Did you know that our conventional cleaning products are filled with chemicals? This is the bad news. The good news is that there is something we can do about it! By making our own products, we can reduce the amount of chemicals that we are exposed to on a regular basis. These chemicals could have health repercussions and could harm the environment.

This laundry detergent recipe is something that can be easily made at home. If you notice, essential oils are called for in the recipe. You can use any oil that you like, but oils like lavender, peppermint, thyme, lemon, rose, and grapefruit are especially nice. You can also omit the oils if you want to keep it unscented.

Homemade Natural Laundry Detergent Recipe Ingredients:

8 cups filtered or distilled water, divided
1/2 cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1/2 cup Borax (sodium borate)
1 cup liquid castille soup
20 drops essential oil of choice (I like to use 10 drops lavender and 10 drops grapefruit)

Instructions for How to Make the Natural Laundry Detergent

Pour 4 cups of the water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the baking soda and Borax. Keep whisking until the baking soda and Borax are both dissolved. Let cool for about ten minutes.

Add the rest of the water to a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the liquid castle soap and the essential oils. Slowly whisk in the baking soda and Borax mixture. Pour the detergent into a sterilized bottle and store in a cool, dark placed.

How to Use the Laundry Detergent

A little bit of this natural detergent goes a long way! For most standard sized washing machines, you would use 1/8 of a cup of detergent if the machine is half full. Use 1/4 cup of laundry detergent for a load that includes the whole machine.

To make your laundry efforts even more eco friendly, consider air drying your clothes and using cold water in the wash. You also may want to purchase an eco friendly washer and dryer. If you need to dry your clothes in the dryer, consider skipping the fabric softener or make a greener choice when using fabric softener.

As you can see, your laundry practices don't need to be bad for the environment! By making your own detergent and following greener laundry practices, you can