Making your own laundry detergent instead of opting for store-bought ones offers three great benefits. First, it is much less expensive and is a great way to save money. Second, you can rest assured that it’s free from harsh chemicals, colors, fragrances, and other additives. And finally, it cleans clothes just as well as store-bought detergents if not better. It doesn’t even take much effort to make so you can enjoy all those benefits from just around 30 minutes of your time.
There is actually two ways to make your laundry detergent: powdered or liquid. The powder is faster to make and requires less storage space. The liquid, on the other hand, removes stain more effectively, although it is a little bit more complicated to make.
Powder Laundry Detergent
Materials:
• Food Processor or Cheese Grater
• Mixing Container
• Wooden Spoon
• Air-tight container
Ingredients:
• 1 cup of borax
• 1 cup of washing soda
• 1 bar of laundry detergent soap (Fels Naptha, ZOTE, Dr. Bronner’s, or Ivory)
Procedure:
1. Grate the soap. The first step is to grate your laundry bar soap. Grating it by hand using a cheese grater works just as well but the outcome won’t be as fine as using a food processor. But don’t worry! The grated soap will still easily dissolve even in cold water. Just make sure you’re using the finest side of the cheese grater. If you are using a food processor, remember to slice the laundry bar soap into small pieces first.
Another option is by using the microwave. First, cut the laundry bar soap into 4 or 5 chunks and then pop it into the microwave for about a minute. The soap should expand and should also be pretty dry making it easy to crumble. Just use your hands to crush it into a fine grade.
2. Mix the ingredients. The rest should be pretty easy to do. Mix the ingredients together in any container you prefer, or mix it directly in the air-tight container if the opening is big enough. To mix it easier, layer the ingredients on top of each other in small amounts. Use your wooden spoon for convenience and to remove any clumps that might form. Mix thoroughly.
3. Transfer into an air-tight container. Any container would work actually, but an air-tight container is preferred to keep the laundry detergent away from humidity.
Alternatives:
• You can add your own ingredients or essential oils for scent if you wish but this is the original and most basic homemade powder laundry detergent recipe so any alternative should be based from this.
• An alternative recipe which would result to more finished product and tougher cleaning action uses:
– 1 box of washing soda
– 1 box of borax
– 1 box of baking soda
– 3 bars of laundry detergent soap
– 1 container of OxyClean
– (optional) 1 bottle of Purex Crystals for scent
Just grate the soap first and mix the ingredients together.
Liquid Laundry Detergent
Materials:
• Large pot
• Wooden spoon
• 5-gallon bucket
Ingredients:
• ½ cup of borax
• 1 cup of washing soda
• 1 bar of laundry detergent soap (Fels Naptha, ZOTE, Dr. Bronner’s, or Ivory)
• 4 cups of water
• 3 gallons of water
Procedures:
1. Grate the soap. Follow the guide in grating your laundry detergent soap from Step 1 in making a powder laundry detergent.
2. Dissolve the soap. In a large pot, boil 4 cups of water then lower the heat until it’s simmering. Add the grated soap and stir with a wooden spoon until all the soap is dissolved.
3. Mix the ingredients. Pour 3 gallons of water into your 5-gallon bucket. Add the borax, the washing soda, and the pot of dissolved soap. Stir with your wooden spoon until everything have dissolved and mixed well.
4. Let it sit. Cover the bucket and let the mixture sit for at least 24 hours before using. Stir the solution first before using as it tends to get somewhat clumpy but the clumps will dissolve in the washing machine anyway.
