I Gave up on Homemade Laundry Detergent
I’ve had these great waves pushing me toward being a crunchy mom. Like any mom, I want what’s best for my kids. I’ve gone back and forth with buying organic food, breastfed past a year, and have gone full-on, all homemade cleaning products. I’ve even shared a few with you: homemade swiffers and homemade grout cleaner.
After Katie started crawling, I became hyper sensitive to the chemicals she was exposed to while crawling around on the ground. That’s when I went full-on crunchy mama and invested in distilled white vinegar, giant bags of baking soda, and liquid Castile soap.
I made my own all-purpose cleaner, grout cleaner, swiffers, toilet bowl cleaner, and laundry detergent.
The problem with the homemade laundry detergent, was our clothes just weren’t getting clean. They also weren’t smelling clean.
[bctt tweet=”The Problem with Homemade Laundry Detergent is our clothes weren’t getting clean” via=”no”]
The first detergent recipe I used was borax free. After a few months, I realized that just wasn’t cutting it, so I gave in and bought some borax. I had high hopes for this homemade laundry detergent. I really did. I thought all of my problems would be solved. It was super cheap to make, our clothes would be clean, and my kid’s sheets would no longer smell like pee.
That was the case, as long as I washed everything on the highest heat possible, twice. I went along with this method for several months, drowning in laundry every day. If you have kids, you know how much laundry is produced. I just couldn’t go on doing loads and loads of laundry that was only semi-clean, every day.
I finally broke down and bought some Tide. That cut my laundry time in half (or less) thanks to the express wash cycle and clothes getting clean the first time. Sadly, Tide is the complete opposite of my natural cleaning goals, so the hunt continued.
I have finally settled on Seventh Generation Natural Laundry Detergent in Lavender and Blue Eucalyptus. It works surprisingly well! Our clothes are coming out clean and fresh after the express wash and I don’t find myself re-laundering to get rid of the horrible pee smell that inevitably happens to sheets when paired with little kids. (Note: this is NOT a sponsored post)
I’ve also started using the Seventh Generation Natural Laundry Stain Remover. It works really well, as well as any of the other non-natural stain removers we have used over the years. My daughter is a messy one and all of her clothes seem to be light colors, so we burn through a lot of stain remover just on her clothes. I can spot clean her stained clothes and only wash them once, the majority of the time.
Now, these products are not perfect for the environment or our health. The Environmental Working Group rates Seventh Generation’s Laundry Detergent as a C and their Stain Remover as a D (thanks to boric acid, which was in my homemade stuff, anyway). Like I said, it’s not perfect, but I will take those ratings over Tide’s rating of an F any day.
There you have it, my journey to homemade detergent and back.
Where do you stand? Do you make your own detergent?
Picture Credit: Pixabay.com
Angie says
May 23, 2016 at 8:58 amI had about the same experience – tried it, but things just didn’t seem to be coming clean. I missed the smell of fresh laundry. I love the idea of being crunchy, but it just wasn’t for me.
Aileen says
May 23, 2016 at 12:21 pmAngie, I think we’re soul sisters!
Karin Rambo says
May 23, 2016 at 11:47 amI think that maybe homemade laundry detergent works well with brand new high speed washing machines, but our machines are a bit older so it didn’t work for us either. 🙁
Aileen says
May 23, 2016 at 12:22 pmKarin, I’m sorry it didn’t work for you. I feel your pain!
Bre | Maintaining Me says
May 23, 2016 at 1:35 pmI was literally just thinking about making homemade laundry detergent but I have been nervous about it getting the kid’s clothes clean!
Joanna says
May 23, 2016 at 2:35 pmI think this is one area where I won’t ever try to do homemade. I’ve tried all natural detergent before, and it actually made my kiddos break out!
Aileen says
May 23, 2016 at 9:50 pmOh no!
Carrie says
May 23, 2016 at 4:19 pmI’m so sorry homemade laundry detergent didn’t work for you. I had great experience with it while living in the states. Now that we are in Norway I haven’t tried to make my own. Borax is banned as well as a few other substances in laundry detergent in the states.
Aileen says
May 23, 2016 at 9:50 pmI’m glad it worked for you, Carrie.
cara says
May 23, 2016 at 5:14 pmThis is so helpful! I’ve always wondered whether or not any of the homemade detergents worked.
Aileen says
May 23, 2016 at 9:51 pmI’m glad I could help!
linda spiker says
May 23, 2016 at 7:26 pmI totally get it! Sometimes the homemade just isn’t good enough.
Mary says
May 23, 2016 at 9:40 pmI have always wanted to make my own laundry detergent but just never got around to it. Thank you for saving me time and money!
Aileen says
May 23, 2016 at 9:49 pmI’m glad I could help! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Molly says
May 24, 2016 at 8:49 amWe love Seventh Generation detergent, but I would like to try to make it myself. Thanks for sharing your feedback!
Aileen says
May 24, 2016 at 4:10 pmMolly, I’d love to hear how it goes for you.
Jenn says
May 24, 2016 at 12:14 pmFirst off, I love the term crunchy mama 🙂 I try so hard to pick all-natural products, but sometimes they just don’t work! Deodorant is one of them. I just could never find anything that was effective for me. As for detergent, right away when we had my little guy, I knew I wanted to make sure his clothes were clean, but wouldn’t make him sick. We love Seventh Generation, and lately I picked up some of Nellie’s Washing Powder, and I’m really liking that as well.
Aileen says
May 24, 2016 at 4:11 pmI will check out Nellie’s Washing Powder. Thanks for the tip, Jenn!
Angela @ Blooming On A Budget says
May 24, 2016 at 4:17 pmI still make my own detergent, but it is a huge pain sometimes, so I make huge batches at a time to make it worth my while. No judgment, though. I know how many stains little ones can manage.
Aileen says
May 24, 2016 at 5:23 pmI’m glad it worked for you!
Faye says
May 25, 2016 at 6:54 amI’m with you. Honestly, I just don’t have the patience to make laundry detergent, so would rather buy it.
Aileen says
May 25, 2016 at 7:41 amYeah, I tried. I’m happy to buy it now, too.
Deanna Fugett says
July 4, 2016 at 8:14 amI use Arm and Hammer baking soda laubdry detergent for the wash, so it’s at least a bit closer to “natural”. Then I add borax to help with stains, and vinegar to take out smells. It all works really nice and it’s not too expensive.
Aileen says
July 4, 2016 at 12:42 pmI haven’t tried that detergent. I have found that vinegar works got us in the smell department, too. I’m glad you found something that works for you.
Veronica Mccain says
March 28, 2017 at 5:21 pmI started using CrystalWash laundry balls! Look them up! They have minerals inside a plastic ball that change the PH in the water to clean! Have had mine 4 months, I use 2 balls in each load. Have washed everything! I use Norwex clothes to clean and especially love these balls to wash Norwex. Bonus-Anyone in my house can do laundry No more spilling, over pouring, wasting detergent! So Far So GOOD!! Says they’re good for 1000 washes!
Aileen says
March 28, 2017 at 5:29 pmThanks Veronica. I will look into that. ?