Homemade Laundry Detergent

It was really difficult for me to figure out what topic I should start with.  So many things that I'll be posting about are intertwined - which could lead a talkative gal like me to go off on tons of tangents if I'm not careful!  But I promised little steps that you could easily work into your daily lives so I'm starting off simple.  (And when I say "simple" this time, I also mean "easy"!!)  So here it goes...

Do you cough, sneeze or try to hold your breath like I do as you walk down the detergent isle in your grocery store?  I always wondered if that was my body's way of telling me, "Get out of there!" so I decided to look into it.  The back of the detergent bottle in my cupboard wasn't exactly detailed...

...so I had to visit their website for help. The actual ingredient list is much longer, but I'll save you some reading and just list the ones that gave me cause for concern.

Ingredient	Level of Concern (0 – 10)	Reason for Concern
C12-15 Pareth-7	1	Environmental toxin Limited amount determined safe in cosmetics
Sodium Dodecylbenzenesulfonate	1	Used in food but there is limited information about its safety
Sodium Hydroxide	3	Skin, eye, and/or lung irritant
Triethanolamine	5	Human immune, respiratory, and skin toxicant or allergen
Benzisothiazolinone	3 or 4	Possible sensitizer toxicant or allergen Skin, eye, and/or lung irritant Workplace exposure is limited to low doses
Methylisothiazolinone	5	Neurotoxin Skin toxicant or allergen Sensitizer toxicant or allergen Wildlife and environmental toxicity Use is restricted in Canadian cosmetics Use prohibited in Japan in some types of cosmetics when combined with some ingredients
Methylchloroisothiazolinone	5	Skin toxicant or allergen Use is restricted in Canadian cosmetics Use prohibited in Japan in some types of cosmetics when combined with some ingredients Mutagen (Changes the genetic material of an organism.  Many mutagens cause cancer.)

(All information in the table above was found at Skin Deep.  It is a website that I use frequently to check the level of safety for all of my cosmetic or hygiene products.  Try it out!  And I'm sorry ahead of time if this website totally taints all of your tried and true products, but someone had to tell you!)

After discovering that my detergent contained these toxins, I didn't feel completely comfortable washing my own clothes in it, let alone my child's.  (And Dreft - not exactly better for sensitive baby skin either!)  So after using Google to find an alternative, the only reason I visit that isle in my grocery store is to pick up the ingredients for my homemade laundry detergent.

Since I'm feeling very generous as I'm writing this post, I've decided to give you not only one but TWO recipes to choose from.  Okay, okay...so the first one isn't really a recipe...

Option #1:  Dr. Bronner's Liquid Castile Soap

Of course it can be used as a laundry detergent, right?  It's like the Windex of natural hygiene for all of you My Big Fat Greek Wedding movie fans!  I was doing a little research on the Dr. Bronner's website and found out that you just use 1/4 to 1/3 cup depending on how soiled your clothes are and add a dash of baking soda for increased power.  So easy!

Now, if for some reason you don't like that option, you can try the following recipe.  (This is actually the one I use!)  I like it because:

1. It's inexpensive.  (See price breakdown below!)
2. It's easy to store compared to the homemade liquid detergent recipes out there.  (They are less concentrated and bulkier because water is added.  My bathroom and laundry room share a space so I'm limited on storage.)
3. It takes less than 10 minutes to make.  (The liquid version is a little time consuming, but you are welcome to try it and let me know how it works!)

Option #2:  Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe

1 - 4.5oz bar of soap of your choosing (I used to use Ivory because it was the most popular one in the recipes I found, but I'm not sure that was much safer than my store-bought detergent!  I now use unscented Dr. Bronner's Castile soap, but there are many natural soaps out there.)
1 cup Borax (Wondering about the safety of this like I did?  Crunchy Betty does an excellent job of explaining it!) 
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (Not to be confused with baking soda!)

Directions

Step 1:  Grate the bar of soap into a bowl using the fine side of your cheese grater.

Step 2:  Mix in the Borax and washing soda.

If you have a top-loader washing machine, just pour it in a container and you're finished!  If you have a front-loader like me, there's one more step.  (I found out from experience that the HE washers don't use enough water to completely dissolve the grated soap, so if you don't do this step you may be left with little flakes on your clothes.)

Step 3:  Pour the mixture into your blender/food processor and pulse a few times.

Love my Ninja!

Step 4:  Store in a clean, dry container.  (I use a large yogurt container.)

 Voila!  Use 1-2 Tbsp. per load depending on what kind of washing machine you have and how soiled your clothes are.

And the total cost of this DIY laundry detergent?  This is my breakdown:

5oz Bar of Dr. Bronner's Castile soap:  $4.16  (Amazon had the best price when I bought it.)
76oz box of Borax:  $4.35  (1c is 5.2oz so it yields about 14 1/2c or $0.30/batch.)
55oz box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda:  $2.89  (1c is 9.3oz so it yields about 6c or $0.48/batch.)

So $4.16 + $0.30 + $0.48 = $4.94 per batch

My batch made about 3 1/4 cups of detergent, so about 26 - 52 loads depending on how much you use.   

So that's between $0.10 - $0.19 per load!!

(I did I mention I LOVE math?!  At least I'm getting a little use out of my super expensive BS in mathematics, right?)

FYI:  Tide powder detergent that yields 40 loads for a normal wash costs $9.59 at my local grocery store.  That's at least $0.24 per load.  Plus, (if made with a safe soap) this homemade detergent can be made free of all those toxins...which is the whole reason I started this blog!

Better for your body, easy on your wallet.

Try it and let me know what you think!