Homemade Powder Laundry Detergent

Well, if you’re finding yourself here you’re probably just as tired of all the BS they put in our products as I am. And you know what? I DON’T BLAME YA!

From the crap they put in and ON our foods to the detergent we use on our skin and in our laundry (yes I said the DETERGENT we use on our skin because the soap you buy from the store is NOT true soap anymore), the toxins are endless. As mothers, we all do what we can to minimize our children’s exposure to anything that might harm them, be that immediate or long term harm.

With that being said, when my son was born back in 2020 I was on a mission to learn how to make my own soaps, household cleaners and make as much food as I possibly could from scratch to eliminate, or at the very least MINIMIZE, the amount of exposure to harmful ingredients as possible. I learned how to make soap bars of ALL kinds, breastmilk soaps, castile soaps, even fancy shamncy luxury soaps (which I totally tried to sell until almost blowing off my hand using a glass thermometer to test the temperature of my lye solution…. it’s story-time for another day.) Fast forward to about a month ago now, and my husband had an allergic reaction that caused his entire head and face to swell. I couldn’t figure out what he could possibly be having a reaction to as I had done NOTHING differently. After about a week and a truck load of antihistamines, his face was looking better but it was like whatever was causing the reaction must STILL be around the house somewhere, and my gut was telling me to patch test the products I use on our laundry. I had used what I THOUGHT was the most non-toxic, allergy friendly products on the market, and had used the exact same products for YEARS at that point. Was it possible that the companies had changed their ingredients? It seemed to me that it would take the same amount of time. effort and energy to start looking into making my OWN laundry detergent as it would be to try to figure out WHAT about the products I had been using for AGES had changed.

I was PLEASANTLY surprised to find out it’s actually quite easy to make, costs LESS than your average detergents, and dare I say, it works better! I’ve seen MANY different versions of this recipe, and as a self proclaimed mad chemist that finds joy in SAFELY mixing and making cleaning products, I find my version to be the most efficient of all of them (yes, I have tried this a few different ways and with a few different tweaks and THIS is my favorite hands down.)

ingredients you will need:

3 cups Baking soda

3 cups Washing soda

3 cups Borax

2 cups Epsom Salt

2 bars of castile soap grated (I personally MAKE castile soap bars at home using ONLY Olive oil and lye solution, you CAN buy DR Bronners Castile Soap Bars but a TRUE castile soap is unscented and made with 100% olive oil which isEXACTLY what sets it apart from other “soaps” on the market)

A box of Borax costs around $5.97

A box of washing soda $5.38

Epsome Salt $3.78 (if you don’t already just have it around the house)

and most of us already have baking soda in the house but JUST to prove the point $3.34

Dr. Bronners Castile Soap Basr $4.98

That’s about $23.72.

The average cost of a GOOD toxin free laundry detergent can range anywhere from $19-$30. THIRTY FREAKING DOLL HAIRS?! No ma’am, and half the time these brands marketed as “safer, cleaner and toxin free” are NOT actually safer…cleaner or…toxin free. So theres that!

With the amount of each ingredient left when I’m done, I can EASILY make two batches of laundry detergent without having to repurchase any of the ingredients (I keep a MONSTER bag of baking soda just because I clean with it a LOT) SO for LESS than the average cost of store bought “safer, cleaner and toxin free” laundry detergent I can make TWO batches without ever having to repurchase ingredients from the store. My clothes come out feeling cleaner, softer, BRIGHTER and smell WAY better than they ever did using big brands. AND we are no longer having to worry about allergic reactions because if I decide I want to add an essential oil for scent boosting, I can patch test whatever oil it is I’m interested in using BEFORE switching up my recipe and potentially causing a skin irritation! It IS important to note that Borax can be LETHAL if ingested, however when used in the method you see here it is considered a natural product and generally non-toxic SO LONG AS you are not ingesting it. Which I think goes for just about ANY cleaning products, non-toxic and natural alike!

So I mean… Don’t eat it and happy laundering!