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Homemade 3-Ingredient Laundry Detergent

I can’t remember the last time I purchased store-bought laundry detergent.  There are a million and one other options and I've definitely tried a good number of them!  I used reusable laundry discs for several years, but when they needed replacing, I decided to feel out other options instead.  Soap nuts were okay for a time, but I was never confident they were getting agitated enough in the washing machine to make the most of their saponins and soapy goodness.  I also did a stint using just a small amount of liquid castile soap, which works well but isn’t the most cost-effective option.  And so, I eventually turned to making my own powder detergent.
I shared a photo of the detergent-making process on Instagram stories a few weeks ago and got multiple requests for more info, so I'm finally sharing the (incredibly easy) recipe here.

There are a lot of similar recipes circulating on the internet, but the main difference with mine is that I use proportionately much less soap than other recipes I’ve seen.  Why?  I wash most things in cold water, and find that with a higher soap ratio, some of that soap just doesn’t dissolve, leaving gummy pieces of half-dissolved soap attached to your clothes.  Clearly not what we’re going for!  

 This really is a super simple DIY.  I've linked all the ingredients below, should you want to order them online, but everything is pretty easy to find -- any natural bar soap will work, and you can find borax and washing soda at most supermarkets and grocery stores.  Scale the recipe up or down, as needed, depending on the size of your bar of soap.

Homemade 3-Ingredient Laundry Detergent 

1 4-oz bar natural bar soap, grated
4 cups washing soda
4 cups borax
(Essential oils -- optional)

 Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Store in an airtight container.  To use, sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons into your load and wash as normal.

 And that’s it!

You can scent your detergent with essential oils, but I personally don't.  The soap gives the detergent a fresh clean smell, plus I've never found essential oil scents to last very well in the wash anyways.  Scented bar soap is another option to make the detergent itself smell great, but, again, I don't find the scent detectable once clothes/linens are dry.  I use whatever bar soap I have on hand -- scented or unscented -- and really can’t tell the difference once everything is dry.  

Have you ever made your own laundry detergent?  What are your favorite household DIY’s?
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2X Thicker Castile Soap from Dr. Jacobs Naturals

Historically, castile soap referred exclusively to the olive oil soap made in the Castile region of Spain, but today it's a term more broadly used to describe any soap made through the traditional saponification process that turns natural plant oils into soap.  Castile soap is an everyday staple in my home for both body care and cleaning purposes and I've recently been trying out the soaps from a new-to-me brand, Dr.  Jacobs Naturals.  Dr. Jacobs is a cruelty free company making liquid castile soap in the USA without palm oil, synthetic fragrance, colors, preservatives, or GMO's.

People often complain that liquid castile soaps are either too thin and runny or don't lather sufficiently, and quite honestly, these two factors frequently have me reaching for a different product in the shower too.  Dr. Jacobs soaps, however, circumvent both these issues by thickening their coconut and olive oil based castile soap with a small amount of the gentle, non-toxic surfactant coco-glucoside.   The result is a hybrid soap that's substantially thicker than your average castile offering.  It won't pour out of your hands or run down the drain, and the coco-glucoside helps it to lather more easily too.

 I've been testing Dr. Jacobs' soaps out for all my usual household cleaning tasks -- laundry, makeup brush washing, and more -- and also as a shower gel and hand soap, and I'm pretty sold on them for all of the above!  The thicker viscosity makes it the perfect consistency to use as either a body wash or hand soap and its gentle and non-drying on the skin.  (And the 16 oz. pump bottles are extra convenient in the shower too!)  The thickness also means that you don't need to use as much product, particularly for cleaning, so a smaller amount of soap goes farther too.  I'm not personally a fan of castile soap for the face, but if that's something that usually works for you, I see no reason why Dr. Jacobs wouldn't as well.  

 In terms of scents, Dr. Jacobs offers a good variety of both essential oil-based and natural fragrance options and I've been testing out three, plus the unscented.  The Citrus, currently residing in my shower, has a very mild scent.  It smells good and citrusy, but I also smell a little of the natural oils coming through.  The Eucalyptus and Peppermint are much stronger scents and have some serious scent power.  I used the Eucalyptus to clean my makeup brushes this week, while suffering through the tail end of a cold, and had the added bonus of clearer sinuses when I was finished.  The Peppermint has been hanging out by my washing machine, and a small amount in the wash leaves clothes smelling minty and fresh.  And the Unscented is, of course, great for when you don't want a scent, or for creating your own.

The Bottom Line
I always keep castile soap on hand and Dr. Jacobs is a great option!  The liquid soaps are thick and skin-friendly, and create a rich, versatile lather to suit a multitude of uses -- both for the body and household/cleaning.  
* Press sample
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Household Staples

I spend a lot of time talking about beauty products, but greening your household products is something I consider equally important.  Nothing made it more clear to me than the year and a half I spent working in a retail position that sometimes included hours of dusting with Windex.  [Confession: After the first little bit, I totally faked the Windex part and dusted with dry paper towels instead.]  

 You probably already know that incomplete ingredient disclosure is a big pet peeve of mine and cleaning products are notoriously misleading in this regard (even those found in natural stores!)  Labelling laws are different for food, cosmetics, and household products, so I'm not even sure one can expect full disclosure in this area.  Take this 'natural, hypoallergenic' dish soap, for instance:
"Ingredients: Natural based surfactants (derived from coconut and vegetable oils), citrus oil, natural softeners made from plant fiber, water, preservative."
Maybe it's natural, maybe it's not, but we'll never know since the only ingredient they've actually identified is water.  The rest are vague and fairly meaningless.

 But, the point of this post isn't to call out any specific brands or products.  Instead, I want to share some basic staples that I wouldn't want to be without.  
Starting off with a couple hard-hitting, inexpensive multi-taskers: baking soda and vinegar.  Baking soda sucks up odors, can be added to laundry, and is a gentle abrasive that can be used to scrub just about anything.  Vinegar kills germs and is great for shining things, and when diluted with water, makes a great all-purpose cleaning spray.   My most common use for these two is actually together, as a drain cleaner.  
Dr. Bronner's Soaps have minimal ingredients, but SO MANY uses.  I use them to clean my makeup brushes and to hand wash any delicates.  But that's just the tip of the iceberg here - you can also use this goody for a whole host of other purposes, including dog washing and cleaning the floor.
The Laundry Tarts are a cute Canadian company making, as the name suggest, laundry products.  The only thing I've tried from the line, thus far, is The Sweet Spot, an unscented stain remover bar that works like a charm.  I've used it to get out oil and sweat stains, as well as blood out of the dog's (white) bed, and I haven't been disappointed yet.  It's basically a bar of soap (palm oil free!) but it works better on stains than any other soap I've used.
Lastly, essential oils are great, both for boosting the scent of other other products - vinegar sprays, for instance, become much more palatable with a few drops of something yummy mixed in - and for their own properties.  Just a few drops of lemon or tea tree in water will disinfect your counters, and Young Living's Thieves blend has even been shown to kill mold spores!

 How do you feel about household products?  Is using healthier options in this area as important to you as eating well and using non-toxic personal care products?
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