Tea Time with Jo | DIY Laundry Detergent Powder

Ingredients:

-One, 4-6oz Bar of Oil Based Soap

-2 cups of Washing Soda

-2 cups of Baking Soda

-2 cups of Borax

Steps:

-Grate the bar of soap. I like to use the food processor for this but you can use a cheese grater. 

-Mix the grated soap with the other powders until evenly combined. I like to process the powders in with the soap in the food processor to get a more fine powder. 

-Use 1/4 cup of laundry powder for a regular load of laundry. Use more or less depending on your load size. Add laundry powder directly to the drum and before adding your clothes. 

-Use white vinegar as fabric softener or wool dryer balls in the drum of your dryer. 

Notes: 

This recipe is easily scaleable and you can double it or triple it to make a bigger batch. When selecting which bar soap to use, check the ingredients and make sure you are using an oil or fat based soap. You should see ingredients like tallow, olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil, etc. Regular bar soaps from the personal care aisle of big box stores will not do as they will not dissolve as well. I’m lucky enough to have lots of local soap makers in my area. Handmade soaps tend to be oil based so I have lots to choose from. If you don’t have access to such bar soaps, you can use Paper Plane brand or a Castile Soap bar like this one.

You can add essential oils to your laundry powder although the scent will not really be noticeable on your clothes after they dry. Adding a few drops to wool dryer balls will provide a gentle scent but be sure to use an oil that is mostly clear as it can stain your clothes otherwise. Also, make sure that you allow enough time for the oils to be soaked up by your wool dryer balls before running a cycle as the oils may rub off on your clothes and leave oil stains. 

If your clothes tends to get really dirty (sport’s clothing, mechanic’s uniforms, cloth diapers, etc), you may want to consider adding an enzymatic cleaner to this laundry detergent powder. I like to use this one. 

About this recipe:

I have spent many years trying to find a good non-toxic laundry detergent that is also sustainable. This combination is not the easiest to find. While many brands have popped up with cleaner formulations, a lot of them contain polyvinyl alcohol and the science on whether or not it is truly biodegradable is controversial. I can purchase most of the ingredients for this recipe in bulk. Most of them can be purchased in cardboard boxes and the soaps usually come packaged in paper or muslin cloth. Also, by purchasing these ingredients, I know exactly what is in my detergent making it both more sustainable and non-toxic.  

I hope you find this recipe helpful. If you decide to make it, let me know how it worked out for you. Catch you in the next blog :)