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Are you tired of clipping coupons to try and save money on your laundry detergent? What if I told you homemade laundry detergent is way easier than you ever thought and it cost a fraction of the store bought brands? What if I also told you homemade laundry detergent can work as well as the top name brands like Tide? I hope you aren’t thinking this is too good to be true because my friends it is true.
I have been looking for a homemade laundry detergent for some time for 2 reasons.
First, I like the idea of controlling what ingredients are introduced to my family and I know commercial laundry detergents are full of ingredients. I mean some ingredients aren’t even listed, but there is surely a label telling you to call poison control if the product is consumed or gets in your eyes. This I will take as some special code that means dangerous chemicals are lurking in that container. I prefer eco-friendly products and detergents rarely fit that description.
The second reason I wanted a homemade laundry detergent is I am cheap. I felt like I was forever scouring the ads for sales and clipping coupons in search of a great deal for this product we needed to keep our laundry clean. Little did I know that I had all the ingredients in my home ready to be combined to make a super cleaning homemade laundry detergent.
Here Is What You Will Need.
- 1 bar of Castile Soap– This is an all natural soap that will clean your clothes.
- 1 cup of Washing Soda- This is a cleanser and water softener.
- 1/2 cup of Baking Soda- This is a stain remover and odor remover.
- 1/4 cup course salt like Kosher or Sea Salt.- This is a color stabilizer and water softener.
- 5-10 drops of lemon oil (optional)- Lemon Oil is antifungal, antiseptic, anti-infective and antiviral.
- 1/2 cup of Distilled White Vinegar– This will be added to your rinse container or during the rinse cycle.
I don’t always add the lemon oil to each load, so it does stay separate from the recipe. I use the lemon oil when we have a round of sickness going through the house because we can always use some extra germ fighters.
Many folks may be resistant to adding vinegar to their clothes because they don’t want to smell like salad dressing. I promise you the vinegar smell will be gone once your laundry has dried. I have been using vinegar in my rinse cycle for over 2 years and my husband and kids had no idea that their clothes had a vinegar rinse.
The reason distilled white vinegar is so great in the laundry is because vinegar is a acid and it will naturally remove a base like laundry soap or detergent. Basically Vinegar will remove the soap from your laundry during the rinse cycle making your laundry truly rinsed. Plus, vinegar will soften your clothes better than any fabric softener on the market. Your towels will be more absorbent with vinegar because commercial fabric softeners leave behind a residue on your laundry that coats and this residue makes your towels less absorbent. Vinegar can also help keep your bright colors brighter.
Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe.
You will need to finely grate the bar of soap. You can use a hand grater or food processor. The food processor will take much less time, but if you don’t have one expect to spend about 15 minutes grating the soap into fine pieces.
Next you will add the washing soda, baking soda and salt. Mix well and store in an airtight container. This recipe will likely clump so you will need to add a desiccant, which is solid that sustains dryness. You can use those little tiny packs of silicon gel that comes in shoes or purses. You can also make your own using rice wrapped in a cloth fabric or a clean sock.
How Much Money Can I Save?
Here is the best part: the cost breakdown of your homemade laundry detergent.
- Castile Bar Soap = $3.50
- 1 Cup of Washing Soda = $.47
- 1/2 cup Baking Soda = $.13
- 1/4 cup Coarse Salt = $.09
The grand total is $4.19 before tax for about 50 loads of laundry. This cost roughly $.08 per load.
Let’s compare this to Tide. If you buy a giant container of Tide that does 180 loads for $29.99, than the cost per load is $.17.
You can make the cost lower for the homemade laundry detergent by buying your ingredients in bulk or using different brands. For example, Amazon sells a 3 pack of Kirk’s All Natural Castile soap for $7.48. This drops your price per load to $.06.
Either way you look at it an all natural homemade laundry detergent is a great product that saves you money and eliminates unnecessary harmful chemicals from your home.
We would love to hear from you. Do you use a homemade laundry detergent? If you don’t use a homemade laundry detergent what has stopped you from trying one?
