My DIY Homemade Laundry Detergent

I used to make my own laundry detergent years and years ago. I was a diehard wanna-be hippie, but because my son had such terrible asthma & allergy problems, my main motivation was that it seemed like the natural choice for helping keep his sensitive skin as healthy as possible. As an added benefit, I also liked the idea of being more green as well as being in control of what was touching our clothes and therefore our skin. As much as I loved the final product, hand-grating the soap was messy, dusty, and seemed to take hours. As my babies grew older and also began to outgrow their allergies, we became busier and our schedules became more hectic. Eventually I stopped making detergent and started buying it again.

Fast forward to the past year. We've added to our family by one person (you can read about my vintage-themed wedding very soon on my other blog!) and one cat. The kids are older and more independent, and we recently moved into a larger house to accommodate our larger family's needs. Because my husband is going back to school part time and works full time, I'm always looking for ways to save us money, keep our family healthy, and to help keep things flowing smoothly. One thing we've been working on as a family is becoming "more green with our clean." My goal is to have us living a more natural, environmentally-safe lifestyle by the end of 2014. We just moved the beginning of March, so it seemed like a good time to start a new lifestyle!

The first thing I started with was DIY powdered laundry detergent. I knew that it was a fairly simple and extremely cost-effective project, and since my kids had outgrown their skin sensitivities, I was excited about the possibility of using scent boosters in my detergent. (Making my recipe not AS green but what can I say? I love the fresh smell of Downy!) We also received a food processor as a wedding gift, so I found the soap process substantially more pleasant now that I didn't have to grate it all by hand! One thing we were experiencing with the kids doing their own laundry was that they would use way more detergent than they needed no matter how big or small the load. This powder has virtually eliminated that waste because they now know to just use one scoop per load, no matter what.  Win!

Here are the ingredients I used in making this detergent.  All of these were found in the laundry aisle at Walmart, but they can also be found at Target, most grocery stores, etc:

-3 bars of Fels Naptha soap, $.97 each (can also use Ivory for more sensitive skin, Dr. Bronner's bar soap, any variety, Zote, etc)
-1 4lb 12 oz box of Borax, $3.97
-1 4lb box of Arm & Hammer baking soda, $2.24
-1 55 oz box of Arm & Hammer washing soda, $3.24
-1 28 oz bottle Purex scent boost crystals, $3.97
-1 small container Oxyclean (I don't have the cost for this because I already had it on hand, but it was less than $4.50)

I also purchased these items, but these are optional and you can use whatever you have on hand:

-a medium sized Rubbermaid tote with lid to store your detergent in
-a large bowl to mix the detergent in
-a 2-tablespoon scoop to measure detergent for each load (you can buy a stainless steel scoop at Walmart for around $3 or the Dollar Tree has a two-pack of plastic scoops for $1.)
-a marker, label or sticker to label your detergent with the date so you can track your savings!

Grate the bar soap until it is very fine. (You can do this by hand, but I find it so much quicker and easier in a blender or food processor. Also, we only use cold water to launder with and I often found that the larger chunks left when grating by hand wouldn't always dissolve completely in cold water.)

I cut my bars into four pieces and blend one at a time, mixing with baking soda to keep the soap from clumping or sticking. The baking soda is what helps the soap turn into a grainy powder-like consistency. I dump each batch into a large bowl before moving into the next chunk. 

Once I have all three bars of soap in the bowl, I add the rest of the baking soda, the washing soda, the Borax, and the OxyClean. Stir until well mixed, then add the bottle of scent crystals and stir again. I usually mix all of this in a clean Rubbermaid tote because I can fill my jar for the laundry room and just store the rest in the tote until we need it. We use two tablespoons per load or even less for small loads. It dissolves well, even in cold water! I've also noticed how clean and shiny the inside of our washer is since we started using this detergent! It works great and is perfectly safe for HE washers as well!

This is a super easy, tried-and-true recipe that works well for my family. Both the Oxyclean and baking soda are optional ( as well as the obvious scent crystals) but this is the combination that I've fallen in love with for my family. Baking soda adds extra  freshening and wonderful softening properties, however if you notice fading of your darks, you can certainly adjust the baking soda amount and just use half.

I hope you enjoy making your natural laundry detergent! Please comment below if you have any questions or tips from your own detergent experiments, and thank you for reading!

Blessings & happy crunching! 

Kimberly