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After gathering this week’s laundry, instead of reaching for store-bought detergent, I grabbed a container of freshly homemade laundry detergent. I’ve long been aware of the potentially harmful ingredients used in many commercial cleaning products and have made the switch to more thoughtful brands such as Seventh Generation, Ecos and Method, but more recently I have begun the switch to homemade cleaning products that revolve around a simple set of natural ingredients that I can buy in bulk to reduce packaging waste and fuel for shipping. Homemade products also allow me to monitor exactly what ingredients I use, and make me aware of the energy involved in converting raw ingredients into a finished product.
For my powdered laundry detergent I used this basic recipe:
Finely shred 1 (4 oz) bar of castile soap either in a food processor or with a box-grater. Mix soap flakes with 1 cup each of Washing Soda and Borax. Store in an airtight container. Use 1-2 Tablespoons per load of laundry.
I reused a large yogurt tub for storage and used 1 Tablespoon for a large load that I washed in cold water. The clothes came out clean, but I might use a little more next time to retain some of the fresh sent of the Kirk’s castile soap, or perhaps increase the ratio of soap to powder in my next batch. A few drops of essential oils in each load can also be used to add a pleasant smell to the laundry, and depending on which oil, might also increase the cleaning power of the detergent. I was initially worried that the powdered detergent wouldn’t dissolve in the cold water, but it worked quite well as far as I can tell. If you’d rather stick with a liquid detergent, however, The Simple Dollar has a great post on making a liquid detergent as well as a cost analysis of how much money can be saved making the detergent yourself.
While I still drive my clothes to the laundromat and use a dryer instead of air-drying my clothes (mostly because of a lack of space in my apartment), I’ll be toting my yogurt container of homemade detergent proudly each laundry-day from now on, knowing that at least my detergent is doing minimal harm to the environment, and with the satisfaction of having become just a little more self-reliant.
