Natural Cleaners - Homemade Laundry Detergent

I make a lot of things at home instead of buying them for a few reasons:

1. Saves money
2. Is healthier for us (for my part, I have food intolerances and chemical intolerances)
3. Is environmentally friendly

Point three is probably the least important of the three (to me), but being environmentally friendly generally means it's also safer and healthier for us too! There are so many dangerous chemicals in our homes today - in baby products (!!!), in our self-care products, and in the cleaning products we use - that I have, over time, been switching to a lot of natural, homemade alternatives. In this post, I want to share with you the latest homemade alternative I have tried - laundry detergent!

Washing powder is expensive - I generally buy an environmentally friendly and sensitive skin washing powder - and the last box I bought has emptied much quicker than I expected (despite my using less than the manufacturer recommends for each wash {I figure they're more interested in their profits than my washing :) }). I had seen a 'recipe' for making your own laundry detergent and had bought the ingredients, and now I have finally made it. Here it is:

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Grate 1/3 of a block of pure soap

Measure out 1/3 cup of washing soda (sodium carbonate)

Put soap and soda in a bucket and add some hot water - stir well until dissolved

Top the bucket up with water, and stir some more

That's it! Use 2-3 cups per load (3 for a heavily soiled load). I tried it on a load of nappies and sheets and am very happy with the results (that is, they're clean - they smell clean and look clean).

Too easy. Very cheap. And it's environmentally friendly and safe to use. Yay!


Here's the link where I got this concoction from: http://recyclingnearyou.com.au/documents/2005125_natclean_eng.pdf

Check it out - there's lots of other alternatives there too. Let me know if you try any!