How to make your own safe, non-toxic laundry powder for about half the cost of buying good, eco-friendly commercial brands.
If you do a lot of laundry at home, why not make your own laundry detergent and homemade fabric softener?
A batch of 40 washes costs about $3 to manufacture. This translates to 8 cents per load.
In contrast, high-quality, (truly) non-toxic laundry powders (such as this brand) cost between 16 and 21 cents per load, depending on the retailer and the size you buy.
So buying your own green laundry powder can save you about half the purchase cost.
Be aware that many brands of so-called “safe” laundry detergents are questionable when you actually look at the ingredients 🤯
Read labels carefully and don’t be fooled by buzzwords.
You only need a few ingredients to make your own eco-friendly, fragrance-free, hypoallergenic laundry powder.
Some have questioned my suggestion to briefly soften the soap bars listed in the ingredients in the microwave before grinding them into soap flakes in a food processor.
It’s best never to use the microwave to cook food or heat hot water, but it’s useful for things like making your own laundry soap.
If you prefer hand-grinding unscented Castile soap bars, it definitely works as an alternative.
However, it requires a lot of elbow grease and the results are not as good in my opinion.
In all honesty, hand-grinding bar soap to make a DIY laundry powder is pretty cumbersome and you probably wouldn’t do it.
homemade laundry powder
instructions
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Microwave the castile soap for 30 seconds. Flip the bar over and microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Repeat for an additional 30 seconds on each side.
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Remove the softened sticks from the microwave and cut into chunks while still hot.
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Let the bar of soap cool for 5-10 minutes.
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Grate the still warm, coarsely chopped soap pieces into fine soap flakes in a food processor.
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Mix borax, washing soda, and soap flakes in a half-gallon container. Close the lid tightly and turn it upside down several times to spread it evenly.
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Use 2 tablespoons of this DIY laundry powder for each medium load.
