Homemade laundry detergent was always something that was in the back of my mind to learn how to do. Afterall, commercial products contained things like optical brighteners and a ‘laundry list’ of chemicals that I didn’t want near my body or polluting the environment. But I had thought it would be something that would be very labor intensive, time consuming, expensive and not at all something that I could pull off while working full time and going to school.
I was completely wrong on all fronts.
Homemade laundry detergent is about as easy as it gets. I have been following a recipe like the one listed here and using Dr. Bronner’s soap as the bar soap and adding in tea tree oil.
I have also ditched the fabric softener in favor of white vinegar. You just add it as you would a liquid softener into the rinse cycle. I leaves your clothes soft and clean smelling – with no vinegary reside either.
Since January, I have made two batches of this soap. The inital startup cost to purchase all the materals was $11 and I can make at least 4 more batches with the supplies I bought. $11 for a year of laundry soap that is not harmful is lovely, I think.
Practical Witchery 