Are you looking for what is best for the environment and want to avoid anything toxic? Often, when you start with natural and zero waste, the question of cleaning products arises very quickly. And in the pantheon of the worst household products for sensitive skin, for health and for the planet, laundry detergent quickly comes to mind. Here is a very effective ecological laundry detergent recipe that banishes irritating perfumes, dyes, preservatives and all allergens in general. Hypoallergenic, it nevertheless remains uncompromising with bad laundry odors, dirt and stains. Furthermore, it’s hard to do anything more economical than this detergent for homemade laundry!
What you need:
- 2 l of hot water + 500 ml of lukewarm water
- 60 g of shavings or flakes of real Marseille soap made with at least 72% vegetable oil (be careful, choose a soap without palm oil!) or Aleppo soap. Choose one glycerin-free soapotherwise the detergent will become thick and unusable, as it will harden over time.
- 5 tablespoons of soda crystals
- 2 tablespoons of baking soda
- A container of laundry detergent! If possible, only fill it 3/4 full to be able to mix well: this is essential.
- Optional: for white laundry, add a handful of percarbonate of soda which is very whitening
And to perfume natural homemade laundry detergent, what do we use?
We’re not going to lie to you! Obtaining a homemade laundry detergent that smells deliciously fresh and clean like Le Chat’s laundry detergent is very complicated… In fact, the essential oils are not recommendedbecause they do not dilute well in water and can stain laundry. So, contrary to what one might think, it is not the most ecological and efficient choice. Additionally, it will not be suitable for pregnant women or young children. If the whole family can’t use it, it’s not even worth it! So, forget your few drops of lavender or tea tree essential oil in your eco-friendly laundry detergent. Better in a pinch turn to a natural fragrance purchased on a site specializing in natural products. Otherwise, don’t use anything and just stick to the smell of soap for this organic laundry detergent! What if the smell of clean ended up smelling nothing or very little?!
Time for the homemade soap laundry recipe!
1) First, heat the water then add the soap and stir regularly. Off the heat, it is also possible to pour the heated water little by little over the soap, mixing with each addition. These two techniques are effective in really dilute the soap well without lumps. However, do not hesitate to mix a little if there is a problem to make it melt.
2) Let cool a little before incorporating your other ingredients. Stir carefully.
3) If it seems thick to you or it thickens too much, you can add 500 ml of lukewarm water. And that’s it!
How to use your homemade detergent?
After using a natural stain remover for large stains or having soaked the laundry for a while in water containing detergent, you can put a dose in the detergent compartment of the washing machine. Here, we put the same dose as for traditional laundry detergent after shaking the can to homogenize the formula before use. Then, we do not hesitate to use white vinegar as a fabric softener. Its smell will not remain, we reassure you. On the contrary, it will eliminate unpleasant odors on clothes and combat limescale in the water which harms the machine and makes the laundry rough.
Good to know: Note that eco-friendly laundry detergent recipes that mix baking soda and vinegar are ineffective since these two ingredients chemically cancel each other out. This is why it is better to save your vinegar to use it as a softener. There it will be really useful!
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