Homemade Laundry Detergent

There are many benefits to making your own Homemade Laundry Detergent.  First, you can avoid the harsh chemicals that are added to most common detergents.  These chemicals can cause skin irritation, rashes, allergies and have long term effects on the environment.  This is especially important for kids who have sensitive skin.  Whenever a child is dealing with skin issues a good first step is to change up your laundry detergent.  Second, it is super cost effective.  The ingredients in this Homemade Laundry Detergent recipe are very inexpensive and can usually be bought in bulk quantities.  Third, you can have creative control over how your laundry smells!  Most detergents are filled with non-natural fragrances that are often the culprits of skin irritation.  In the recipe below I provide several scent combinations using pure essential oils.  They are safe for the skin and the environment and they smell great!  You and your family can get creative and come up with your own signature laundry scent.  Last but not least, it works great! Our laundry comes out clean and smelling fresh.  And as an added bonus, It is also safe and effective for use with cloth diapers.

Ingredients:
3 cups Washing Soda
3 cups Borax
1 cup Baking Soda
1 Bar of Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castille Soap
Pure, Organic Essential Oils

Tools Needed: large & small mixing bowls, measuring cups, grater, 1/2 gallon mason jar

Directions:

Grate the bar of Dr. Bronner’s soap into a small bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl add the washing soda, borax and baking soda.  Mix well to get rid of any clumps.  Add the essential oils at this point if desired (feel free to leave it unscented if you like). Mix them into the powder well as they tend to form clumps initially.

My favorite scents for laundry detergent include:

Lemon & Eucalyptus
(30 drops Lemon, 10 drops Eucalyptus)

Orange & Geranium
(30 drops Orange, 15 drops Geranium)

Grapefruit & Lavender
(30 drops Grapefruit, 15 drops Lavender)

Once the essential oils are well incorporated, add the grated soap into the mixing bowl and mix all the ingredients together. Store detergent in a half gallon mason jar, or other well sealed container.  Use 2-4 heaping tablespoons per load, wash on warm or hot setting.