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I am so excited to share my recipe for Homemade Nontoxic Laundry Detergent, with just five ingredients!! I have been making my own detergent for a several years now. We use the homemade detergent most of the time, but did run out of it once or twice in the past several years and had to succumb to buying the store bought variety (enter toxins – ugh!). But, no more! I don’t let us run out anymore and this recipe makes a huge batch!

My goal in creating my own was to make something with less toxic ingredients than the store-bought brands. But I really had not done my research and didn’t know just how toxic most store-bought detergents are and I hadn’t fully researched the ingredients I was putting into my homemade detergent.

For many years I bought All Free and Clear Laundry detergent, thinking that it must be better than most, just by its name. Wrong!! HOLY MOLY!  When I came across the Environmental Working Group (EWG) site where you can see ratings for various products, I was appalled with what I found. The detergent I was using received an “F” rating (see rating here).

I was also bummed out to find out other “Natural” products in my home received poor ratings. Check out your products at the EWG site. I was shocked that my Seventh Generation dish soap received a “D” rating! I now make my own. Look for that recipe coming soon!

I developed eczema several years ago, which was one of the things that prompted me to try my hand at making my own detergent. Of course, I didn’t want my family to be exposed to harmful chemicals either, so I have slowly been reducing the toxins in our home, taking on creating more and more of my own products. See my recipes for nontoxic body wash and sunscreen. When I started looking at different recipes for homemade laundry detergent, I saw that it wasn’t very difficult to make, especially the powdered variety.

Even within the past year, I made laundry detergents using borax, Fels Naptha Bar Soap, and Zote Bar Soap. I have discovered that all three of these ingredients received poor ratings from the Environmental Working Group (see ratings here).

The use of borax is controversial in so-called “green” products. It is a naturally occurring mineral, but also toxic. It receives an “F” rating from EWG. Many recipes out there still use borax. There are some concerns of effects in these areas: asthma/respiratory, skin allergies/irritation/damage, and high concern of ingredients with potential for developmental/endocrine/reproductive effects. Both Fels Naptha and Zote received “C” ratings. Not good enough for me.

New Customers: Save $60 over your first 3 boxes!*

I only want to use products that have the highest safety rating of “A.” In my recipe below, all of the items have “A” ratings. The recipe I developed came perusing and trying many different recipes from different sources and making adjustments to make the recipe I liked best.

Ingredients

1 box Super Washing Soda 3lb, 7 oz.

1 box Baking Soda 4lbs.

3 bars Kirk’s Original Coco Castile Soap 4 oz. bars

1 container of Kroger Multipurpose Oxygen Cleaner (City Market) or if you can’t find that, 1 container OxiClean Baby 3 lb

2 C. Epsom Salt

You may be able to find some of these items at your local supermarket or Walmart store if you have one.

Items you need

Food processor – grater and chopper blade (I have this brand.)

Large bowl

Large Spoon

1/2 C measuring cup

Disposable Dust Mask for your mouth and nose

Playtex  gloves

3 Gallon Bucket and lid to hold detergent (I use an empty plastic Tidy Cat cat litter bucket)

You may be able to find these items at your local grocery or hardware store.

Instructions

1. *Put on your mask. Grate the bars of castile soap 1 at a time with the cheese grater attachment of your food processor. Pour grated soap into a bowl. Change attachment on the processor to the chopper blade.
2. Pour about 1/3 of the grated soap back into the processor. Add approximately 1/2 cup baking soda. Blend together. You will have a fine powder. Pour the powder into your detergent container. Continue until you have all of the grated soap + baking soda added to your container.
3. Add the washing soda, remaining baking soda, Oxygen cleaner or Oxi-Clean Baby and Epsom salt to the detergent container.
4. Mix all ingredients well with the spoon. I also mixed the ingredients with my gloved hands.

*I find it helpful to wear the mask as there are a considerable amount of powdered particles floating around in the air as this is made.

I use 2-3 heaping T. for a regular load, less for a small load and more for a heavily soiled or large load. Use in any water temperature. This detergent can be used in traditional or HE washing machines.

A Healthier Home

The decision to make this nontoxic detergent is an awesome choice for your health and the health of your family! I am filled with satisfaction knowing that I have reduced exposure to toxins by using this detergent in my home. I also make my own nontoxic body wash, check out the recipe here: DIY Honey Orange Lemon Body Wash – 5 Ingredients.

Let me know how it works for you in the comments below!

Photo by Andy Fitzsimon on Unsplash