Homemade Laundry Detergent

Monday is laundry day. After sorting the piles of dirty clothes this morning, I realized I was all out of laundry detergent. Time to go to the store? No--time to grab a few simple ingredients from the cupboard and make my own.

First, the supplies:

1/4 cup Liquid Castile Soap (can be found at health food stores)
1 cup Washing Soda (can be found in the laundry aisle of most supermarkets)
1 cup Baking Soda
1 cup White Vinegar


Mix together, adding vinegar last. The mixture is foamy at first, and then gradually lumps together. The mixing bowl will get quite warm as you stir!


Let it sit for a while. Now comes the fun part. Dump the mass in a thick plastic bag, place on a hard, flat surface, and BEAT THE LUMPS AWAY WITH A HAMMER!

The detergent is now all ready to use. I use 1/2 cup per full load of clothes.

Here's another, easier recipe that was my favourite until the supermarket stopped selling Borax:

2 cups soap flakes (or grate bars of soap yourself)
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax

Use 2 tablespoons per full load. I always put 1/2 cup of vinegar into the rinse cycle, to make sure there was no soap residue on the clothes.

Both these recipes can be scented with a few drops of essential oil. (try Lavender or Peppermint)

Why make my own laundry detergent? Well, first of all it's fun. Secondly, it's cheap. But most of all, I'm not worrying about things like unhealthy chemicals and optic brighteners any more. And no more watery eyes when I scoop the detergent into my washing machine!

I found these recipes and more here. Soon, I'd like to try one of the ones for liquid soap, but till then, I'm happy using my funny, lumpy powder. :)