Home Laundry Detergent

Laundry detergent without a long list of ingredients that are unpronounceable? That can't exist, right? Read on, my friend!

A measuring cup, lavender essential oil, borax, washing soda, and pure Castile soap on a table.

Can we talk about how good laundry detergent smells? The smell lingers in the air, in your home, and most notably on your clothes; it even still smells good months after you wash it. But, if I am honest, I am skeptical about what is in the detergent that makes it smell so heavenly, weeks after it is washed. Furthermore, it is concerning to look at the ingredients on the back of your favorite detergent. There is ingredient upon ingredient, with only two or three ingredients that are recognizable, some which have proven to even be dangerous. And this is something we wear on our body all day long, something that our skin is constantly absorbing.

That being said, I have been wanting to find a laundry detergent recipe that was natural for a long time. I was always nervous to try anything because I have had some friends who have had bad experiences: some of their clothes have been permanently damaged, with chalky sorts of oil on them, or have simply remained unclean. Therefore, it was important to me to find something that could both clean our clothes, without permanently damaging them, and not leave chemicals for our skin to absorb. So, I set out to try a few liquid laundry detergents because I heard bad things about the dry powder kinds.

Below is the one I have settled on. Although, it doesn’t smell as extravagant as Tide, or other major brands, I can really tell that it is cleaning our clothes well. My son is one and a half and gets everything under the sun on his clothes. Surprisingly, I haven’t even had to pretreat most of the stains! And the really hard things like spaghetti sauce or wine only need a little of the detergent rubbed into them and set for an hour before washing. Afterwards, we finish our laundry cycle using dryer balls in our dryer; we put lavender essential oil on them, which helps the laundry smell especially fresh.

This recipe is so simple! And while it is a little more money upfront, it is extremely cost efficient in the long run. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup Borax
  • 1/2 cup Washing Soda
  • 9 cups Water
  • 1/2 cup Castile Soap
  • 5 drops Lavender Essential Oil

Instructions

  1. Pour Borax and Washing Soda in container
  2. Boil water and pour over mixture while still hot so it will dissolve the two ingredients.
  3. Stir these together until the Borax and Washing Soda have completely dissolved.
  4. Pour in Castile Soap ( I use Lavender scent, but really any of the scents would work)
  5. Add Essential Oil (You don’t have to do this- I just love the smell!)
  6. Stir. The mixture will look like water for a good 24 hours, sometimes longer depending on the temperature of the room.
  7. After the mixture solidifies, use an 1/8 cup for each load. I always stir before I use each time.
  8. Feel confident that your clothes are clean and chemical free!