Recipe for Natural Laundry Detergent

This Recipe for Natural Laundry Detergent is rated A by the EWG.  The recipe is not something that I concocted, but one that was passed on to me by a lady at church.  I have used it for a year and a half and I like it a lot.  One batch has lasted me the whole year and a half.  This comes out to about 6 cents per load!

The Environmental Working Group at ewg.org rates household products according to their safety for use by consumers.  They rate common household products and cosmetics.  The ratings are from A (good) to F (bad). 

Examples of their ratings:

               Tide Ultra Free and Gentle Detergent – D

               Tide 2X Ultra Pure Essentials Liquid Detergent with  Baking Soda – F

               Cheer Colorguard Liquid – F

               Seventh Generation Free and Clear Detergent – A

               Seventh Generation Baby Natural Detergent – C

               Ecos Laundry Detergent (Sam’s) – C

You only need 1 tablespoon per load (more if items are really grimy).   I also add plain vinegar to the softener dispenser and my clothes come out clean and smelling great!  On a side note, I used to forget clothes in the washer for a few hours and they would sour.  With this detergent/vinegar combination, I have never had clothes sour or smell off.  I’m sure that they ‘could’ sour if left indefinitely.

Natural Laundry Detergent

• 4 – 4 oz. bars Castile Soap (I use 3 – 5 oz. bars and it works fine)
• 4 lbs. Baking Soda (I get the 10 lb. bag from Sam’s)
• 3.7 lb. box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (I got mine from Ace Hardware)
• 3 lb. box OxiClean Baby or OxiClean Free
• 28 oz. Epsom Salt (for softening our hard West Texas Water) 

Use 1 – 2 Tablespoons per load.  This detergent doesn’t have fillers so it takes much less than commercial laundry detergent.  This DIY natural soap is a low-suds formula and can be used in both regular and High Efficiency (HE) machines.

1. Grate Castile Soap into very small pieces.  I use the grater blade on my food processor, but a hand grater would also work.  I don’t think that you could chop it finely enough by hand.
2. Now pulse the grated soap in a food processor with the blade attachment.  Doing this step with approximately 1 bar of soap at a time and adding in ½ c  of the baking soda will help to separate the grated pieces into finer pieces.
3. Mix all ingredients in a bucket or large container.  Be careful not to breath in the dust!