All Natural Laundry Soap

I’ve been on a quest to find recipes for all-natural, homemade cleaning products. I’m still skeptical about the all-natural items I purchase, so like my food, if I know everything going into my cleaning products, I can feel better about them. I finally found a recipe for powdered laundry soap that actually works. I have a top loader, HE washing machine and all products used are safe for it.

1 bar Dr. Bronner’s Castile Bar Soap (I use the Lavendar scent)

1/2 cup Borax

1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda

• Finely grate the bar of soap. It takes a few extra minutes, but make sure to use the most fine blade on the grater. I tried to cheat once and use the larger blade to make the job faster, and the soap didn’t dissolve as well in the washer. I bought a grater at the Dollar Store that I  use for soap only.
• Combine grated soap with the Borax and Washing Soda.
• Mix well and store in an airtight container. (If I was more Pinteresty, I’m sure I’d store mine in a cute Mason Jar, with a fancy label but alas, mine just goes in an old Tupperware cereal container).
• Use 1 tablespoon for normal loads, 2 tablespoons for soiled or heavy loads (I always have a full washer so usually use 2 tablespoons). Again, I bought a tablespoon at the Dollar Store and keep in right in the container. This amount usually lasts about a month.

I’ve found that my clothes don’t look as dingy and they smell more fresh than they did when I was using commercial, all-natural soap. I do soak clothes that have stains (which is pretty much every shirt my 5 year old wears) in a sink with cold water and some Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap straight up before washing. As well as this works for regular washing, I’ve yet to find a good, all-natural stain remover.

I did try something similar to this (minus the Castile soap) for the dishwasher and didn’t think it’ worked well so if you have any recipes for dish soap, please share.