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"Learn by doing."

Two (or Three) Ingredient Homemade Laundry Detergent

I was given a recipe for home made laundry detergent several years ago that had both a powdered version and a liquid version. The liquid version took longer to make and more room to store, so in favor of speed and ease, I chose the powdered version.

The original recipe called for Borax, Super Washing Soda and Fels-Naptha soap. My daughter found the Fels-Naptha undesirable because it seemed to put a coating on their clothes and the washing machine. I still use it, but she chooses to just keep a bar on hand to scrub out stains before throwing the clothes in the washer.

To make the basic version, simply buy a box of Borax and a box of Super Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda), dump them both in a bucket, and mix them. That’s it! Of course, the original recipe calls for equal amounts of each ingredient, but who has time to measure!?!

I generally use 2 Tablespoons per load because that is a full scoop with the little scooper I have, although 1 Tablespoon is the recommended amount.

For our whites, I dump in some home made bleach, too. You can also hang clothes on the line when the weather permits to let the sun bleach them, and it helps save electricity when you don’t have to run the dryer.

Additional laundry cleaning recipes can be found on the Wellness Mama blog.

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