Why not make your own laundry detergent? You can make your own eco-friendly liquid laundry detergent at home with just a few simple ingredients. Not only are you saving money, but you’re also doing something good for the environment.
Why make your own laundry detergent?
Detergent is what we often need. If you have a family, you know that the washing machine runs several times a week. This therefore costs money in terms of household expenses. You can still go to the store, but the range of products continues to grow. The need for such a large selection is probably quite debatable.
What ingredients should you use to do your own laundry?
Commercial, traditional detergents are rarely respectful of the skin and even less of the environment. These contain, among other things, bleach, silicone, alcohol and heavy metals. Do you really want such additives to penetrate your skin? In addition, conventional detergents remain on the clothes – they are never completely eliminated despite rinsing and they also end up in sewers, sewage treatment plants and then in rivers. To top it off, we tend to over-dose them, which therefore creates unnecessary costs (since higher consumption) and environmental damage.
Here is what you need to do your laundry:
- Marseille soap
- baking soda
- some water
Admit that it does not take much! If you look at the labels of modern washing powders and detergents from time to time, you often find lots of incomprehensible words there: enzymes, perfumes, chemicals. Some of them are harmful to the skin and the environment: there with these few ingredients, you know exactly what is in your laundry.
What do you need to do your laundry yourself?
In addition to the ingredients, you need quite a few materials. Of course, to keep your laundry, provide empty containers. It can be glass bottles. Here you need it two of 1 liter each or a large can of 2 liters. To mix, you will need a large bowl or salad bowl with a whisk. And if, rather than buying Marseille soap shavings, you opt for a whole soap, plan a kitchen grater or a peeler to make the soap shavings yourself. Obviously, you need something to heat it all up.
What is the procedure for doing your own laundry?
- Step 1: Start by boiling 1.5 liters of water in a large container. And stop cooking.
- Step 2: Melt the Marseille soap shavings in the water by taking your pot or casserole dish off the heat. Use a wooden spatula to mix well.
- Step 3: Mix in a small container a tablespoon of baking soda with a little water. Wait for the water and the Marseille soap to lukewarm before pouring the water + baking soda mixture. Mix everything.
- Step 4: Wait for the mixture to cool. Stir occasionally with your wooden spoon.
- Step 5: If the detergent obtained is too thick, you can put it in the mixer.
- Step 6: Divide your detergent between your two 1 liter bottles or your 2 liter container.
- Step 7: As soon as your detergent is cold, you can use it.
- Step 8: Remember to shake your container before each use of your detergent.
Using homemade detergent
The detergent that you have made yourself is used in the same way as commercial detergent. Take a small glass jar of yogurt to measure it. This is enough for each wash cycle. You will need more for heavily soiled laundry. Just before the wash cycle, you can add essential oil if needed. Some integrate it directly into the laundry. If there are particularly stubborn stains on your clothes, soak them with baking soda overnight. Wash as usual the next day. You can empty the soaking water into the drum of your washing machine and thus save a few liters of valuable washing water.
There are many laundry detergent recipes on the Net, it’s up to you to experiment and find the one that suits you. You can add to the one described above drops of essential oil (grapefruit, lemon, lavender, eucalyptus, etc.) or a fragrance of your choice if you want a detergent whose scent is not neutral. Some recipes recommend adding baking soda. Warning: you should not add soda to fibers such as wool and silk, as this causes them to swell. For delicate laundry, you can use Aleppo soap. There are also detergent recipes based on black soap.
And make your own fabric softener?
Who doesn’t dream of a freshly washed laundry that is soft and fragrant? Unfortunately, these effects are often achieved with very questionable commercial fabric softeners. The odors and sweet feel are created by complex synthetic chemicals that are often difficult to break down, which pollute wastewater and harm the environment. In addition, they can cause allergic reactions and respiratory diseases, sometimes only a few days after the first skin contact. Children in particular can be sensitive to it. But, as with detergent, there are also simple, environmentally friendly and also particularly inexpensive alternatives. The simplest and at the same time effective substitute for fabric softener is white vinegar. Simply put 30 to 60 ml of vinegar in the fabric softener compartment of your machine. It softens water, disinfects and dissolves lime deposits and detergent residues from clothing fibres.