Homemade Laundry Detergent

These are recipes that I use at home and have collected from various sites over the internet or from various books and adjusted to suit.

• Combine. Use about 2 tablespoons or up to a quarter of a cup of powder per wash.
• You can leave out the nappy soaker, it just gives the powder some extra grunt, an eco soaker without optical brightening is best.
• If you are using your washing water as grey water on the garden, leave out the borax.
• The role of the borax is to brighten laundry, soften hard water, remove soap residue, neutralise laundry odours, disinfect, remove stains, you can substitute with bicarbonate soda, which does the same things. It’s not going to be exactly the same, but bicarb is a cheaper, more ecological alternative.

This is the recipe I usually use to do my washing. I wash in cold water and I don’t use any softners. I usually add 1 few drops of essential oil like lavender or tea tree oil to the final rinse especially to towels, for a little extra fresh smell.

• In a saucepan, combine the water and the soap and stir over a medium heat until the soap is dissolved.
• Add the washing soda and borax and stir until thickened.
• Pour the mixture into a 10 litre bucket and then fill with hot tap water. Stir to combine.
• At this point, you could add a few drops of your favourite essential oil for fragrance.
• When cool, store in a plastic container.
• Use approximately 1/4 cup per load
• Add a few drops of essential oil for a fresh scent.

For a fabric softener, add about 1/2 cup of white vinegar (the really cheap stuff) to the final rinse of washing. Once the washing is dry, you don’t smell the vinegar.

For homemade laundry detergent, you need to be a little organised. It’s a bit of a pain trying to put on a load of washing at 6am before work, only to remember you have to grate a bar of soap first!