Homemade Cloth Diaper Laundry Detergent

We have been using cloth diapers for nearly a year now and happy to say it is going quite well. We have been making our own liquid laundry detergent for a while, but found that we wouldn't be able to use in on our cloth diapers. The soap in the liquid detergent will build up residue and keep the diapers from absorbing well over time. So I had to find a recipe that would be compatible with cloth diapers. After searching online I found a number of recipes. Finding that they were all different in their own way I adapted them to create my own.

I have been using this recipe for as long as we have been cloth diapering. I have found it has been working very well. I will save my laundry process cloth diapers for another post, but for now I will share the recipe that I have been using.

All you need are three ingredients:

• 2 cups Borax
• 2 cups Washing Soda
• 2 cups Oxi Clean

Mix well and store. I saved back an empty coffee can and gave it a fresh look to store my detergent in and use a scoop from a baby formula jug. When I begin my wash cycle I just add one scoop for a small load and two for a large load. All three ingredients can be found in the laundry soap aisle at your local grocery store.

Hope this works for you like it does for me. Enjoy!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

So in an effort to save money I decided that a good place to start would be making some of the things I need myself instead of buying from a store. One thing I do a lot of is laundry. Having a three year old it is hard to avoid.

I found a recipe online for making homemade liquid laundry detergent from http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/ by Crystal Miller. The recipe is simple, easy to make and seems to work well. I have a front loader and was concerned about how things would wash up, but I didn't seem to have a problem.

For the recipe you will need: 

•  a bar of soap, I used Fels Naptha. You can also use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirks Hardwater Castile or Zote bars.
• Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
• Borax
• water
• bucket, I used a 5 gallon bucket (I figured bigger was better so I didn't make a mess)

First, start by grating 1/3 of the bar of soap you have choosen. I grated it in the large sauce pan I would be using. Then add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap shavings melt. Then add 1/2 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup Borax until they dissolve. Remove from heat.



Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket and add your detergent mixture. Stir.  Add 1 gallon and 6 cups of water and stir again.

Then let the mixture sit for 24 hours.





After the 24 hour waiting period you can then pour your mixture in an clean empty container to store. Shake before using. 1/2 cup per load should work for normal wear washes.

Hope you try this! It was not hard at all to make and did not take long to do either. Save yourself some money and make your own!

Enjoy!