I never thought that I could fall in love with a laundry detergent, especially something I could easily make at home that costs next to nothing. I was delusionally happy with my store bought giant jugs of Tide. It would be pretty hard to convert me. However, I love this homemade laundry detergent so much, I have not only converted to it, I had to write a post about it. This stuff rocks!
I recently tried to make my own dishwasher soap and unfortunately, I did not have such a great experience with it. It basically left this gross film all over my dishes that took several washes to get off. So when my mom had mentioned this really great homemade laundry detergent recipe she had been using, that happened to include 2 of the same ingredients as this horrible dishwasher soap (baking soda & salt), I was a little bit hesitant to try it.
What really changed my mind, was when my little brother who is currently in college, called my mom and asked if she could make him her homemade laundry soap because he hated using the stuff he was buying from the store. If it was that noticeable of a difference to go from using the homemade laundry detergent to not using it anymore, it must be pretty miraculous. I have to admit, it is miraculous. This stuff has not only made my clothes noticeably softer, it even removed this strange odor our towels had developed that I have been trying to get out for a long time.
Homemade Laundry Detergent (Borax Free)
- 1 1/2 c Baking Soda
- 1 1/2 c Washing Soda
- 1/2 c Epsom Salt
- 2 Tbsp Salt
Mix all ingredients until well combined with a whisk in a mixing bowl or you can also combine them in a food processor. Store in an airtight container (such as a mason jar). Use 1 Tbsp per large load. Sometimes I use 2 Tbsps on particularly smelly loads such as gym clothes or pet beds.
For fabric softener, I use white vinegar in the softener dispenser. This keeps the machine from getting gunky, it removes odors from your clothes even more and thankfully, it does not make your clothes smell like vinegar.
How to Make Your Laundry Smell Amazing
I, unfortunately, do not know the exact source of where my mom learned this trick but you are going to love it. Save your used dryer sheets and put 2 – 3 dabs of fragrance oil on the dryer sheet. It makes your laundry seriously smell like heaven. Make sure you purchase fragrance oils…not essential oils!
I have used essential oils and you do get a very light fragrance, but if you use fragrance oils, it is much stronger and more noticeable. Fragrance oils are the oils typically used in soap making. This is why I love them so much. They come in amazing scents like Georgia Peach, Snickerdoodle, Lemon Pie and so many more!!! One of my favorites is the Georgia Peach scent. I literally can open my bathroom closet where the towels are kept and be greeted with this lovely peach scent…but it’s not overwhelming!
If you would like to buy a starter set of fragrance oils, Brambleberry.com has a couple of lovely starter packs such as the Foodie Starter pack (I purchased this set and love it) and the Fall scented pack (I can’t wait to try this one), plus a few other sample packs and they are all under $23.00. Plus you can also buy individual scents too! There are soooooo many choices. Amazon also has some lovely choices for fragrance oils too. I haven’t personally tried any off of there but it does seem like most of them have good reviews.
I hope you love this laundry recipe as much as I do. I just recently started doing this, so I do not know the exact math on how much money this will save. For my mom to go through all of the ingredients she purchased for this, it lasted a year for a family of 3. They are also very active with working out, so they have a lot of gym loads. I have a feeling this one purchase of ingredients is going to last me and my husband years lol!