Many conventional laundry soaps and dryer sheets contain questionable ingredients. For example, many conventional detergents might contain, 1,4-dioxane, quaternium-15, phosphates and synthetic fragrances.
If you do your research, you will find that many of these are known carcinogens and/or irritants to the skin. These chemicals are added to detergents to make them smell better, work better in hard water and prevent dirt from settling back on clothes during the wash cycle, among many other reasons. Are they necessary? This depends on whom you ask, but the good news is this: You can clean your clothing, avoid static cling and have nice-smelling clothes—all without the chemicals.
The bonus is that you will save money, too! It’s super cheap to make your own laundry detergent and laundry softener. It’s estimated that making your own laundry detergent costs $.02 per, load while using name-brand detergents can cost as much as $.21 per load. If you do a lot of laundry, that’s a lot of money saved!
There are hundreds of DIY laundry soap and fabric softener recipes online, but the best thing to do is to experiment with the variety and find what works for you—whether it’s liquid or powder, scent or scent-free. Here are two of my favorite recipes for making my own laundry soap and fabric softeners. Neither take much time to prepare and both work well.
DIY Laundry Soap…
