Can you make homemade laundry detergent as well? The answer is definitely yes, but the method will differ quite a lot from making soap or shampoo and what you primarily want to accomplish will determine how you go about it. There is a method to use if you want to save money, one that is particularly good for the environment and one that is probably more traditional than most people are prepared to put up with.
The old school method
Let’s start with the most archaic method first. You have perhaps heard stories about how in the old days lye was used to wash laundry. Well, in many cases the solution in question was actually homemade. This is done by mixing ash from broad-leaf wood, preferably birch but other species may work as well, and mixing that with water. Stir carefully and let it sit over night.
Then carefully pour the water in a suitable container, while filtering the bigger pieces of coal out. Be careful and use rubber gloves, because the solution now contains lye. This liquid can now be used as such as a homemade laundry detergent, just pour a few deciliters into the soap chute of your washing machine. If you need bleach, you can try mixing in some chamomile tea or locate a suitable eco friendly brand.
I’ve been told that in the 19th century this was the main method my Scandinavian ancestors used for producing laundry detergent.
The homemade laundry detergent money saver
If you don’t want to be quite as traditional, there is another method of using various ingredients you should be able to find in your local store. According to the proponents of this method, it is a lot cheaper than just about any commercial laundry soap. While still being just as effective.
There are a few different recipes available, but in essence this homemade detergent is made by taking an “traditional” laundry soap like Fels Naphta (or replacing that with a suitable homemade soap of your own) and mixing that with washing soda and Borax. Washing soda, or sodium carbonate, is also know as soda ash and shouldn’t be confused with ordinary baking soda. Borax is the mineral sodium borate, a white powder often used as a deodorizer and laundry whitener.
A more thorough description on how to make this homemade laundry detergent is offered by Crystal Miller.
The eco friendly alternative
The third alternative we’ll mention isn’t so much making your own laundry detergent, as you’ll be replacing it with something else. In this case something known as soap nuts or wash nuts.
The nut in question comes from a tree with the botanical name Sapindus Mukrossi, that grows naturally in the northern parts of India. The fruit of the tree is what eventually is now exported globally as soap nuts. They contain saponin, which is a natural substance that works well as a laundry detergent between temperatures of 86 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit (30 and 60 degrees Celcius).
You simply take a few soap nuts, enclose then tightly in a small cotton bag (or an old sock may just do the trick) and put it inside the washing machine. The washing effect is reasonably high and since this is a very mild way of cleaning it is a good method for those suffering from allergies and sensitive skin. Since the same batch of soap nuts can be used multiple times it is also a fairly economical alternative. And certainly a lot more environmentally friendly than most commercial laundry detergents. The used nuts are biodegradable and can be thrown in the compost.
One caveat to watch out for though. Since this is indeed a very mild laundry detergent, depending on the hardness of the water in your area and how dirty your laundry is, you may need to run a stronger detergent and/or some citric acid through your machine from time to time. Just to make sure that your laundry machine doesn’t clog up and break.
So there you have three methods of making homemade laundry detergent. Come to think of it, all of them are probably economically speaking able to compete with the commercial varieties. Pick the one that sounds the most convenient to you and try it out.