Finding Contentment

Homemade laundry detergent: a step toward self-sufficiency

12:36 PM, Wednesday, March 14, 2007 .. Posted in Frugality .. 6 comments .. Link

In our effort to quit relying on mass produced items, I have decided to stop buying laundry detergent.

With a family of five it seems like we are ALWAYS washing clothes, and therefore always buying laundry detergent. Even though we generally don’t buy the expensive brands unless we have a really good coupon, I shudder to think how much we actually spend on laundry detergent every year. (I would add it up, but I really hate math.)

It was when I ran across several Internet sites with recipes for homemade laundry detergent that I figured this would be on of our first steps toward self-sufficiency.

I have always used liquid, but can’t seem to find a recipe that is truly a liquid. Instead, there are two options: a powder and a sort of watery gel that a lot of people are calling a liquid.

Whatever the recipe, there seem to be three main ingredients: Borax, washing soda (not to be confused with baking soda), and a grated bar of some kind of soap (the more natural the better).

Crystal Miller, whose site has been a great inspiration during my first weeks of homesteading, has instructions with great pictures at this link: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm

Crystal makes the gel detergent, which is what I decide to make first. The first - and the hardest - step was to find the ingredients. Most grocery and discount stores carry Borax in the laundry section, but I couldn’t find washing soda anywhere. Arm & Hammer is about the only company that still makes washing soda designed to use in the laundry.

After looking at several stores, I ended up calling Arm & Hammer. They told me the only places within 50 miles that sold that product were the Harris Teeter grocery stores. I went to our closet Harris Teeter, only to be told that they had recently remodeled and decided to stop carrying washing soda when they did.

Then I got smart and called around to the other Harris Teeter until I found an associate who actually went to the shelves and saw it. I drove out there that same night and bought every box they had (eight of them at about $2.45 each). Now it doesn’t take that much to make the detergent, so I figure this will last me for three or four years if I only use it for laundry detergent. However, I have already found a couple of other homemade natural cleaners that call for washing soda so I will probably go through it quicker than expected.

I made the gel detergent using the Borax, that ever-elusive washing soda and Ivory soap. It came out fine and I have been using it ever since. But out of curiosity I also made some powdered detergent using the same ingredients. It was a lot easier to make as all you did was combine the ingredients, and it seems to work just as well in the washing machine. The only problem with the powder is that, like all powdered detergents, you have to start the water and put the detergent in first. Let the detergent disintegrate first before putting in your clothes so the clothes are not left with white streaks.

Another thing to note is that homemade laundry detergent - powder or gel - does not suds or make bubbles. But really, bubbles don’t clean – the ingredients do. Bubbles are nice to look at but I don’t believe they get clothes any cleaner.

Here’s a plus though: you can use essentials oils to make the gel smell like anything you want! After I made my soap I found some bars of Lavender Ivory in the store, and will use this next time as a cheap way to make my clothes smell like lavender.

My brother Tim asked if I could use soap like Zest or Irish Spring to make the detergent smell like those soaps. That depends on which Internet site you are looking at. Some said yes, some said the soap had to be more natural. I tend to want to stay away from all the chemicals those soaps have in them and use something more natural. Eventually I hope to make my own bar soap from natural ingredients and not have to buy any.

Curious as to what everyone would think of the detergent, I gave samples of both the powdered and gel varieties to three families for testing. They will use the samples and then report back their thoughts, which I will share on my blog.

Here are the family breakdowns:

My brother Jon’s family consists of him, his wife and their two elementary age girls. Jon is not into anything natural and is suspicious of anything homemade, so he will be my toughest critic.
My brother Tim’s family consists of him, his wife and their 1-year-old daughter. Their whole family has extremely sensitive skin and they can’t use many of the commercial detergents on the market.
My good friends Nancy and Ronnie have one 9-year-old son. Ronnie also has a “dirty” job and so requires a laundry detergent that works pretty well.

As for me, the detergent has been working great so far. I have mostly been using the gel. I will never buy laundry detergent again!