DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent - Money Saving - Cloth Diapers

This is my favorite homemade laundry detergent recipe for four reasons;

1. Does not require many ingredients
2. Multi-purpose uses of the ingredients used (for other cleaning recipes, see here)
3. Money saving
4. Easy to make

I have been using this recipe for almost a year now and have had no problems with it. Use it on my cloth diapers as well.

Recipe

1/4 to 1 cup Borax
1/4 to 1 cup Baking Soda
2-4 tablespoons of Blue Dish Dawn Soap.
1 gallon of water, approximately
Essential oils (See below for options and combos) - OnGaurd blend is one that I will be using
Empty gallon juice jug (I use the Apple Juice Jugs from Costco, we first drink the juice)

Directions

Step 1: Measure out the Borax and Baking Soda. I use about 1/4 cup of each but if you need a stronger detergent add more out in Juice Jugs.

Step 2: Add about 4 cups of very hot water and then mix the ingredients together well.

Step 3: Add the remaining water to jug but have it be cold till it is not quite full.

Step 4: Add the dish soap to some water then add to jug, mix gently and add remaining water if needed. (Note: I add the ingredients in this order to prevent the dish soap from bubbling up and making it very hard to fill the Jugs.
Step 5: As you a can see I make several gallons at once (as much as I have room for). I only add the esstential oils to the gallon jug only when I start to use that jug.
Step 6: Use between 1/3 cup to 1 cup depending on the amount of cloths and the dirtiness factor. For my cloth diapers I use about a cup for a small-meduim size load.

Here is some Essential oil combos that I used, found here.

Power up your homemade laundry soap with one of the following essential oil blends. Not only will they make your clothes smell nice, but they have antibacterial, antiviral and anti fungal properties – great for killing germs while washing out dirt and grime. If you’re exceptionally sensitive, you can leave out the essential oils – you’ll still get a good laundry detergent with strong cleaning powers.

Lavender Essential Oil Blend

40 drops Lavender
30 drops Lemon
20 drops Clove

Citrus Essential Oil Blend

30 drops Grapefruit
30 drops Orange
30 drops Lemongrass

Tea Tree Essential Oil Blend

40 drops Tea Tree
30 drops Lemon OR Lemongrass
20 drops Palmarosa

This following recipe is on that I have not tried yet, but I am putting it on here to remind me to try it. It is a powdered laundry detergent.

Ingredients

1 bar (or 4.5 ounces) of shaved bar soap (a homemade laundry bar, Dr. Bronner’s, Ivory, ZOTE, or Fels-Naptha)

1 cup of borax

1 cup of washing soda

Essential Oils

Directions

Thoroughly stir together for 5 minutes and enjoy the results! You can take this a step further and blend the mixture in a blender or food processor to create a powder that will dissolve easily even in cold water. (Just be sure to let the dust settle before removing the lid of your blender or food processor so you don’t inhale the fine particles.) Store in a sealed container with a small scoop.

Use 1 Tbsp per load (or 2-3 Tbsp for large or heavily soiled loads).