Homemade Laundry Detergent

After becoming a bit more comfortable with making homemade products, I thought I would I try my hand at detergent.

I spend a good deal of money on both cloth diaper friendly detergent and the most ‘natural’ regular detergent for my family’s clothes.

Both of these recipes are super easy and the ingredients you can get at your local grocery store. Both are great for HE machines as well since they are low suds-ing. (We currently use this detergent on our front-loading HE machine)



Let’s start with the easy one: cloth diaper detergent

Ingredients:

(Equal Parts)

Arm N Hammer Super Washing Soda
Baking Soda
Sun Oxygen Cleaner

I always enjoy understanding why I am using a certain product – so here is a quick explanation to why these ingredients are a good choice to use when washing clothes/diapers.

Washing Soda – (Sodium Carbonate – Na2CO3) Washing Soda is very caustic with a PH of 11 which is great in degreasing, removing stains and cleaning. It is also great at softening water due to the two sodium molecules in the formula.  

Baking Soda – (Sodium Bicarbonate NaHCO3)  Baking soda has a PH that is slightly base compared to washing soda and dissolves faster as well. It is a great product to get rid of funky odors and neutralize acids, like urine (hello, cloth diapers!).

Sun Oxygen Cleaner – NOT OXYCLEAN! The versions of OxiClean contain too many additives. Instead, use simple oxi-products like Sun Oxygen Cleaner. When the hydrogen peroxide (the main ingredient in oxygen cleaners) meets water, it breaks down into oxygen and water which forms little bubbles like soda - which gently bleaches and cleans.  


So here it goes – just add all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a wooden a spoon. Viola! How frigg’n easy is that!? I use about 2-3 tablespoons per load for my HE washer.

Place in an air tight container and rock-n-roll. For a scoop, I bought a small metal cup (I believe it is used for measuring alcohol in mixed drinks). I use a whole little cup full - I believe its about 3 tablespoons.

 

Now that you’ve mastered that. Here is a bit more challenging recipe for an all-purpose detergent.

Ingredients:

1 cup  Arm N Hammer Super Washing Soda
½ cup Sun Oxygen Cleaner
1 bar   Fels-Naptha Soap

I got my Fels Naptha Soap at Walmart. I was surprised at how fragrant it was – it smelled very clean and refreshing.

I made a double batch here, so I cut up two bars.

After getting permission to use my husband’s food processor, I placed the soap chucks in the processor to shred up. You could grate by hand if you don’t have one handy and have a ton of time on your hands. (It was actually pretty easy to clean afterwards)

I placed the rest of my ingredients in the processor.

And then run the thing for a good while until everything is mixed well and the soap is pulverized. Place in a container that has an air tight lid – and that’s it! I use the same amount - about 2-3 tablespoons for each load.

Well, then you have to do dishes – bah.

So, 4 ingredients and you have two detergents that are guaranteed to save you money and clean just as well, if not better, then the detergent you buy at the store (most of which contain surfactants, dyes, optical brighteners, and enzymes).  

You may notice that I omitted a very commonly used item in homemade detergent: Borax – this is done purposefully. Due to studies linking this chemical to reproductive problems, many European nations require the box be labeled with warning such as “may damage fertility” and “may damage unborn child”.

I decided to use an oxygen cleaner in place of Borax. This is because when using Borax and Washing Soda, the two combine and form molecules of hydrogen peroxide which is the main ingredient in oxygen cleaners. So, in essence, I am just skipping a step and adding the H2O2 molecules instead of the nasty chemical compound, sodium borate (Borax).

 

Looking for other homemade recipes? Check out some others that I have tried:

Cloth Diaper Cream

Super Easy Lotion  

Lip Gloss

Shampoo/Body Wash