Homemade laundry detergent

Homemade laundry detergent

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This is neat, how to make your own phosphate free laundry detergent Gowithflo writes –

I wanted to
A. Save money
B. Be ecologically phosphate free

If you learn from my mistakes your results will surpass mine in both respects, I am sure.In addition to my clothes coming out “so fresh and so clean, clean” it was a very satisfying and aesthetic making process!

You will need:

  • Food processor
  • 1 bar laundry soap like Fels Naptha “or” Zote, “or” Ivory – Zote can be found in hispanic grocery stores
  • 1 Box Borax – found in the laundry aisle
  • 1 box Washing Soda or Oxi Clean, or Baking soda – (Washing Soda AKA soda ash AKA sodium carbonate available in some grocery stores made by Arm and Hammer or you may find it art supply stores in the dyeing section)
  • OPTIONAL- essential oil of your choice, I didnt do it but I think tea tree might be nice.

Homemade Laundry Detergent – [via] Link.

8 thoughts on “Homemade laundry detergent

  1. SardonicBastard says:

    This is a cool tutorial and probably fun to do, but it is a bit misleading. Most laundry detergents haven’t had phosphates in them since about 1994 or so. On top of that, even when detergents did have phosphates, they only contributed about 5% to the overall phosphate loads in waterways. Phosphate fertilizer is the real problem here.

    In the end I’m not sure that it would be a good idea to use this stuff regularly, as it takes extra energy just to make it, and probably requires more energy to wash clothes with it- since it’s not going to be as efficient as a true laundry detergent.

  2. trebuchet03 says:

    Sardonic, I made a batch for myself after that was posted on instructables, and have done a few loads of laundry with it already.

    1. I have had no trouble getting clean laundry – even though I’m using baking soda instead of washing soda
    2. It was very cheap (less than $3 for over 8 pounds)
    3. It took me about 5 minutes, and I didn’t need a food processor (a couple minutes with a fine cheese grater)

    ——
    I also grabbed a similar recipe for dish washing detergent. 1 Part Baking Soda – 1 Part Borax. Also getting great results.

  3. RevRagnarok says:

    As for the “tea tree oil,” that may not be wise: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jan2007/niehs-31.htm

    I’m a big DIY fan, but I think that modern detergents have more than a little Borax in them. Also, you need something to reduce the suds on frontloaders…

  4. CKThorp says:

    This is great and all, but it will wreck a front loading washer. The heater system needs either phosphate or phosphate-replacement in order to prevent scaling problems.

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