Homemade laundry detergent, a bang for your money

Various experiments in the all-natural laundry detergent field. What works and what doesn’t. Mother Earth to rescue!

While there are of course many things to think of, when on such a new path, as we are in our new home and it all may be a bit overwhelming. The situations you have to tackle, just come living your everyday life. Like was I thinking of the laundry detergent as we got the keys of the apartment? No. But when the laundry basket was getting quite full for our large and energy-efficient washing machine.

Getting to know the world of all-natural cleaners

Now, when the laundry asked to be cleaned I was on research to find the best washing detergent for the laundry machine. My key wishes were that it had to be all-natural and can be self-made. I didn’t know that, when I opened the chest to this wonderful DIY home cleaning products, that it will be quite a ride.

Many people have been sharing their recipes, using many different ingredients resulting different looks of the detergents and therefore different results. No wonder that my own Word document of “The ultimate guide to homemade all-natural cleaning recipes” became a whopping 30 pages of research. I just kept finding new stuff, which I should consider and which would cover not only laundry but also cleaning the kitchen, bathroom, toilet and the rest of the house, including windows.

The road finding what really works the best was a bit bumpy in the beginning as there were tips to try and detergents to mix. Often times it didn’t give the needed results. But after a while, I found recipes, which worked for me and which I am happy to share with you as well.

Liquid laundry detergent – fail

I am not sure why I decided that the laundry detergent has to be liquid. Though I have been using a powder one all my life. Anyway, most likely it seemed the best and the easiest option to make. I used it a couple of times, but I wasn’t sure how long such liquid would last in a jar. Also how much to really use, as I didn’t use Borax in my recipe.

This is a tricky ingredient, as in many countries it is forbidden or just not available. I was trying to find new ones, which wouldn’t have any ingredients I had no way of getting my hands to, such as Borax, Dawn dish soap or any of Dr. Bronner’s products. These all are luckily available to those living in North America. The liquid detergent did do its job. But I think I just over-used it and it wasn’t so cost-saving, as it should have been.

I am not sharing any recipes, as it was still a lot of work and didn’t give the results. Also, this recipe created a little but took quite a lot of ingredients. Hence there is nothing to share, as this didn’t work out. So I realized, that the best would be powder, as there is nothing to go bad. The powder detergent can sit in a jar and is ready to use in an instant.

Dry laundry detergent – win

Finally, I came across this really simple laundry detergent recipe, which I have been using ever since.

Mix 2 cups of washing soda with the gratings from one 5-ounce/140 g bar of castile soap.

Use 1 tbsp for light loads; 2 tbsp for heavy loads.

I ended up using half of the recipe. Instead of castile soap, I used the Almawin curd soap, which I found for 0.90 cents from a health store. As I experimented later, any other soap will do. I used the kitchen grater to ground the soap. I mixed it with baking soda on a jar, which was home of pickles before.

Does it really work?

How do I know it really works? Unfortunately, I have no photos as proof, but I can tell a little story of a garment, which became clean after using this detergent.

In 2017 summer we worked literally as slaves for pennies at a hotel by the Black Sea in Bulgaria. Since the premises weren’t used for a few years it meant that after the renovations the place was really dirty. We had our own personal outfits we were wearing while working. The shorts I wore, were made of polyester and while wearing those I pushed, knelt, rubbed, sat and whatever there is to do when wearing pants.

I started noticing that the ends of the pants had some grey lines, which referred to heavy-duty wear and they didn’t fade or turned any lighter after many washes. When the whole nightmare was finally done and we were safely back at home and I was finally able to do a nice machine wash to all of our items I noticed for my sadness that the pants didn’t clean after all. I took it as a reality and understood that they have been just damaged until I washed them with my own made detergent described above and after the first wash – the lines were gone. I am a believer!

The best thing is yet to come – chestnuts!

I wasn’t done with it, as I knew that there had to be another way how to wash your laundry. Without spending any money at all. I remembered that somebody mentioned once, that you can use as a laundry detergent chestnuts. Cool! They are free when the season is in. Totally worthy of looking more into.

I found a few good pages, which were really helpful. One stood out though. The site described the whole process very thoroughly. Plus there were photos of every step on the way. So it was easy like bliss to follow.

Since it was October last year, when I found out that I can use chestnuts as laundry detergent, I went out to pick them. I followed the steps of the website to create a completely free all-natural product. I have been using chestnut laundry detergent for a year and I am very happy with the results. Especially with the savings 😉

Before I will write my own article about how to make chestnut laundry please read below a list of things…

…to keep in mind while using chestnut detergent

• Preparing chestnuts for the detergent is a bit of a job.
• Chestnuts need to be soaked overnight in a cup of hot water to make detergent for the next day. Takes a little planning.
• It is not a powerful stain remover. It doesn’t remove blood stains (they get lighter after few washes).
• Don’t stuff your machine too full, as it will leave some dark lines on your laundry. But this happens with commercial detergents as well.
• But it is environmentally friendly, totally free and all-natural!

Please read the ever so wonderful article by Wasteland Rebel. Believe me, it makes you want to go and collect those chestnuts now! It is not too late!

Also, please check our article on baking soda, which may come handy at home. Hint, it is also all-natural and very cheap.