DIY Laundry Detergent~ Sensitive Skin

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Many times, those who suffer from gluten allergies, or intolerance, often forget about the “Extra” things that we put on our bodies. Some of these extra things like laundry detergent, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, and other things still touch our skin, and many name brands do use products that contain gluten! Chemicals, coloring, preservatives, and additives are just some of the sneaky ways that companies get it in their products. Making your own, high quality products like this is cheaper than you think, and easier than you know! Not to mention you won’t be dealing with all of the extra chemicals and colorants added in!

Ingredients

4-6 LARGE containers for your made detergent. We use old, giant drink bottles, old detergent bottles, and old milk jugs.

1.5 cups borax

1.5 cups washing soda

1 bar soap; real soap. I use Ivory Simply Pure. (While I really enjoy Caress, I’d never use it in my laundry detergent. Fels Naptha is also a go-to for those who can use “regular” detergent.) *You can also add in a few drops of scented oil or fabric softeners to scent your detergent a bit more, or differently from the bar of soap you choose.

4 Gallons water, total

HUGE pot, long handled plastic spoon, strainer spoon, funnel, grater (or a hammer and a few Ziploc baggies) I have one pot, utensils, and equipment dedicated for this process. Saves on the clean-up, as I can just throw it all back in the pot, and shelf it.

Directions

First, grate bar of soap into small pieces, or put the soap into the Ziploc baggie, and smash with hammer on safe surface. In large pot, combine one gallon of water and grated bar of soap. Bring to a low, slow boil, until all of the pieces of the bar of soap have melted, or dissolved. (If some pieces of the soap remain, it’s okay for now.)

Next, pour in the borax and washing soda. Stir those in until dissolved, remove from heat, and continue stirring for a few moments. Add in one gallon of cold water, and stir for five more minutes. (The more you stir, the faster it will cool.) At this time, if there are any chunks of soap that did not melt, strain them out.

While you’re waiting for the detergent to cool, prep your storage bottles by pouring in 3 cups of water to each bottle you plan to fill with detergent. This is the trouble that many face when they make detergent….it ends up coagulating too much, and turns too thick to deal with normally during laundry time. By adding in extra water, this helps keep the detergent from coagulating while it’s being stored.

Finally, using your funnel, fill each bottle you have with detergent leaving 2-3 inches of headspace. After all bottles are filled, add one 1/2 cup of water more. Let them cool, and then put the lids on. Store in a dry place, away from heat.

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This recipe make us enough detergent to last about 6 months, and costs about $3.45 to make 5-7 giant bottles per batch. We do laundry 6-8 times a week.