Wanting to make your own Laundry Detergent either to save money or have control over the ingredients? This recipe very well could be the formula for the best homemade laundry detergent out there. Try it–you’ll love it!
Why Should You Make Your Own Detergent?
When thinking about healthy living, it’s easy to focus heavily on diet, but it’s crucial to think about your home as well.
Because things that come into contact with the outside of your body are just as important to healthy living as the things that you put inside your body.
And think about it–you wear clothes 24/7–so what you wash them in matters!
Ingredients for this Laundry Detergent Recipe
This recipe makes a powder detergent, which I prefer over the possible mess of liquid spills. Plus I’m not sure that that is very sanitary as the water in the liquid detergent could easily lead to bacteria buildup.
Here are the ingredients in this formula and the role they all play in creating a safe and effective detergent.
Castile Bar Soap
Castile soap is made with fruit or vegetable fats (usually coconut or olive oils) and is helpful with removes dirt and stains from clothes. Because it’s not made with animal fats, it’s safe to use with HE washers or washers that drain into a septic system.
Borax
Borax (a.k.a. sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate), is a natural mineral compound that converts some water molecules into hydrogen peroxide, giving it the ability to clean and bleach. Best used in hot water, the boron, salt, and oxygen give Borax the ability to disinfect.
Washing Soda
Washing soda is an effective stain lifter that doesn’t stain (or “bleach”) clothes. Since it’s highly alkaline, it’s also effective it helps treat hard water, allowing the detergent to work properly so that clothes get clean and don’t build up residue during washing.
Baking Soda
Baking soda works to dissolve dirt and grease and soften clothing thanks to its mild alkaline qualities. And it’s a great deodorizer, working to remove odors, fabric softener, and cleaning agent that won’t bleach your clothes.
Oxi Clean Free
OxiClean is an oxygen-based, chlorine-free, and color-safe stain remover. It can be safely used safely on any machine-washable fabric.
Essential Oils for Mold Prevention (optional)
Mold is a problem in washing machines so this is one way to address it.
Plants contain varying levels of anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties. Essential oils are plant-based, making them a perfect ingredient for any mold-killing laundry detergent.
I like to add tea tree oil, thyme, and lemon oil to this detergent since they are all proven to address mold growth.
How to Make This Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe
- Use a grater to grate the castile soap bar to avoid putting large chunks into a food processor and potentially damaging it.
- Put the grated soap pieces in the food processor bowl. Pulse until only large crumbs remain.
- Add baking soda to the food processor and pulse until the ingredients are in powder form and combined (about 1 minute)
- Add the washing soda to the food processor and repeat.
- Dump the mixture into a storage container and add Borax and OxiClean. Combine well with a spoon.
- Add the essential oils, if using, and mix well.
- Store in an airtight container.
How to Use Your Homemade Detergent for a Load of Laundry
To use this detergent, simply add about 2 tablespoons directly into your washer bin with your clothes (you might want to only use 1 tablespoon for HE front loaders. Easy peasy. Add more, if desired, for larger or more heavily stained loads.
Homemade Laundry Detergent FAQs
If you’ve never made a laundry detergent recipe before, you’re likely to have a few questions.
Here are the most common questions (and their answers) regarding making DIY laundry detergent and their answers.
Can I Use This Detergent in an HE Washing Machine?
Yes, because there isn’t a sudsing agent in this recipe, you can use it in front-loading HE machines.
Will This Detergent Irritate Sensitive Skin?
The ingredients included are natural and usually safe for all skin types. However, everyone is different, so I recommend trying a small batch to test before committing to this larger batch size.
Do I Need a Fabric Softener with this Homemade Laundry Detergent?
You shouldn’t need to since the alkaline properties of baking soda and washing soda soften the fabric. However, if you want to soften more, you can use plain distilled vinegar as a natural fabric softener – and the smell washes out so you won’t smell it at all!
How Much DIY Laundry Detergent Does this Make?
This recipe makes approximately 7 cups of detergent, which works out to about 56 loads. Could you double or triple that if you wanted to? Sure!
However, this recipe makes a good amount so that you don’t have to make it once a month and yet it doesn’t take up too much storage space.
How Do You Keep Homemade Laundry Detergent from Clumping?
If you live in a humid area, your DIY detergent may clump sometimes. Here are some tricks to help you prevent (or break up) clumping:
Is Homemade Laundry Detergent Safe for Washing Machines?
Some people make the claim that homemade laundry detergent isn’t safe for washing machines, and can void the warranty and cause all kinds of issues.
Let’s clear that up.
Some people on the internet claim that using Dawn or Castile Bar Soap or Borax, etc., will mess up your washing machine and void your warranty.
I looked into this and found that there are reports of people using these products for many years with no issues. It seems that the problem isn’t using these products, but using too much of them.
Making your own laundry powder is fast, easy, inexpensive, helps keep toxins out of your home and the environment, and gives you total control over the ingredients!
