DIY Laundry Detergent

One of my biggest concerns lately is how much bad stuff is in our everyday products.  If it weren’t for my mom who died from cancer 5 months ago, I would not have looked into this myself.  I realized something in my research… Most companies just care about money and not what they are selling.  I have learned of many harmful ingredients in our everyday products that contribute to feeding cancer cells.  So why are we still using them?   Probably because we always have used them.  Maybe because they are convenient.

I felt the same way until my mom was diagnosed with cancer.  I am not okay with taking a pill or going through chemo because of my lifestyle.  So, I started doing my research and found a few surprising details…  It COSTS WAY LESS to make my own products that don’t have these ingredients, THEY WORK WAY BETTER and I know THEY ARE SAFE.  I never made these items because I thought they wouldn’t be as effective, I thought it would be hard to find the ingredients and I thought it would take too much time.  WRONG!!!  It is was easier than I expected!   If you are like me, you will say that you have sensitive skin and you are scared you will react to this stuff.  I have the worst case of skin issues (I think).  I have eczema, dry skin, allergies to dryer sheets, allergies to animal fur and feathers, increased sensitivity to salon chemicals and allergies to some antibiotics.  This does not react to my skin.

So, I am here to tell you which recipes work, where to find the ingredients, tell you how much time it took to do them and most importantly ask you, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!???  You will soon be addicted to the savings that making them will become fun to you!  You might even whistle while you make them!  AH HA HA

I searched online for Homemade laundry detergent and fell in love with this one.  Find original recipe HERE.  I read every review and fell in love with the comments and feedback right away.  I finally went green that day.  Of course I still had back up Laundry Detergent in case this was a Pinterest FAIL. lol

Here is the recipe…  All ingredients easily found in the laundry isle at Walmart.  Cost was around $10 for all of it.

1 cup Borax
1 cup Arm and Hammer WASHING SODA  (not baking soda)
3/4 bar Fels-Naptha

Use a cheese grater on the finest setting and shred the Soap bar.  Then mix all the ingredients together and put into an air tight container (this part is important).

Only 1 Tablespoon (wrote it out so you are not confused)… YES, ONE TABLESPOON per load.  HOLY TAMOLI!!!!  I used 1 1/2 Tbs on really soiled loads.  I also fill my Laundry Softener cup up with White Vinegar to save a ton more!

UPDATE TO RECIPE…  The original recipe called for the entire bar of the Fels Naptha.  I only did about 3/4 of the bar before I gagged on the strong smell.  It worked beautifully on my clothes and made them clean… However… I did more research and found that any bar of soap will do… But since I sell a natural skin care line (HERE for details) and know the harmful effects of ingredients, I decided to use a much safer bar of soap.  I was still saving a ton of money and I wanted it to be Natural, so I chose to change it up to this…

1 cup Borax
1 cup Arm and Hammer WASHING soda (not baking soda)
3/4 bar Dr. Bronners All-One Hemp Lavender Soap

Use a cheese grater on the finest setting and shred the Soap bar.  Then mix all the ingredients together and put into an air tight container (this part is important).

Results were still amazing.  I use 1 – 1 1/2 Tbs per load and fill the cup with White Vinegar.  No, your clothes will not smell like vinegar… White Vinegar will kill the smell of pee and mildew.  I have 2 kids potty training.  I need something that works!  White Vinegar is amazing!  I will NEVER use anything else as a fabric softener.

If the dry laundry soap is not your thing, I found the same ingredients in a liquid form that you can make HERE.  I will be trying this out on my next batch of laundry soap.  I really think you could make your dollar stretch even farther this way because I am always so tempted to use more than I need.  With all the laundry I do in this house, I need any savings I can get.  I will update you on results after I make and try it.

Some additional Tips on saving money in your laundry room…

1.  Cut your drying time down by at least 10 min by throwing a dry towel in with your load.  If your load is small enough which mine rarely is… throw in 2 towels.  You could also go through the pain of making your own wool dryer balls, but the towels work just fine.

2.  Use dryer balls… HERE.  I found mine at Walmart. I think it helps keep things from getting all twisted up and helps dry them faster.  It is also supposed to cut back on static, but I haven’t noticed a difference.  Probably because of how dry the air is in the winter time.  I like to think that they are helping still.

3.  Make your own dryer sheets.  HERE.  I still have yet to try this one.  I will update you when I figure out a more SAFE ingredient list.  I feel I need it though.  I use the dryer balls and I still have static.  I will let you know how it turns out.  The recipe calls for conditioner and I worry about it putting greasy stains on my clothes.  I really can’t wait to try it though!

4.  Don’t overfill your load… Easier said than done when you do SOOO much laundry.  It really does help wash and dry each load.

That’s it for now!  Thank you for following me!  I will update you on my results soon!

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