Going old school with chemical laundry detergents means a lot to your health and your environment. It involves evading the myriads of toxic chemical compounds that could trigger allergic reactions with your body, besides causing other types of harm. If you’re still asking, I’m talking about preparing your own detergent at home.
I’ll take you through the process of how to make different types of homemade laundry detergent in simple steps. Each process is both simple and straightforward, leave alone the fact that each needs no special tools.
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Benefits Of Making Your Own Laundry Detergent
Before we delve into the processes, find below the benefits of making your own laundry detergent at home below.
Needs No Special Skills Or Tools
Everyone knows how to mix, and that’s all the process requires from you. You’ll need a few tools; two to three containers and a stirring rod, plus a few ingredients that include some essential oils, water, borax, and others.
In some instances, you may need a bit of heating. But basically, it’s all about mixing, followed by stirring, and lastly, waiting for a little while.
The Detergent Is Both Human- And Nature-Friendly
As earlier stated, homemade laundry detergents don’t have harmful chemicals that can irritate your skin and eyes — or cause other health problems.
Likewise, they don’t pollute the environment, so they prove safe for your pets, too. Your environment will also be free from the non-biodegradable containers in which chemical laundry detergents are often packed.
The Detergent Lasts Long
We already know that chemical laundry detergents last long, mostly six months. Interestingly, the homemade types also last as long as the chemical types.
This is good news, especially if we consider that making the homemade laundry detergent in large quantities is as simple as you can’t imagine.
The Process Is Cost-effective
The chemical laundry detergent manufacturers often charge you for the packaging, transportation, and other costs you might not know about.
As a result, their prices are obviously higher than the homemade laundry detergents’. Also, you don’t need help or special skills to complete the process. I already have this explained.
You Have The Freedom Of Choice
The homemade laundry detergent is made of various ingredients, and you’re the mixer. You can decide to drop or add some ingredients according to your preferences.
For example, if a component is meant to add a fragrance that you’re allergic to, you may drop it.
How To Make Homemade Laundry Detergent
The Powder Laundry Detergent
We’re going to make it in large quantities. However, you can also reduce or add the amounts of each ingredient while retaining their ratios to come up with smaller or larger quantities that suit your needs. Here we go.
The Ingredients
I). Four small cups of borax
II). Four bars of Castile bar soap
III). Four small cups of washing soda
IV). For fragrance, you can add about 15 drops of essential oil. In its place, you can also use tea tree oil.
V). Two small cups of baking soda
You must also have a pair of safety gloves and a dust mask to avoid contact with the skin or inhaling. Here’s the process now.
How To
Step 1: Mince the Castile bar soap before throwing it into the food processor for fine blending into powder. Alternatively, you can use the cheese grater for this. Make sure that you’re in both the gloves and dust mask.
Step 2: Slowly pour the baking soda, washing soda, and borax into one large bucket. Mix them thoroughly. Be careful not to inhale the dusty mixture. Alternatively, you can close the bucket and go physical by shaking it thoroughly instead.
Step 3: It’s time to add the ground or powdered soap obtained in step 1. Remember to add it slowly.
Step 4: Stir the new mixture as you gradually add the 15 drops of essential or tea tree oil. Remember, these are added for fragrance. If you don’t want some scent, you can skip this step. Check if the mixture hasn’t dissolved well. If not, you can add a little water.
Step 5: Now store your mixture in an airtight container and keep the container in a cool, dry place.
Liquid Laundry Detergent 1
Please mark that you can always increase the amount of these ingredients in their ratios to obtain more of the laundry detergent. Likewise, you can exclude an ingredient that you feel isn’t fit for your health, though some can’t be eliminated.
The Ingredients
I). A quart of hot water
II). A half a cup of borax
III). Six cups of cold water
IV). Two tablespoons of glycerin
V). A half a cup of washing soda (super)
VI). ⅓ a bar of grated naphtha soap
Let’s Do It;
Step 1: Into the six cups of cold water, add the grated soap and gently heat the mixture until the soap melts and dissolves completely.
Step 2: While still under gentle heat, slowly add all the borax and soda as you stir thoroughly. When the mixture is thick, remove the heat.
Step 3: Into a separate bucket (recommended: 2 gallons) pour all the quart water, and on top, add the mixture from step two above.
Step 4: To the above mixture, add all the glycerin and stir.
Step 5: Seal the bucket and let it settle for 24 hours. After this, you can add buts of got water so that the detergent liquifies. It’s now ready for use.
Liquid Laundry Detergent 2
The Ingredients
I). One cup of baking soda (NOT washing soda)
II). A half grated bar soap
III). One gallon of hot water
How To:
Step 1: On a pan or anything else, melt the grated bar soap as you add a little water until the soap melts completely.
Step 2: In a bucket, pour all the hot water and add all the melted soap as you stir.
Step 3: Finally, add the baking soda as you keep stirring carefully but thoroughly. Your liquid laundry detergent is now ready.
The Bottom Line
Navigating the steps above only demands for DIY skills. The process is fun, and I often enjoy it, myself. I know that you value your health, and switching to homemade laundry detergent won’t be a problem. Viva!
