfaces of materials. All detergents are generally made of soaps but commercial detergents also commonly contain sulfates, fragrances, phenols and petroleum based products. These products are damaging to the environment, and have been linked to lung diseases and cancer. We don’t mean to scare anyone, but some of the chemicals involved in these commercial detergents are definitely not good for you.
The good news is that making your own homemade detergent that is eco-friendly and non- toxic is really simple. You only need three basic ingredients: Borax, baking soda and bar soap. Today, we’ll show you three recipes that you can implement to make your own detergent. The great perk about them is that making them is much cheaper than buying detergents at the store. Lets take a look at some recipes below.
Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipes
Powder Mix Laundry Detergent With Lemon Essential Oil
Ingredients
- 6 cups of baking soda
- Three bars of soap (castile soap preferably)
- White Vinegar
- Oxyclean
- A few drops of lemon essential oil
How to Make It
- Cut soap into small pieces. Add it to your blender, along with baking soda.
- Blend it until you have a fine powder. Be careful with the powdery mist floating in the air after blending the ingredients.
- Pour into a clean container.
- Add a few drops of essential oil with each load.
How to Use It
- Add 3 tablespoon of detergent per load.
- If washing whites, add a scoop of Oxyclean.
- Add a cup of vinegar in the fabric softener compartment
Liquid Laundry Detergent
Ingredients
- 4.5 Gallons of hot water
- 1 Cup of borax
- 1 cup of baking soda
- 1 bar of grated soap (Once again, we recommend castile soap)
- White vinegar
- A 5-gallon bucket
How to Make It
- Grate one bar of soap with either a cheese grater or a food processor.
- Put grated soap in a pan and slowly add 2 quarts of hot water until the soap is dissolved.
- Pour 4.5 gallons of really hot water into the 5-gallon bucket.
- Add 1 cup of borax, oe cup of baking soda and stir well.
- Let it sit overnight and pour the mixture into any container you like.
How to use it
- Use ½- 1 cup of the mixture per load.
- Add a cup of white vinegar in the fabric softener compartment.
Powder Mix Detergent With Tea Tree Essential Oil
Ingredients
- 1 bar of grated soap (Remember castile soap)
- 1 cup of borax
- 1 cup of baking soda
- Tea tree essential oil
- Oxyclean or peroxide
How to Make It
- Grate soap with a food processor (Since this is a power mix, the smaller the better)
- Add a cup of borax
- Add a cup of baking soda
- Add a spoonful of Oxyclean
How to use it
- Add a cup of the powder mix into your washing machine.
- Add a cup of vinegar into the fabric softener compartment.
- If you’re dealing with difficult stains, add peroxide to help the cleaning process.
These laundry detergent recipes are not only environment friendly but are also really cheap. With the powder mix, it costs around $0.09 cents for each load. While with the liquid mix, it costs around $0.05 per load. It is really difficult to beat the price on that.
Great Alternatives At The Store
If by any chance you don’t want to make your own detergent and are looking for other alternatives that are environmental friendly, below you can find a few:
Biokleen Free & Clear Laundry Liquid
Fragrance free.
Clear of dyes.
Environmentally friendly with no negative effects on rivers, streams, plants, or wildlife.
Cost: $0.2 per load.
Planet Natural Detergent
Relatively eco-friendly.
Cost effective at $9 for 32 loads.
Heavy duty cleaning power.
Approximately $0.28 per load.
No harsh chemicals
Gentle & effective laundry soap
No need for added softeners.
Approximately $0,20 per load.