When you look at the cost to wash your clothes, it can get pretty daunting. Plus, when you buy commercially made laundry soap, you always have to go out to the store when you are running out. The list of ingredients can be daunting too. I mean, WHAT are you putting next to your skin?!
I’ve been making a simple homemade, gentle laundry detergent for years and since I made the switch, I haven’t had any issues with hives from laundry induced skin reactions. Actually, when we went to the Bahamas, my skin broke out from the detergent they use there. It wasn’t pleasant. However, making laundry detergent at home takes only 3 ingredients plus a jar.
Laundry Recipe
- 1 cup washing soda (not to be confused with baking soda)
- 1 cup Borax (there are discussions aplenty about the use of Borax on plenty of blogs. Feel free to do your own research but I’ve found it to be harmless)
- 1 bar of Dr. Bronner’s soap, finely grated (we use the lavender scented bar, but you could use any scent or unscented)
- 1 Quart size jar
- I also keep a tablespoon measure with all this for easy dispensing and it slides in the clasp for my Weck jar
This literally takes less than 5 minutes, with the grating of the bar soap taking the longest. Once the bar soap is grated, set it aside for a second, and add the 1 cup Borax and 1 cup washing soda to the jar. Close lid and shake. Add grated soap, close lid, and shake. Done. That’s it! I had never used powdered detergent before but this is SO much easier than trying to make a liquid detergent and why do you need liquid detergent anyway, especially when it requires you have equipment then dedicated solely to making detergent? You don’t.
Use 1 tablespoon per wash load. Often, I will do a second rinse with 1 cup white vinegar added for tackling the lingering smells of running clothes. It also acts as a softener and fights stains, so you can toss out that chemical laden blue fabric softener that smells so perfumey. Then move to the dryer, using wool dryer balls that you made or purchased instead of those toxic dryer sheets. Your clothes will come out soft, clean, and generally static free. If you want a scent on your clothes beyond the scented bar soap in the detergent, you can add drops of essential oils to your dryer balls before starting the dryer. The scent will still be much fainter than commercial scented laundry soaps and dryer sheets but that smell is a combination of unnatural chemicals and who wants to smell like commercial scents that aren’t found anywhere in nature?
Also, here’s the cost if you order everything in bulk from Amazon:
Dr. Bronner’s Hemp Lavender Bar Soap, 6 pack: $25.69
Borax and Washing Soda combo pack: $18.89
Total: $44.58
Delivered within 2 business days with Amazon Prime. No running to the store, no running out, easy to whip up your next batch or make a double or triple batch in advance.
We only tend to buy these once a year. There’s only two of us but with our workouts, we tend to do 5-6 loads of laundry per week, including blankets and sheets. So, how much of a savings is that for you?