DIY Laundry Detergent

A few months ago Bust Magazine had a little piece on how to make your own laundry detergent. Since I'm kind of a hippy when it comes to household products, I was definitely psyched at the idea of making my own, eco-friendly, chemical-free version of the stuff that I usually get from the supermarket.

I made the following recipe this afternoon and I have to say, I felt pretty proud of myself when I finished. Although it didn't require too many ingredients and it was super easy to make, laundry detergent is definitely one of those things that you don't image being DIY-able. So not true!

DIY Laundry Detergent
From Bust Magazine 2011

Ingredients:
2 cups unscented bar soap (about 1.5 bars)
Fresh herbs: a few sprigs of lavender, thyme or rosemary work great
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda (I ordered both online for about $3 a box)
10 drops of essential oil: bergamot, ylang-ylang, lemon, eucalyptus or lavender work great

Instructions:
1. Grate the soap (this is the most time consuming part).
2. Boil 4.5 cups of water and stir in the grated soap until it's dissolved.
3. Add the fresh herbs, borax, and washing soda and stir.
4. Pour mixture into a pail with 2 gallons of water and add the essential oil.
5. Let stand overnight and strain into a large container.
6. Use about a half cup per load of laundry.

And that's it! Mine is currently in the "sitting overnight" phase but I'll give a full report when I do my laundry tomorrow.


Grating the soap...


Boiling the ingredients...


My huge of bucket of detergent. Who's excited to do laundry? This girl!