At a time when environmental awareness is growing, adopting sustainable practices in our daily lives is becoming essential. Zero waste cleaning fits perfectly into this approach by offering an ecological and economical alternative to expensive commercial chemicals. However, the transition to a greener lifestyle can seem intimidating. So why not start with something simple and practical like making your own natural laundry detergent at home? Don’t worry, no need to be an expert in eco-friendly household products and run to the three corners of the city looking for complicated natural ingredients before spending hours in the kitchen to get a detergent that doesn’t even wash well .
With ingredients that are easy to find in the supermarket and a few easy steps to follow, you can create a homemade biodegradable laundry detergent that is good for the planet and very effective in taking care of laundry without making your life complicated. Discover these little foolproof and economical recipes that leave the laundry clean while reducing your ecological footprint.
1) The classic Marseille soap recipe
In this recipe, we find the most popular ingredients for taking care of your laundry naturally: Marseille soap (cleaner, stain remover, degreaser, purifier and hypoallergenic) and baking soda (stain remover, deodorizer and fabric softener). This formula works for all laundry. To save time, Marseille soap can be purchased in shavings or flakes. However, you can save money by buying traditional bar soap and grating it yourself. However, be careful to take a soap without glycerin or palm oil with few ingredients (72% minimum olive oil). This will prevent the washing machine from clogging and your laundry from hardening over time.
The ingredients:
1 l of water (preferably filtered)
25 g of grated or shaved Marseille soap
1 tablespoon of sodium bicarbonate
The steps:
Heat the water and add the soap. Let it melt well, then add the bicarbonate. If necessary, you can mix everything to have a smoother texture. Finally, let the detergent cool a little before transferring it to an old container or glass bottle.
To use it, shake a little before each use and pour the same quantity as with your usual liquid detergent into the dedicated compartment.
2) Homemade laundry detergent with black soap: a natural formula, quick to make and powerful
To change from Marseille soap, why not try black soap? It is softener, antibacterial, stain remover and deodorizer, but also very effective in preserving colored linen. Choose an olive oil soap with 13 to 30% soap for more effectiveness. Here is THE anti-headache recipe.
The ingredients:
50 g of black soap
1 liter of water
The steps:
Pour the soap into the bottle and cover with water. Shake a little and it’s ready! Optional: If you wish, you can add a tablespoon of baking soda to boost the stain removal effect.
Remember to shake before each use and use the same quantity as for ordinary laundry detergent.
3) Natural laundry powder: ideal for whites
While liquid detergent is generally popular for colors and stains, powder detergent is ideal for limit clogging of the washing machine and whiten laundry. The effectiveness of this recipe is explained in particular by the presence of soda crystals (or washing soda) which will clean, remove stains, disinfect and degrease clothes and household linen. For an even more whitening effect, however, add sodium percarbonate. Without chlorine or phosphate, it owes its effect to the fact that it releases oxygenated water on contact with water, which allows it to clean, deodorize, degrease and remove stains from laundry.
Ingredients :
100 g of Marseille soap (grated or in flakes, to be taken without palm oil and without glycerin)
50 g baking soda
50 g of soda crystals
Optional: 25 g of percarbonate of soda (for whitening white linen)
The steps:
Mix your ingredients in a salad bowl, then blend them to obtain a fine powder. Then transfer to a glass or metal container.
Allow a good measuring spoon per wash. Make sure to do not wash below 40°C if you add percarbonate, otherwise the formula will not be active.
How to scent your homemade natural laundry detergent?
We do not recommend using essential oils (essential oil of lavender, lemon, etc.) which are not very effective in perfuming laundry over the long term and which also risk leave oil stains in addition to causing skin irritation and allergies. To give a good smell to laundry without polluting the wateropt for the natural fragrancesideal for personalizing your formula. You can also use them to flavor the white vinegar that you use as a softener. Add at the very end of the recipe before transferring into the storage container.
To take care of the planet, every little gesture counts. By adopting these incredibly simple laundry recipes for clean, green laundry, you prove that taking care of laundry and the planet is within everyone’s reach.