Where to Get Natural Laundry Detergents

If you are anything like me, you do several loads of laundry each week, if not more, depending on how many people you have in your household. Using natural laundry detergents is a good way to make your household more eco-friendly. It's a good place to start, at least.

So, why should you change your detergent to a natural one? Simply put, the natural versions are a lot better for the environment.

• Conventional detergents often contain petroleum products, a practice that places a drain on the environment.

• Overall, you will reduce your carbon footprint by switching to a more natural product.

There are also other practices that will help reduce your drain on the environment when doing laundry. For example, you can run the wash using cold water if you are able to and you can also line dry whenever possible.

However, a great first step is to simply start using natural detergents.

There are two basic things you can do to get natural laundry detergent.

• Buy natural laundry detergent online at a place like Amazon or other online retailer.

• Purchase it locally. These days, you can find products like this in supermarkets, department stores, and natural food stores.

• You can make the natural detergent yourself.

Some brands are pricier than others. I find that making it myself offers considerable savings, though, so I have included the recipe, below.

Yes, I do purchase eco-friendly laundry detergent on a fairly regular basis. However, I find that making it is a lot more fun and is certainly a lot cheaper. The ingredients are easy to find and I also have the opportunity to scent it however I would like.

What You Need

One bar of Unscented Castile Soap, grated

Baking Soda

Washing Soda (Sodium Borate, or Borax)

5 Drops Lavender Essential Oil

5 Drops Grapefruit Essential Oil

Instructions

This recipe uses equal parts castile soap, baking soda, and sodium borate. So, once you grate the bar of soap you'll need to measure it and make note of the amount.

After measuring, add soap to a large mixing bowl.

Mix in an equal amount of baking soda and an equal amount of sodium borate.

Add essential oil and mix with a wooden spoon.

I usually store mine in a paper lunch sack but an airtight container will also work.

To Do a Load of Wash

Add 1/2 cup of your homemade natural laundry detergent to washer. Turn the washer on and let it fill with water slightly before adding clothes. Wash as usual. To help minimize your drain on the environment, you may want to use cold water - but it depends on the type of wash you are doing.

Using Essential Oils

I personally use grapefruit and lavender essential oils in my homemade laundry detergent. I love the clean scent! However, you can try other oils if you want. Here are some you may want to try:

• Tea tree
• Eucalyptus
• Orange
• Tangerine
• Peppermint
• Rose
• Cedar
• Lemon
• Rosemary

You can blend and mix these oils together if you want. Each batch of laundry detergent will take ten total drops but you can use whichever combination you like.

Try Eucalyptus and Peppermint, Rose and Cedar, Orange and Eucalyptus, etc. I personally either use lavender and grapefruit together, or tea tree, eucalyptus, peppermint, or rosemary as single notes.