DIY Laundry Cleaners
I have been doing some laundry cleaning research lately and I wanted to share a homemade laundry DIY recipes with you.
Laundry Detergent:
Mix together 1/4 cup Washing Soda, 1/4 cup Borax, 1/4 cup Castile Soap, and 1 gallon water in a container of your choice.
- Washing Soda (different from baking soda) neutralizes and eliminates odors, enhances your laundry soap, and a natural whitener that is safe for colors.
- Borax enhances the power of your soap and is a color safe whitener.
- Castile soap is a natural, non-toxic, multi-purpose vegetable based soap. It's biodegradable, you can get it scented or unscented, and categorized as a disinfectant and will kill 99% of germs.
You would use equal amounts of this as you would any store bought laundry detergent.
Stain Remover
Mix 1/2 cup Castile Soap with 1 cup Hydrogen Peroxide (be sure to use the 3% kind you can buy at the store) and place in a dark squirt bottle.
Spray the mixture onto your stain and you can watch it work immediately. I let this one sit for 10 minutes as my son had a bloody nose (sorry).
Place it in your wash and it'll come out clean. If for some reason the stain persists, repeat the steps and you can soak in this solution as well. I did test this on color fabrics and it did work without bleaching it out. I didn't leave it set as long so you might want to test it first for a longer amount of time before letting it soak too long.
Alternative Stain Remover:
You can also use a mixture of 1 cup vinegar, and 1/2 cup lemon juice.
Spray the mixture on the stains and wait approximately 10 minutes.
Place in your wash.
3rd Stain Remover
Use straight Castile or Dawn soap. Place a little soap on the clothes, use your finger and scrub into the stain. You can watch it start to work and disappear.
Place in wash and it'll come out clean.
*I have noticed that Dawn appears a little stronger than Castile soap.
Remove the musty smell
Place 1/2 cup baking soda in with your DIY detergent from above and they will work together to fight that musty smell.
Alternatively you can use 1 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup lemon juice with no detergent.
Dryer Sheets
Mix together 1 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup lemon juice. You could use essential oil in place of the lemon juice. In a container place wash clothes or cloths, pour the mixture over the washcloths, and place the lid on top. When you are ready to use one, pull it out and stick it in the dryer.
- Vinegar - this is a natural cleaner and fabric softener.
- Lemon juice is also acidic so same qualities as vinegar, & added a nice lemon smell.
Homemade Bleach
Fill our laundry tub the whites you wish to clean and fill with water. Pour in 2 cups hydrogen peroxide (the 3% kind you can buy at the store), and 1/4 cup lemon juice.
- Hydrogen Peroxide is a bleach alternative
- Lemon juice is a natural cleaner, breaks down stains, and fabric softener, & added a nice lemon smell.
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Thank you for sharing this tips :D
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You dont have to buy washing soda you can make it out of baking soda take a cookie pan the 4 lb. Box speed it out evenly as you can on tinfoil if possible not the shiny side 400 for about hour and 20 mins then store it in almost any container label it,also because it changes the alkaline levels with the ph balance alot of people dont like using borax so washing soda can substitute it adding simple table salt to the mix will soften hard water so your clothes will be cleaner, only use vinegar in your rinse if you make you on laundry detergent with baking soda or it will defie your purpose ,for my softner I use a gallon jug half vinegar half distilled water and some essential oils, the only thing that really cost is the oils but they go along way so it's not a waste
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
First of all, you are one very creative DIYer! You have so many ideas and a wonderful imagination. My question is: how can the laundry detergent mixture only cost $5.00? The Borax alone is $5.39 at our big box store. I was going to try to do this once and for me it would have cost more than just buying Tide or any other brand. The only one a bit cheaper from Tide was the store brand. Please tell me what was only $5.00.
Thank you kindly.
nice alternatives for stain removal etc. do you have a mixer for cleaning my HE washing machine? we use those Refresh brand tablets but they are getting to be outrageously expensive.
Can I use this in front load washer that uses HE detergents