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Writer's pictureEcolife Mauritius

How to Make Your Own Laundry Detergent


An eco-friendly alternative that can be made at home using simple kitchen ingredients. We shared this super simple article last year in the Scope Magazine, and we'd thought we'd share it on our blog as well for more people to see.


Nowadays, washing our clothes can be very expensive and also very damaging to the environment. If you are tired of buying polluting household products, we offer you a much ecological alternative to take care of your laundry. Best of all, this is a nice way of saving money on your washes as the required products are much cheaper than the store-bought laundry liquid and it literally takes about 10 minutes to complete.


One thing to note, we do recommend using your normal store-bought detergent on dirtier loads or clothes with plenty of stains as these chemicals that they use will be the only way to remove them. But on regular washes, our eco-friendly alternative will do just fine!


Duration: 10 Minutes

Ingredients Required to produce 1L of the laundry wash:

• 1L of Hot Water

• 50g Savon de Marseille

• 3 Table Spoonfuls of Baking Soda

• 30 Drops of Essential Oil (Your preference, we used lavender)

• 5 Table Spoonfuls of Salt


Tools Required:

• Recycled Laundry Wash Jug (Or Alternative, preferably reuse what you already have)

• Cheese Grater

• Kitchen Scale

• Spoon

• Bowl for preparation

Step 1:

Start off by preparing the ingredients, shave all of the 50g of the "Savon de Marseille" and heat up the water. The reason we use this soap is because it can easily be found in the supermarket at a very affordable price and it contains much less chemicals than the other soap bars.


Step 2:

To the bowl, add in your Water, all 3 spoonfuls of Baking soda, and salt


Step 3:

Gently mix it in using a spoon until it is completely dissolved in the hot water


Step 4:

Finish it off by adding the soap shavings (all in one go) and by adding 30 drops of essential oil (This really depends on your preference as this is what will be giving a little perfume to the washed clothes). Mix it all gently and transfer it to your recycled plastic Jug container.


Step 5:

Done, but we recommend leaving it to rest for a day or two before using it.


How to use:

  1. Shake the container to mix ingredients, and then just like a normal washing solution, either pour 1/2 cup (you can use more if it’s a particularly dirty or large load) of the solution into the washer while it fills or place it in the soap cup provided in your washing machine.

  2. We have not tested this recipe on the front loading machines but works very fine in the top-loader washers.

Notes:

• It is very important for the mixture to be shaken before every use to get it back to its liquid consistency

• One 1L bottle will do between 20-30 washes (7kg to 8kg loads)


Advantages:

•Homemade laundry is a natural alternative, this means fewer toxins and no added chemicals that may cause itching or other health-related problems.

•This laundry wash has a much more positive impact on the environment than the conventional supermarket product, especially if you end up reusing all your plastic containers at home instead of throwing them in the trash that goes to the landfill.

• No unpleasant or pungent scents added, the perfume will all depend on the essential oil used and it all depends on what you want to add.

• And best of all, this recipe can sure save you up on a great deal of money in the long run.


Let us know if you end up using this recipe and do let us know how it turned out for you.

A nice step forward into a more eco-friendly lifestyle.


Do let us know if you would like to see more DIY recipes that can easily be done at home!


Together for a better world

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