Homemade Laundry Detergent

I made homemade organic laundry detergent; easy-peasy! Doesn't look fancy but cleans great :)

Here's the Recipe: 

2 cups Water

1/3 cup Salt

1 cup Baking Soda

1 cup liquid Castile soap (I used Dr. Bronner's) 

Add soda, salt and water to pot of medium-high heat, until mostly dissolved. All liquid soap to water mixture and stir. Transfer to 1-gallon jug and fill remaining jug with water. Use 1/4 cup per load, or 1/2 cup if heavily soiled. 

Why Am I Making My Own Laundry Detergent? 

It's completely organic, vegetable-based and 100% biodegradable! No synthetic foaming agents, thickeners or preservatives. Borax and bleach Free. So, I know exactly what I'm washing our clothes in and what we are putting into our septic tank!

 

Purex Ingredients: Water, Alcohol Ethoxy Sulfate (Cleaning Ingredient), Sodium Carbonate (Water Softener), Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate (Cleaning Ingredient), Sodium Chloride (Viscosity Control), Alcohol Ethoxylate (Cleaning Ingredient), Sodium Polyacrylate (Polymer), Fatty Acids (Foam Control), Disodium Diaminostilbene Disulfonic Acid (Brightener), Tetrasodium Edta (Chelator), Methylisothiazolinone (Preservative), Fragrance, Liquitint Blue (Colorant)... HUH?!?

My Homemade Soap Ingredients: Water, Organic Coconut Oil, Potassium Hydroxide (Lye), Organic Olive Oil, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Peppermint Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Baking Soda, Salt. 

Cost Savings? 

I normally use Ecos All-Natural or Purex. Generally, I switch between the two because Ecos gets pricey to use all of the time. Because we have a septic system, we don't want to dump chemicals in there regularly as they can damage the ecosystem of the tank and prevent it from working properly.  Quite simply, we can't afford to buy an all-natural laundry detergent from the store regularly and a chemical-based one simply isn't healthy (for us or our septic tank)! I have priced out Ecos and Purex below... my cost savings is approximately 9-24 cents per load: 

My Homemade Organic Laundry Soap: 

1 gallon = 128 oz. 

1/4 c. per load = 64 loads

$3.93 per 128 oz. = 6 cents/load

Purex: 

100 oz bottle = 66 loads 

$9.98 per 100 oz. = 15 cents/load

Ecos (All-Natural):

100 oz bottle = 50 loads

$12.49 per 100 oz. = 24 cents/load

9 to 24 cents per load doesn't seem like a lot, but figure I do about 6 loads per week. That's about 36 cents per week for my laundry soap ($18.72) versus .90-$1.44 per week ($46.80-$74.88/year) for Purex or Ecos. That leaves almost $30-$55 extra in our pockets at the end of the year. Not much to brag about, but that would buy us a nice dinner at our favorite restaurant!