Liquid Laundry Detergent

Have you tried to make homemade laundry soap before and been disappointed that your clothes weren’t really getting clean?

I have.

I used to make a homemade laundry soap from Castile soap, washing soda, baking soda, and OxiClean free. At first, that sounds like a good idea, but it turns out, it doesn’t really get your clothes clean.

In fact, it actually traps dirt in your clothes.

My family’s clothes looked clean, but they weren’t. They were hiding loads of dirt and debris in their fibers.

How did I find out? I saw someone talking about it on Facebook. Someone had shared a photo of all the dirt and gunk that came out in her family’s laundry when using a proper detergent after she had been using a homemade laundry soap similar to the one I had been using.

So I tried the test on my family’s clothes, and sure enough, the rinse water of my “clean” clothes was not clear sparkling water like you would expect, but rather the rinse water from my “clean” clothes was a dirty brown sludge.

Yuck!

So much for that homemade laundry soap. I was off to find something that really works.

What I discovered was that I needed a detergent, not a soap. A detergent not only cleans, it also rinses clean. And rinsing clean means that the clothes are really, truly clean!

So I share with you my homemade laundry detergent recipe. I hope your family loves it as much as mine does!

You might also like this other post with favorite natural laundry recipes. Find it here: 11 Best Essential Oil Recipes for Laundry

UPDATE: After years of failed experiments, I finally figured out how to make a great natural powder laundry soap. It’s free of harsh chemicals, artificial fragrances, and dyes. And best of all, it actually gets clothes clean. So if you’re looking for a powder laundry detergent, check out my new recipe. I’m so excited to share it with you!

Top reasons why you’ll want to make this homemade liquid laundry detergent:

natural
non-toxic
easy to make
one batch makes enough for 64 loads (so if you do 2 loads of laundry a day, it makes enough for an entire month)
smells great!
works in high efficiency (HE) front-loading washing machines as well as regular top-loading washers
uses the cleaning power of essential oils
removes odors
no residue on washer or on clothes
actually gets clothes clean!

What do you need to make this homemade liquid laundry detergent?

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salt (find in spice aisle of your grocery store or find online here)- Salt softens the water, which allows the detergent to work more effectively.

super washing soda (find in laundry aisle at your favorite store or find online here)- Many homemade laundry detergents use baking soda, but baking soda is weaker and doesn’t do as good of job cleaning clothes. So I use super washing soda instead, and save the baking soda for washing delicates.

filtered or distilled water (find in bottled water aisle of grocery store) – This dilutes and stretches a batch of laundry detergent so that one batch makes enough for 64 loads of laundry.

Sal Suds (find it online here) – Organic and plant-based cleaning concentrate that not only makes this laundry detergent, it also makes a great dish soap (recipe here), floor cleaner, and more. It doesn’t have any artificial dyes, fragrances, or preservatives. Best of all- it works! It cleans clothes, getting rid of dirt and odors. And it rinses clean (even in cold water)!

essential oil – I use a combination of lavender and lemon, but you can customize your detergent with your favorite essential oils.

gallon glass drink dispenser (like this) or four quart-sized glass jars (like this)

free printable label for your detergent jar (get it here)

long-handled wooden spoon (like this)

How to make homemade laundry detergent with essential oils

step 1: bring 4 cups of filtered or distilled water to a boil.

step 2: While the water is still boiling on the stove, add 1 cup salt to the boiling water. Mix well until the salt is completely dissolved.

step 3: take the water and salt mixture off the heat and add 1.5 cups of super washing soda to boiling water

step 4: mix the really hot water, super washing soda, and salt until it is dissolved. If you have one, it really helps to use an immersion blender for this. You want to be sure to break up any clumps. If not mixed thoroughly, you can have little hard “rocks” in your detergent.

step 5: Let the salt, washing soda, and water mixture cool a little bit, then add 100 drops of essential oil (this is 1 tsp of essential oil).

I used 50 drops lavender essential oil and 50 drops lemon essential oil.

But lots of other essential oils and EO combinations would also be great. Here are a few others to try:

100 lemon
70 lemon and 30 tea tree
40 lemongrass, 30 lavender, and 30 eucalyptus
40 lavender, 30 lime, and 30 spearmint
40 grapefruit, 30 orange, and 30 lemon
30 spruce, 30 tea tree, and 40 cypress

step 6: add 2.5 cups Sal Suds

step 7: gently stir everything together. You want it mixed well, but you don’t want to agitate the Sal Suds, because if you do it will bubble up.

step 8: pour the detergent concentrate into your gallon jar (or four quart-sized jars)

step 9: fill jar with distilled water

step 10: gently stir to mix well (again, don’t stir too briskly or you’ll cause it to bubble up)

step 11: add this free printable label (get it here)

How to use

use 1/4 cup for HE (high efficiency) front-loading washing machines or 1/2 cup for traditional top-loading machines
yields: 64 loads in HE machines, 32 loads in top-loading machines
You may want to keep a long-handled wooden spoon by your detergent. Over time, the washing soda and salt may settle to the bottom of the container and you’ll need to stir (or shake) the container to remix.

Where to get supplies?

salt (find in spice aisle of your grocery store or find online here)

super washing soda (find in laundry aisle at your favorite store or find online here)

filtered or distilled water (find in bottled water aisle of grocery store)

Sal Suds (find it online here)

gallon glass drink dispenser (like this) or four quart-sized glass jars (like this)

immersion blender (find it here)