Easy DIY Laundry Detergent and Bleach!

 

Wash Day Prayer from Mamarocks.com 

There are so many ways to make your own laundry detergent!  Wow!  Finding the one that works best for your family might just be a challenge for you--like it was for me.  

We have LOTS of laundry and I don't just mean a LOT--I mean really more like TONS!  Well, maybe I exaggerate, but between my husband's construction job (wintertime is the worst because he layers and layers), our Christmas tree farm, my 2 yr. old and 5 yr. old boys and our inside puppy and a new sandbox on the front porch...I am constantly doing  one.  more.  load.  

Well, ok...my daughter and I make messes and have lots of clothes, too.  Can't blame it all on the guys!

My kids love baths and that means lots of towels (because I clean the floor with them afterward, hehehe!). Between those towels and the kitchen dish cloth and towel that are constantly being used to clean the floor--oops! Yes, I caught that--into the hamper now...phew the laundry seems endless!  

We are looking into more ways to be chemical-free in this house.  Therefore, we are trying all kinds of DIY, make-your-own products.  It's been fun and time-consuming...but, we love it when we find something that works!   

After looking at so many recipes and wanting a liquid recipe that did not involve grating soap (lazy, I know....sigh) and that did not clump up horribly and make it impossible to use the container I have, finally, I came up with a recipe of my own.  

Here it is:

1 Gallon hot water

1/3 c. salt

1/4 c. washing soda

2/3 c. Liquid Castile Soap

1/3 c. Borax

20 drops Wild Orange Essential Oil

I heated the water on the stove, until just getting hot.  You'll need to figure out how hot you want it to be. :0)  I didn't want it to be boiling, but just hot enough to dissolve all the powders and keep anything from clumping.  

I added the salt, stirred.  

Added the rest of the ingredients one at a time and stirred.  

Then, let it cool.  

Once not too hot to the touch, I added the essential oil and poured into my container.  

I like my laundry detergent to have a healthy, hearty citrus smell....so, you might want to start with 10 drops of any EO you like to see if that's enough for you.

Use 1/4 - 1/2 cup for each load

I just print my label in a Microsoft Word Document and then tape it to the container with clear packing tape--to make it waterproof.  I try to keep the recipe of everything I make on the container that holds it.  Otherwise, when it's time to make more, I either can't find the recipe or it takes too long to find it and I get sidetracked doing 3 or 4 other things before I remember that I was going to make it. :0) (Anyone relate to that??)

Homemade Bleach

I found this recipe for Homemade Bleach and was so excited to give it a try.  Who knew you could also make homemade bleach?  I'd never read the ingredients on my bleach bottle.  Have you?

My bottle says (what I can read of it, anyway....the print is tinier than tiny, we're talking microscopic here!) sodium hydrochloride 6%, other ingredients 94%.  So, ummm...what are the other ingredients?  Why don't they have to put that on there?  ugh!  I only know that it's some powerful stuff!  Which probably means it is not good for us.  

I mixed up this recipe for one gallon.

2 cups hydrogen peroxide (3% solution)
2 tsp. citric acid
13 cups water
20 drops lemon essential oil

Use 1/2 - 1 cup per load of laundry.

In the original recipe she offers lemon juice as a substitute for citric acid.  I have the lemon juice, but decided I would rather this last longer and felt like the lemon juice might go bad. (?)  That's why I used citric acid.

I love this!  It's working wonders on our clothes and they smell so much better than when I used regular bleach!

Here is the shelf just over my washing machine.

I use plain vinegar in the rinse cycle (sometimes I add a few drops of EO).  I use dryer balls and aluminum foil in my dryer, too.  No more toxin-filled dryer sheets--yay! 

I love knowing my laundry is no longer full of TOXINS and is fresh smelling and CLEAN!

Have you gone toxin-free with your laundry, yet?  If so, comment and tell me what you do.  If not, what's keeping you from it?  Please share some of your recipes here, too.  

Thanks for stopping by!
Dawn

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