How to Make Homemade Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent

You might be surprised to learn that you can make your own laundry detergent. What a great way to save time and money. But even better, you can make your own eco-friendly laundry detergent. Good for you - good for the planet.

Here’s how to make homemade eco-friendly laundry detergent.

First, you actually have two options here. You can make powder detergent or liquid detergent. The instructions for both are included below, so it's your choice.

Liquid Detergent Ingredients:
* Cheese grater (Sturdy food processor with a grating attachment or a blender can work well too)
* Large saucepan (needs to hold at least six cups of water)
* 8 oz. soap (glycerin or other natural soap works best; Dr. Bronner's is good.)
* 2 cup washing soda – you can find this at your local home store or supermarket
* 2 cup borax
* Large bucket. Needs to hold approximately two gallons.
* Water
* Storage container

Directions:
Step One: Grate 8 ounces of your soap (about one cup)
Step Two: Turn burner on to medium low. Heat six cups of water in large saucepan. Slowly add soap flakes. Let them dissolve before adding more.
Step Three: Add washing soda and borax. Continue stirring. Mixture will thicken. Remove from heat.
Step Four: Add four cups of hot water to your bucket. Pour soap mixture into the water. Stir to combine.
Step Five: Add another gallon of water to the mixture. If you’re using a two gallon bucket simply fill the rest of the bucket up with water. Stir well. Let sit overnight.
Step Six: Pour mixture into your storage container. When you’re ready to do laundry, use ¼ cup of detergent per load.

Powder Detergent Ingredients:
* 1 cup borax
* 1 cup washing soda
* 2 cups soap flakes (use glycerin or other natural soap grated with a cheese grater or food processor)
* 1 Large bowl or bucket for mixing
* Storage container

Directions:
Making powder eco-friendly detergent is easy. Simply combine the ingredients in a large bowl. Store in your container of choice. When ready, use approximately 1/8 of a cup of detergent.

Note: The ration for powder detergent is one borax to one washing soda to two soap flakes. So you could easily double, triple or quadruple the recipe. Just keep the proportions equal.

As you can see, making eco-friendly laundry detergent is easy. You can find all the ingredients you need at your supermarket. You’ll find the ingredients at a much lower cost than buying a jug of manufactured detergent. Plus, a homemade batch will last you quite a long time. It’ll save you money and it’s much better for the environment.

Stuff You'll Need: