Here’s how you can make your own environmentally friendly detergent

What ingredients do I need to make a homemade detergent?

If you want to make your own detergent, you can find various recipes. The exact amount of ingredients vary, but the basic ingredients are usually the same:

• Washing soda will remove stains
• Curd soap has an effective cleaning power
• Baking soda can help soften water and remove odours
• Citric acid powder has a slight bleaching and decalcifying effect
• Bile soap is optional, but it works well on stubborn stains
• Essential oils such as lavender, lemon or orange for adding some fragrance to your detergent, but this is optional

If you would like to make liquid laundry detergent, then you will need to add some water.

To store your DIY detergent, you can use clean jars for washing powder or you can reuse empty glass bottles or tubs for liquid detergent. 

Make your own washing powder for light and dark fabrics

In no time at all, you can make your own heavy-duty detergent. Using the following ingredients, you can make a washing powder by using washing soda, some grated curd soap, bicarbonate of soda and some citric acid powder. This detergent has a slight bleaching effect and is, therefore, better suited to light fabrics.

You can add some essential oils to the washing powder if you want it to have a nice fragrance, but you will need to add the essential oils separately before each wash.  

Homemade liquid lLaundry liquid detergent: great for light and dark fabrics

If you are looking for an environmentally friendly detergent that can also be used to wash colours and dark fabrics, the homemade laundry liquid detergent without citric acid would be the most suitable choice. Making it is a little trickier than washing powder, but it’s still easy to make.

Make your own liquid laundry detergent:

1. Grate the curd and bile soap into fine flakes and mix thoroughly with the washing soda in a bowl.
2. Pour some water into a big pot.
3. Then add the grated soap and the washing soda.
4. Mix all ingredients using a whisk and let the mixture boil for a couple of minutes. Be careful as the homemade detergent can quickly start to foam.
5. Stir the detergent mixture well until the soap flakes have dissolved.
6. Leave the detergent to cool for about an hour and then bring it back to the boil again for a couple of minutes so that the ingredients are well mixed.
7. Using a funnel, pour the cooled homemade laundry liquid detergent into a clean bottle.

You can also use the liquid laundry detergent for a hand wash.

Homemade wool and delicates detergent

You can also make a detergent for a delicate wash, but the way it is made is a little bit different. shing soda and baking soda would cause delicate fabrics such as wool and silk to swell, therefore a different ingredient needs to be used to help remove fat and dirt. DIY detergent experts recommend using methylated spirits for this.

The methylated spirits can make your homemade wool and delicates detergent smell strongly of alcohol. By using some essential oils, you can create a more pleasant fragrance. Using the measurements from above you should add around 10 drops of essential oils.

How to use homemade detergents

Using homemade detergents is no different from shop-bought detergents, but you may need to give it a few goes to find the correct amount needed for doing a wash. However, this all depends on the hardness of the water, the weight of the washing and how dirty it is. The following amounts can be used to help give you an idea:

Safe handling of DIY detergents: make sure to regularly clean your washing machine

Both shop-bought detergents and homemade zero-waste detergents can cause deposits to form in the washing machine, especially if you have hard water in your area.

Therefore, it is important to regularly clean the washing machine with a descaler or with a suitable washing machine cleaner. You need to make sure to clean the inside, the detergent drawer, the door seals, the lint filter and if necessary, the wastewater hose. You should also put a 60 or 90°C wash cycle on at least once or twice a month to kill any bacteria in the machine and to remove any detergent residue. It is often recommended not to use any harsh products such as vinegar essence because it can damage the seals, hoses and metal parts of the washing machine. For the best tips on keeping your washing machine clean and working, check the manufacturers’ handbook in which cleaners or descalers are recommended.

Summary: with just a couple of ingredients you can make your own environmentally friendly detergent

Making your own detergent is not only quick and easy, but it also gives you an insight into how various ecological household cleaners such as citric acid, baking soda or sodium bicarbonate work. Many households completely avoid shop-bought detergents, instead they have been using zero-waste detergents for several years. On zero-waste blogs or in household forums you can exchange tips with other users on the measurements for making homemade detergents and read other testimonials to get a better idea.

Give it a go even if you don't want to switch completely to a homemade detergent, as the experiment side of it is a lot of fun. Take a closer look with your children at how the ingredients work together. This can be a fun learning experience, even if in the end you stick to a shop-bought detergent or another organic alternative.