How to Make Eco-Friendly Liquid Laundry Detergent

Most store bought laundry detergents are filled with chemicals that can harm the water. Although there are eco-friendly detergents available, they are relatively pricey. Follow this easy recipe to clean your clothes and save the environment.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Grater
• Medium saucepan
• 2 oz. natural or laundry soap
• 3 pints water
• 1/2 cup washing soda
• 1/2 cup borax
• 2 gallon bucket
• 1 quart hot water
• Hot water
• Containers to store finished product

How to Make Liquid Laundry Detergent

1. Grate 2 oz of soap.

2. Heat 3 pints of water over low heat in a medium saucepan. Stir in grated soap allowing the soap to completely melt.

3. Stir in washing soda and Borax. Keeping stirring until the mixture begins to thicken.

4. Remove mixture from heat.

5. Pour 1 quart of hot water into the 2 gallon bucket.

6. Next, add the soap mixture to the 2 gallon bucket and stir well.

7. Once the water and soap mixture are well combined, fill the rest of the bucket with hot water and mix well again.

8. Allow mixture to thicken and cool for 24 hours.

9. Pour detergent into containers or at the very least, make sure the bucket is well covered.

10. Use 1/2 cup of homemade detergent in each load of laundry.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want your new detergent to have a scent, add 50 to 70 drops of essential oil in Step 7. You can also use body save scents used in body products and candles. This option is slightly less environmentally-friendly.

[sa1157]

on 7/27/2008 One tip - this recipe comes out with a weird, gloopy texture. If that bothers you, you can use a stick blender on it and it stays a bit more cohesive.

[sa1157]

on 7/27/2008 I've been using this recipe for a year or so and it works great. I use a scoop of off-brand Oxyclean (sodium percarbonate) with each load (you can't pre-mix that with the detergent, as it loses effectiveness within hours). Vinegar in the rinse cycle as fabric softener. I've been adding essential oils and was disappointed that the smell didn't come thru, but I wasn't using anywhere near 50 drops! Thanks for that tip. (Since i couldn't get the smell from the wash cycle, i put a few drops of oil on a tennis ball and toss it in for the last few minutes of the dryer cycle - everything smells lovely, but i'm nervous the oil might spot my clothes.)

[CrunchyMama]

on 4/27/2008 I have a similar recipe:
Grate 1 bar of Ivory, or 1/3 bar of Fels Naptha and dissolve in hot water while heating on the stove. Then I add 1/2 cup each of washing soda and borax and stir until they dissolve. Then add enough cold water to make it 2 gal.

It works amazingly!! And it's so cheap.