How to Make Homemade Laundry Detergents | Guest Post

Sometimes laundry detergents from the store can irritate your skin and it takes a while before you even realize what the reason is. Rashes caused by detergents that failed to dissolve are very common as the store-bought ones are usually made with chemicals that cleanse your clothes from dirt more easily, but at the cost of you risking skin irritations, and even thinning the fabric of the clothes since the same chemicals are strong enough to use for oven cleaning. So why not learn how to make your very own detergents instead? Homemade laundry detergents are completely possible and are used in many households. They are natural, and are created by everyday products which means they will also be cheap, not to mention that they will be easier to get rid of when home cleaning (come on, we all spill some). Here are some recipes you can implement:

1. Powdered Soap Laundry Detergent

Ingredients

• 10 cups of Borax
• 6 cups of baking soda
• 6 cups of washing soda
• 7 cups of grated soap bars

Take a bucket or a tub, pour the ingredients inside and mix them up until there are no sections visible. You should pour and mix a little at a time as the specky ingredients will raise a lot of powder dust which is not deadly, but can be problematic if inhaled in huge amounts. Seal the tub, bucket, or bowl, and the detergent is done. Use about 1/4 cup for a full load of laundry.

2. Powdered Soap Laundry Detergent

Ingredients

• 1 cup of Borax
• 1 cup of washing soda
• 2 cups of grated soap bars of choice (castile, ivory, etc.)

The soap bars need to be very finely grated, and not in stripes. Take an airtight plastic container and pour inside all the ingredients. You need to stir them well to make something resembling a homogeneous mixture that does not obviously show which section is what. Again, slow stirring would be best so that you don’t raise too much powder dust. And voila! Your laundry detergent is complete. When loading up the washing machine, use 2 tablespoons of the mixture for pitch perfect cleaning.

3. Liquid Laundry Detergent

Ingredients

• 1 cup of washing soda
• 1 fully grated bar of ivory soap
• hot water

Take a container and pour the ivory soap inside, then pour enough hot water to cover it. Heat it up and start stirring until the soap fully melts. Now you need a container for about 2 gallons of hot water. Add the concoction to the water and stir until well mixed. After that you add the washing soda and stir again until you get a homogeneous liquid. Leave it aside to cool and after that it will be ready to use.

Important Note: Liquid detergents will gel when left to cool down, and they will look blotchy and glossy. Don’t worry, that is natural. Just stir them before use.

With these recipes you should be able to find another way to clean up your clothes without relying on chemicals that could replace any cleaning tool you may have. Rely on yourself to make a natural cleaner that will work much better on your clothes and feel better on your skin.

~Ella