DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent

This week is all about laundry.  Love it or hate it, it has to be done.  Unless of course you enjoy wearing stinky, dirty clothes.  I didn't think so.  Let's learn how to make some liquid laundry detergent...

About four years ago I stopped using the typical, chemical-laden brands that you find at the store and switched to a natural detergent.  Initially, it was to avoid unnecessary chemicals however, we soon discovered that our sensitive skin preferred the natural, chemical free brands. While the natural brand worked well, it was very expensive.  Unfortunately, my family generates a lot of laundry, especially in the winter with all of our layers.  I wanted to try to come up with a more economical solution.

I love trying to make my own products whenever possible, so why not laundry detergent?  I researched about a billion sites to see what the different ingredient options were and how to make a liquid detergent.  The one problem I kept coming back to was the sheer amount of detergent people were making, 5 gallons at a time.  It just seemed a little overwhelming to me, especially if the stuff didn't work.  

I decided to combine a couple of recipes.  One called for baking soda and not borax, one called for borax only.  I decided to go half and half with baking soda and borax.  Many recipes call for Zote or Fels-naptha bar soap.  I looked into both of those, and while cheaper, they both had a strong scent.  Instead, I chose Dr. Bonner's Baby Mild Pure Castile Soap, which is unscented and gentle for sensitive skin.  The final two ingredients are washing soda and lavender essential oil for scent.  The washing soda was tricky to find, I actually had to go to four stores!  But I have a box now and that should allow me to make at least 12 gallons of laundry detergent!


Here is the recipe {please note the description of what each ingredient does to the side}:

2 cups boiling water
1 cup grated pure castile bar soap (I like Dr. Bonner's baby mild) - cleans dirt and grease
1 cup washing soda - pulls out grease and oil, softens water
1/2 cup borax - deodorizes, whitens, disinfects
1/2 cup baking soda - deodorizes, softens water
1 additional gallon of water
Your favorite scent of essential oil - 20 drops more or less depending upon preference

Directions:

Grate 1 cup of soap. (For me 1 cup of grated soap was about 2/3 of the bar.)  Get your two cups of water boiling in a large enough pot to accommodate 1 1/2 gallons of liquid and then add grated soap.  It will kind of clump together until it completely melts.  I used a whisk to stir and that seemed to help with the smoothness.  After the soap melts, allow it to cool a bit and then add the washing soda, baking soda and borax.  Stir until well and completely mixed.  Add the final gallon of water and mix well again.  At this point I added 20 drops of lavender essential oil, because it is my favorite.  I think I could have added more, because now I can barely smell it when I am doing laundry.  I transferred my concoction from my huge pot, to a clean and empty vinegar jug.  It remained very liquidy until fully cool and then became more gel like.  If it becomes too thick you can always add a little more water and shake. I ended up probably adding four more cups of water because it became too thick.  I use about 1/4 of a cup for a large load of laundry.  

Imagine my delight upon removing that first load from the washer and finding the clothes clean and fresh smelling!  No more store bought laundry detergent for this girl!  It took less than 15 minutes to make this detergent and that was mainly for pictures!  So, this turned out to be a quick, easy and successful project!

Just for fun here is the break down of costs =

Washing Soda 1/12 of the $4.87 box = $.41

Baking Soda 1/108 of the $19.97 bag = $.18

Borax 1/32 of the $3.99 box = $.12

Castile Soap 2/3 of the $3.75 bar = $2.48

One gallon of liquid laundry soap = $3.19 WOW!!! 

I hope you will give making your own laundry detergent a try!  It's easy and very affordable!

If you have a recipe that you love, please share it in the comments below :)