Quick And Easy, Homemade Natural Laundry Cleaners:

With a little chemistry review 🧪

Some may call me crazy and crunchy, but I am really crazy about giving my families bodies the best.  I strive to have a more Natural Lifestyle, which for me, includes natural cleaning and personal care products.  There is a lot of crap out there in our products that really do affect our bodies and health on a cellular level.   Remember, our skin is the largest organ of our body and since it is porous, it absorbs whatever you put on it.

My mom always used more green cleaning products… nothing really homemade but natural on the label.  🌿 Thats how it all started for me! Then, the last few years, after I had my own kids, I started to really look at the ingredients of so claimed “natural products,” and found that they are not very natural after all!  Plus they are so expensive!  This led me to want to venture into more homemade, wholesome and pure household cleaning and care items.  For the last few years now, I’ve been experimenting and researching this area and I have had many great success… and a few failures.  But the ingredients are pretty cheep, which makes experimenting more fun and affordable!

 

So Laundry!

We all do loads and loads of laundry… especially if you have kids, sometimes 2-3 loads a day!  Thats a lot of washing and thats a lot of time playing around with different homemade washing ingredients.  Laundry has definitely been the most challenging for me – having hard water and all my stinky dirty boys clothes. However, I have finally found 3 recipes I like. I will go into more detail later, but first, a review of your good ole’ high school chemistry!

Side Note: I did find one natural, non-toxic detergent, that actually worked, if you are interested: Molly Suds.  But it is so simple and cheep to make the homemade versions, that I opt for that instead.

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Understanding cleaning with natural minerals and substances

A review of the pH scale:

 

• Solutions from 0-6 on the scale are acidic.
• Solutions from 8-14 are basic.
• When a base is added to an acid (or an acid added to a base), the solution moves toward the middle of the pH scale, as it is partially or fully neutralized.

 

Using acids and bases to clean:

When using acidic cleaning products, the acids help attach, dissolve and break down difficult stains.

Common cleaning products that have an acidic pH include:

• Toilet bowl cleaners
• Tub and tile cleaners
• Rust stain removers
• Hard water/mineral deposit removers
• Mold removers

When using basic/ alkaline cleaning products, the alkalinity attacks fatty and oily soils and breaks them down making it easier to remove from surfaces or fabrics.

Common cleaning products that have a basic pH include:

• Laundry detergents
• All purpose cleaners
• Oven cleaner

Most of the substances that make our laundry dirty, are acidic on the pH scale, so alkaline cleaners usually have the best results.

 

Fun… Jaw Dropping Fact!

You know that beautiful bubbly reaction you get when you add vinegar (acidic) and baking soda (alkaline) together?  I know I used to think, “Wow! There is so much cleaning power happening right there!” … well I was mislead because, chemically, it basically turns into water. 🤯  I know what!

As Crunchy Betty and ThinkQuest state:

The acetic acid (that’s what makes vinegar sour) reacts with sodium bicarbonate (a compound that’s in baking soda) to form carbonic acid. It’s really a double replacement reaction. Carbonic acid is unstable, and it immediately falls apart into carbon dioxide and water (it’s a decomposition reaction). The bubbles you see from the reaction come from the carbon dioxide escaping the solution that is left.  What’s left is a dilute solution of sodium acetate in water. In fact, it’s almost all water.

The sodium acetate (which is a salt) may offer a tiny bit of grease-removing ability, but it’s not much. Probably not enough to really notice… at all.  So, really, all you’re doing, when you combine baking soda and vinegar to make a cleaning agent, is cleaning with very neutralized water with just a teensy, tinsy amount of salt in it.

 

 

Liquid versus powdered laundry soap

In my house, I find that a liquid laundry detergent works best for us (since we have hard water).  Many ingredients in any powdered laundry detergent become attached to the minerals in the hard water rather than cleaning the clothes.

Below, I have 1 powdered and 2 liquid versions for you (one with borax and one without).  You can experiment and see which one you like best with your washer and water type.  All are actually ideal for high efficiency (HE) washers because of the low sudsing formulas.  Plus all of the ingredients in these recipes are considered septic system safe.

 

So what is in these 3 laundry cleaners and why?

For the Washer

• Dr. Bronner’s liquid pure Castile soap: I prefer Dr. Bronners, Baby Unscented or Lavender for my liquid laundry detergent version. Its non-sudsy and then you don’t have to grate a bar of soap in a food processor and melt it.  It saves me a step and time is of essence around here!
• Bar soap: Coconut oil-based soaps are best. Again, I like Dr. Bronners brand bar soap. Since it is bar soap, it does need to be finely grated for powdered versions of detergent. OR finely grated and melted for liquid versions.
• Washing soda:  A powerful cleanser and water softener. It’s great at removing grease, oil and even wine stains. Washing soda is also know as, soda ash or soda carbonate. It is rich in sodium and can be made from the ashes of seaweed, kelp and other vegetation, though these days it’s usually derived from limestone.  It competes with magnesium and calcium ions in hard water, which prevents the magnesium and calcium from bonding with the laundry soap and rendering it ineffective. In other words, it’s used as a booster to make homemade laundry soap more effective. Conclusion: Good for regular water in powdered form.
• Baking soda: Baking soda is similar to washing soda (alkaline pH of 11), but only half as strong as it at softening water, with a more neutral pH of 8. It can be used in combination with washing soda or on more delicate fabrics and surfaces.  As washing soda is more rough and with its higher pH when used in large amounts, can eat away at fabrics.  I personally like to combine the two, but use more baking soda in my liquid recipe since washing soda doesn’t do as well in hard water.  Conclusion: A good additive to washing soda or borax in either powdered or liquid form.
• Borax:  Is a great stain remover, has a stellar cleaning power, deodorizes and freshens. It also naturally softens hard water. Liquid detergent generally use borax and if you’re making a powder detergent, use washing soda. Washing soda loses its poop over time in liquid form and borax doesn’t. (Which will happen if you make a bunch ahead of time.)  However, Borax only lets the cleaning pH go up so far.  Plus, Borax is most effective in hotter water and since most people wash in cold these days, it’s best to pre-dissolve borax in hot water before using in the wash.  Conclusion: Good for hard water in liquid pre-disolved form.
• Soap Nuts: If you don’t want to use borax (I like to go back and forth), you can use soap nuts!  They are one amazing nut… I tell you, God made some kind of plant for everything it seems! Soap “nuts” are actually berries that contain saponin, an all-natural detergent. They have been used to make soap for thousands of years by many cultures. Numerous people think they do not work because, unlike products with chemical foaming agents such as sodium lauryl sulfate – aka SLS, which has been linked to eye and skin irritation, organ, reproductive, and environmental toxicity –  they don’t produce a lot of suds. (source) Fortunately for us, those synthetic foaming agents are really just for show… we don’t need them to get clothes clean. Soap nuts have been my most recent FAVORITE laundry cleaning recipe!  More on soap nuts below.
• Citric acid/ salt: A natural preservative. Helps to keep the liquid fresh longer when using soap nuts.
• Lemon/ Lemongrass essential oil: Works well as a stain remover and de-greaser. I add it to my liquid detergent recipes or just dab a few drops on stains as I find them and then throw them in the wash. FYI: lemon essential oil has a neutral pH of 7.
• Tea Tree (Melaleuca) essential oil: Works as a great disinfecting oil. The antibacterial properties also helps freshen and remove lurking mold or mildew.
• Vinegar: Though not a part of the main recipe, I use 1/2 cup vinegar as a rinse for two reasons:
  1. Laundry detergent has a very alkaline pH, which is perfect for cleaning purposes but can irritate the skin. Using a vinegar rinse, resets the pH to a skin-friendly level.  But don’t add it until the rinse cycle other wise the acidity of vinegar neutralizes the power of the alkaline cleaner (washing soda or baking soda). You could add it to a Downy ball (which releases it at the right time) or the fabric softener compartment (I usually just add it there).
  2. It helps dissolve excess detergent and salts off clothes and helps soften clothes.
  3. Side note: If you have really hard water and a top loader, it might not be enough vinegar to make a dent.  1- 2 cups of vinegar may do a better job. Just play around with it.

 

For the Dryer

• Wool dryer balls: The most amazing balls ever… 😆 They help soften clothes, decrease static and separate the clothes to improve hot air flow, which makes the clothes dry quicker. A natural alternative to expensive dryer sheets- which have added chemicals-  or the plastic balls which make a lot more noise in the dryer.
• Peppermint/ lavender/ whatever you want your laundry to smell like, essential oils: I put the oil of my choice right onto my wool dryer ball.  Then my clothes receive a nice fresh smell.  Adding an essential oil to your detergent, never seems to make it out of the wash anyway.  Natural oils do not stick to clothes the way synthetic and chemically derived oils do. So make sure your using a pure essential oil, a lot of the ones in the stores are not pure. (Young Living, doTERRA, and my favorite Eden’s Garden- because they are pure, high quality, reasonably priced and there is no membership- Are all fantastic oils to use though!)

You can also add other natural oxygen boasters to your loads, if you’re doing a load of whites or heavily soiled loads. Tip: Make sure you get out your stains before hand.  Here is my post on natural stain removers.

 

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Results are determined when your laundry has dried. Does it look and smell clean and fresh? Is it soft and absorbent? This is where you gauge results. This is where it counts.

 

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Recipe #1: Liquid Laundry Cleaner with Soap Nuts

My all time favorite laundry cleaner!!! Its so easy to make and it works really well with the added essential oils.  With 3 stinky dirty boys, daily sweaty workout clothes and normal toddler messes… this way to clean our laundry has been won over by the Maniscalco family!

Why make soap nut liquid?

Sure you could just toss the soap berries in your wash, but there are a few catches:

• You have to keep track of how many times each berry has been used (because they only can be used a few times) and you need to store them properly between washes.  What busy mom wants to do that, am-I right?
• If your washing in cold water, you’ll need to soak the nuts in hot water for 5-10 minutes before adding them… which is a pain.
• You also need to remove them before tossing clothes in the dryer… And I can never remember that one, nor my husband.

In my opinion, making Soap Nuts liquid detergent is just so much easier then using just the nut itself!

 

 

 

Recipe #2: Liquid Laundry Cleaner with Borax

I like to have a back up of a borax laundry cleaner, because soap nuts only last 2 or so weeks, depending on how you store it.  This way if I run out and don’t have 2-3 hours to simmer my soap nuts, I can still do my laundry right then. It cleans extremely well too and gets out stains like no other, but doesn’t always remove the horrible sweaty smells of our clothes.

Borax

Borax, of the mule team variety, is sodium tetraborate or sodium borate and NOT boric acid (hydrogen borate).  Borax, is a salt of boric acid, but it is not chemically the same; which is a common misconception on the Internet.  Borax is extremely alkaline, which makes it irritating when used undiluted, but great for cleaning. Borax, sodium borate, or boric acid, in any form, should not be ingested or used as a skin scrub.

Here’s the full material data safety sheet if you want to take a look, which I recommend everyone to do their own research and then trust their own gut.  This data sheet, does give Borax a safety rating of “1” which is the same as baking soda and salt. (But again, I wouldn’t recommend rubbing large amounts on the skin or ingesting large amounts either.)

The Environmental Working Group lists borax as a safety rating of 5-6, though again, the studies used contained both borax and boric acid and the warnings referred to ingestion, eye contact, or long-term undiluted use.

 

Bottom Line: Is Borax safe?

In my research, I could not find any data that was powerful enough for me to avoid natural borax powder completely. I definitely will not ingest it and don’t feel comfortable using it in cosmetic or food preparations.  I have used it as a stain remover… however when I used a lot of it (on a large load of stains) my bare hands did get a little raw.  So now I just wear gloves if I have a lot to do.  FYI: It is amazing at stains. Just use small amounts and rub the stain out with a tooth brush or put on gloves if your not comfortable.

Right now, I only use borax in my laundry detergent for removing stains, so they aren’t coming in direct, undiluted contact with my skin (again, I do use gloves for stains).  I’m not ingesting it and I’m not getting it in or near my eyes, so most of the concerns and warnings are not valid for me.  Also, I’m using homemade products with borax to replace things like regular laundry detergent or cleaners that rate “D” or “F” on the EWG Database.

Thus, Borax is an effective natural cleaner and a safer alternative to many conventional cleaners. Just don’t ingest it, rub it in the eyes or have it on the skin, undiluted, in large quantities. ✔︎ But you be the judge for yourself!

 

 

 

Recipe #3: Powdered Laundry Cleaner

 

 

What do you think?

I know, it’s a lot of information and a lot of options.  But all three recipes are actually really simple to make. You may just have to play around with them a little until you find what works best for you and your home.   Please let me know which one you like better!

 

Want more?

Check out my online ebook, The Simply Natural Home Handbook, for a complete “how-to” guide for cleaning out your home and products of unwanted toxins and chemicals.  This handbook is equipped with full recipes, links for supplies and helps you develop an understanding of why certain natural substitutes work.  Get started today by detoxing your cleaning solutions, laundry, body care products, water, air and health remedies!