What did women do before big brands came along and claimed to make your laundry “whiter and brighter”, “fresher”, “smelling like walking through fields of lavender” etc? Women made their own laundry products from every day products found around the house or used by-products from animals they slaughtered on their farms. Lucky we’re not in that position anymore but we can still use regular household products to create efficient laundry products that do the job as well as the commercial products, at a fraction of the cost. Here’s the complete guide to DIY Laundry Products.
Why DIY Products?
Commercial products have made claims over the years to make our clothes look whiter, brighter and smelling fresher but instead they’ve been adding chemicals to do this which are harmful to the environment and our family’s health. We’re lead to believe that certain smells make our laundry cleaner when in fact, they have no bearing on the end result at all. Sometimes I can smell the neighbour’s laundry 3 houses away from the super strong scents that are used in some laundry detergents. You can also smell it when people are wearing the clothes.
The chemicals used in these detergents use phosphates, which contain phosphorus, to help soften the water and keep extracted dirt in suspension. But high levels of phosphorus going down your drain can lead to excessive growth of blue green algae in our inland waterways.
By not using products with chemicals means that you can also recycle the rinse water safely on your garden which helps save water as well as the environment.
DIY Laundry Detergent Labels
There’s also the excess packaging from buying commercial laundry products. All that extra plastic from sprays and liquid products plus the cardboard packaging all needs to be recycled. By making your own products you reduce the need for recycling and can keep your products in the same containers each time. You can custom design labels for your own ‘homemade’ range of products to suit your taste.
What you need to start
This is a list of some the regular products you may like to keep on hand to make a variety of homemade laundry products. Some can be quite expensive to start with like essential oils but you only need small quantities each time you make a new batch of your laundry product. Not all are required. Just those that you will need to make the recipe that you find works for you.
- bicarbonate soda (baking soda)
- dishwashing detergent (any kind)
- homebrand laundry powder
- Lectric Washing Soda (or similar)
- hydrogen peroxide
- laundry soap bars
- Borax
- lemon juice
- vinegar
- essential oils (lemon, orange, lavender etc)
- rubbing alcohol
- WD-40
Stain Removers
Clothes and linens are sometimes stained with all sorts of things. Grass, food, blood, dirt, ink and any other hard to remove stains. They can be treated with a homemade pre-wash stain remover or spot removed by hand prior to throwing in the wash.
This handy guide will help you with spot removal of particular stains or you can apply one of the below homemade pre-wash removers. Some stains may be hard to remove and may need a couple applications. Don’t give up though. It’s always best to try to remove the stain when it first happens but if you can’t, keep at it.
By pre-treating stains, you won’t need as much laundry detergent in with your wash.
My daughter had acrylic paint stains to her school uniform but they weren’t treated immediately. After 12 months of being laundered and dried in the clothes drier, it was impossible to remove them. I tried every possible stain removal product to no avail. I gave up and am now using the shirt as a back up to patch any holes that may occur in the future or even make ‘scrunchies’ for her hair. Always try to treat the stain straight away.
DIY Laundry Stain Remover
Natural Bleach Alternative
DIY Laundry Soaker
4 Ingredient Stain Remover
Laundry Detergents
Manufacturer’s of commercial laundry detergents lead you to believe that you need a certain amount of powder/liquid laundry detergent for each load. False. You don’t. It isn’t the detergent that cleans the clothes. It’s actually the agitation from the washing machine. The product only helps to remove odours or loose dirt particles. As a general rule, I use half a scoop (pictured above) which equates to about 1/4 cup of laundry powder.
My Recipe
I’ve found the homebrand laundry powder works best for my family and my washing machine. It removes the dirt and odour from my clothes and linen quite efficiently and is very low cost.
I use:
- 1 x 4kg box homebrand laundry powder @ $3.70/box
- 1 x 1kg packet Letric Washing Soda @ $4.40/bag
- Optional: 20-30 drops essential oil (lavender or lemon)
Total cost: $8.10
Cost per load: Approx 200 washes @ $0.28 per wash. At about 5 loads a week (20 loads per month), this will last me 10 months.
Combine all ingredients in a suitable container and mix thoroughly. Use 1/4 cup per load. (My washing machine has an 8.5kg load capacity.)
I’m yet to try a homemade laundry detergent recipe as effective as this but I’m always looking for new ones to try. This selection I’ve put together from the internet might offer some alternatives.
Please note: Borax is sodium tetraborate or sodium borate and NOT boric acid (hydrogen borate), which is a common misconception.
Sodium Tetraborate (referred to as Borax) is a salt of boric acid but it is not chemically the same as boric acid. Here is a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for your information. It should be used with precaution just like other household chemicals and products. It may be sensitive to some people.
Homemade Laundry Powder (Borax free)
Homemade Laundry Liquid (Borax free)
Homemade Laundry Powder (with Borax)
Homemade Laundry Liquid (with Borax)
There are many more recipes on the Internet, all with different variations so keep searching until you find one you like and that works well to clean your laundry.
Fabric Softener
I just cringe when I see the fabric softener for sale in the laundry aisle at the supermarket and cringe even more when I see people buying it. Each to their own but there really is no evidence of fabric softener making your laundry softer nor is there any need to use a commercial product to get your laundry softer.
If anything, the addition of another product after your clothes have been washed and rinsed automatically in the washing machine will in fact make them less absorbent and coats them with more harmful chemicals. Chemicals that are harmful to you, your family and the environment.
The only laundry I find that might need softening are my towels and I avoid having rough towels by giving them a shake before hanging them. You could also lower the spin speed of your washing machine. The lower the spin speed, the less likely your towels will be hard. Or put them in the clothes dryer for 10 minutes. Warm air, or even cool air, will get them soft again.
If you feel you must use a fabric softener, here are a few DIY homemade recipes.
Homemade Liquid Fabric Softener Recipes – Two varieties
1/2 cup of plain white vinegar poured in when the rinse cycle starts
Wool Wash
There are so many garments on the market today that are wool blends but I still like to treat them with care like I would a pure wool garment and use a detergent that is specific for wool only. I normally use a homebrand eucalyptus detergent, but you can make your own quite easily. Once my current container runs out, I’ll be trying some of these.
DIY Woolwash
Homemade Wool Wash
Dryer Sheets
I don’t use my clothes dryer all that often so have never had a real need to use dryer sheets but if you do live in a part of the world where you rely on your clothes dryer a lot, these homemade ones are perfect.
Natural Dryer Sheets
Ironing Spray
Not many people iron these days but there are still some things that do need ironing, if you’re that way inclined. I actually stumbled across a recipe one day when I was ironing pillow cases and had run out of spray starch. Yes, I’m one of those people who loves ironed linen. I won’t iron sheets but pillow cases, linen tea towels and doilies are all ironed. This recipe worked great and is still in a spray bottle in my cupboard.
Homemade Wrinkle Releaser
Homemade Spray Starch
There are many more recipes online. There seems to be quite a few variations so find what works best for you and your family and what suit your machine, for example, a top or front loading washing machine and depending on the state of your family’s clothes, which laundry product will work best.
