DIY Natural Laundry Detergent

Have you ever done something and asked yourself, 'Why did it take me so long to do this?!' That is exactly how I'm feeling about making my own laundry detergent. It was so easy, so cheap and I always have the ingredients on hand from making other cleaning products.

In the past four years, I have become a laundry detergent snob. With Gabe, we did cloth diapers. I did so much research while I was pregnant about what detergents were the best for the job while still being economically conscious. I fell in love with Country Save.  It was good for the diapers, the washing machine and not so bad for the environment either! It was (and still is) a great detergent.

Once I began working on a dishwasher detergent, I remembered why we had to stop cloth diapers. We have such hard water with iron and other materials in it that no matter what detergent I used, we couldn't keep them clean ... or get that gross ammonia smell out. I tried EVERYTHING! With dishes, I was easily able to tell if the detergent wasn't working great because my dishwasher would look bad or simply enough, there would still be spots on the dishes. I was nervous to try it out with clothes because it would be harder to tell.

Well, my last box of Country Save was dwindling down and I decided it was time to at least give it a try. After a few loads, it seemed to be working really well. No smells and everything appeared to look really good. This weekend, I finally had a good test ... clothes after a bonfire. The clothes reeked of smoke and some grass and dirt from the kids running around. They came out smelling like roses! Actually, they came out smelling like nothing because it is fragrance free!

It's cheap, it's effective and it will last for a long time ... I'm sold! Again, why did it take me so long to do this?!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Makes 5 cups

1 bar castile soap
2 c borax
2 c washing soda

First, grate your bar of soap. Then put the grated soap into a high speed blender and pulverize it to dust.

In a bowl, put all three ingredients together and mix well. Keep detergent in an airtight container.

For regular washers: use 1/8 cup; 40 loads
For HE washers: use 1 T; 80 loads

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

As you may know, I started making my own dish soap a while back. It took a bit to find the right ratio so it was thick and still worked good. That venture was nothing compared to finding out what worked for my dishwasher!

Let's start at the beginning. The water at my house is very hard and has lots of iron in it. It doesn't taste bad, but we definitely have our limitations ... like we can't use it to brew (a big pain in my rear)! I tried lots of different recipes that were out on the web, they would always work for about a week, but we would end up having lots of spots and my dishwasher would get cloudy after that. Ugh ... back to the chemicals!

I honestly felt like giving up on this one and just blaming our water. However, every meal I would watch the kids eat and I couldn't help but cringe a little knowing that I was using dishwasher detergent that I didn't like (even if it was 'safe'). I wanted a simple homemade detergent with very few ingredients. This would also save some money!

I decided to give it one more try ... the good 'ol college effort and of course, it finally worked. Does that happen to you? Right when you're about to give up on something you figure it out?!? Happens to me ALL of the time! Lesson learned (again): never quit!

What finally worked for me was not to use salt in my mix. I also always have white vinegar as my rinsing agent now. I have had spotless, clean beautiful dishes every time and my dishwasher is looking great! So, if this recipe doesn't work for you, keep adjusting it until you find what works best with the water in your area. If you need, try a little salt too. Citric Acid is a new ingredient for me. I haven't used it in anything before. Don't be intimidated it is a very safe and common ingredient. It can be found at many hardware stores and even natural food stores. As usual, I got mine online through Amazon.

Good luck!

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Makes 40 Loads

1 cup Borax
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup citric ccid
1 drop essential oils per load (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and keep them in an airtight container. I like using a mason jar.

When ready, add 1 T of mix per load. Again, I also fill my rinsing agent compartment with white vinegar.

Best Homemade Dish Soap EVER!

I have been making my own dish soap for a few months now. I have noticed that I go through it really fast so I have been making it way too often. It was basically the consistency of liquid castile soap so it would come out really fast and I would end up using twice as much. It made me think twice. Is this really beneficial to make it myself or not?

I decided before I gave up completely, I would do a little research and go back to the drawing board. I found an article on Mommypotamus. She tested lots of different soaps and found one that works. It uses washing soda which I have never used before, but that is the mystery thickening agent. I was super excited to try it. The glycerin is there to keep it from separating. The first few times I made the new recipe, I was amazed at how it thickened ... actually, it got a little too thick so I had to keep adjusting the amounts to work for me. If you look at the first picture I have, it shows the soap being more liquid and the picture below it shows it getting a thick white consistency. It's really amazing!

Don't forget to check out more of my natural cleaner recipes!

Best Homemade Dish Soap

Makes 2 cups

1 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup grated castile bar soap, tightly packed
1/4 cup + 2 T liquid castile soap
2 t super washing soda
1 t vegetable glycerin
30-40 drops essential oil (I use 20 lemon to help cut the grease, 10 lavender and 10 tea tree)

Mix water and grated bar soap in a pot. Bring it to boil and mix it until the bar soap has completely mixed in.

Meanwhile, add your liquid castile soap, washing soda, vegetable glycerin and essential oils to your container. Once your water and bar soap has completely mixed, add it to the remaining ingredients. Mix well.

Here's the important part ... wait! In about 24 hours, the soap will thicken up and it will be ready to use. I will occasionally shake it up to keep everything mixing well. If it gets too thick add a little more water and if it's too thin, add more washing soda (1/2 t at a time).

DIY Spray Bottles for Cleaning

Step 2: Make your own natural cleaners. So, what is step 1 ... Make the bottles!

Time after time when reading about essential oils and cleaning I read that eventually they may effect the plastic. Buying spray glass bottles can be pricey, so I decided to make my own. Paul, being "Mr. Let's Get Off This Plastic Planet" couldn't have been happier. I started saving every glass bottle that would have the same top as my old cleaner nozzles had ... vinegar, oils and some glass water bottles work great.

Simply clean out the bottles and nozzles. I soaked the bottles in water and soap overnight so that I could get the product labels off and use my own labels. Make your solutions, fill up the bottles and start cleaning! Don't forget to check out my recipes for DIY Natural Cleaners.



Here is a template for 2' diameter Avery 22807 Labels so you can easily label your cleaners. Download now!

DIY Natural Cleaners

I've tried numerous DIY cleaner recipes some with luck and some have left me wondering how it worked for someone else. For this reason, I wasn't very consistent with using them. But I found myself making the kids watch a movie while I cleaned bathrooms so they wouldn't come in and smell that stuff. I was taking a shower a few hours after cleaning because I didn't want the smell to engulf me as I was trying to get clean. I was constantly seeing my kids lick mirrors and glass as they admire themselves or put anything in their mouth, I knew I had to keep working on finding the right combination. Anyone else know those feelings?!? I also wanted to be able to make the cleaners with common things I had at home (I did have to get a few extra essential oils though). I now have the recipes dialed in and I am hooked!



A few things that you may not be familiar with right away is Borax or Castile Soap. To my delight, Borax is getting so common it's in most grocery stores in the cleaning aisle. It's looks like baking soda and has a ton of cleaning boost as well. For all you scientists ... "Borax is the common name for sodium tetraborate: a naturally occurring substance produced by the repeated evaporation of seasonal lakes" per the 20 Mule Team Borax site. Castile Soap for most of us is Dr. Bronners. That crazy guy with a million quotes on his bottle that made a terrific soap. Back before kids when we could go camping on a whim I felt like we lived on Dr. Bronners ... you can wash your hair, hands and even your teeth with it! Don't get me wrong, we still use it for camping trips with the kids we just don't use it every other weekend!

I have read that essential oils and plastic aren't great friends after awhile so try to use glass bottles ... and you can make your own spray bottles with items you already have! Find out how now!

Labels are key! Once I used my dusting spray as a window cleaner ... Just in case I didn't know before, olive oil does not clean windows! Here is a template for 2' diameter Avery Labels. I used Avery 22807. Download my free template now!

Seriously, try a few of these out -- your house will never feel so clean!

Cleaner Recipes

Disinfectant

2 oz vodka
6 oz hot water
1 t castile soap
10 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops tea tree essential oil

All Purpose Spray

3/4 c hot water
3 c hydrogen peroxide
1 T washing soda
1 T borax
1 t dish soap
40 drops essential oil (I like using tea tree, eucalyptus and lemon)

Bathroom Cleaner

2 c hot water
1 t borax
1 t baking soda
1 t castile soap
4 drops lemon essential oil
4 drops lavender essential oil

Toilet Cleaner

1 c vinegar
1/4 c borax
Let sit in toilet for 15 minutes before cleaning

Dish Soap

1 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup grated castile bar soap, tightly packed
1/4 cup + 2 T liquid castile soap
2 t super washing soda
1 t vegetable glycerin
30-40 drops essential oil (I use 20 lemon to help cut the grease, 10 lavender and 10 tea tree)

Mix water and grated bar soap in a pot. Bring it to boil and mix it until the bar soap has completely mixed in. Meanwhile, add your liquid castile soap, washing soda, vegetable glycerin and essential oils to your container. Once your water and bar soap has completely mixed, add it to the remaining ingredients. Mix well. It will take a day to thicken up.

Dusting Spray

1 c hot water
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1 t olive oil
10 drops lemon essential oil

Glass/Mirrors

1/2 lemon
Just rub the lemon over the glass and mirror. Wipe with damp microfiber cloth and polish with a dry cloth.

Stainless Steel Cleaner

Drop 1-2 t of olive oil on a damp microfiber cloth and polish away!! It's best to go with the grain.