**POST EDITED: I still use this detergent for everything and have had great success. Some people have commented to say that it does not clean their diapers and so they said they’ve been using this detergent for everything BUT their diapers. I think that it TOTALLY depends on your machine and your water (hard or soft water). We have a GREAT washing mashing… BUT, I did want to add that caveat, that you may experience issues with cleaning your diapers. If you do, just use your regular detergent for your diapers and this for everything else… if you want! 🙂 Wanted to add that. 🙂 

As I’ve been on this gradual quest to get toxins out of our home wherever I can, one thing I’ve had a really hard time replacing is our laundry detergent.

I honestly have been very loyal to plain, old Tide original powder. But, as I did some reading, I came across the ingredients list and saw all that was in it… but what was even CRAZIER is on the ingredients list was “Fragrance” which linked to a page, TWENTY pages, to be exact, that showed ALL the different chemicals that are used to create a fragrance and can be just labeled as one thing: “fragrance”… That’s INSANE!! Seriously.

So, I set out to find a recipe for homemade laundry detergent that did a few things:

1. Cleaned
2. Smelled good
3. Was non-toxic
4. Affordable and easy to make

I found a bunch of different recipes… some liquid, some super complicated, and then some that had a couple ingredients but not enough to really get my stuff clean.

So I toyed around and played with some recipes and ended up combining a couple I’d found and came up with this one! I’ve now been using this detergent for two weeks and have done about four cloth diaper loads with it and I LOVE it.

Check it out!

DIY Non-Toxic Powder Laundry Detergent

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cup of pure baking soda
• 1 1/2 cup of washing soda (plain – no additives)
• 1 cup Borax (optional – I used it, but you could omit if you wanted)
• 1/2 cup Epsom salt
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 5 drops Purification Essential Oil blend (where to buy)
• 5 drops Lemon Essential Oil (where to buy)
• Glass, airtight container

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until fine. Pour into your airtight container. I use about 1-2 tablespoons for a load. I actually use my old scoop from when I used Tide and fill it up to the 1 line… which I think is about 2 tablespoons. 

This recipe, with the Borax, makes approximately 74 loads.

What about you? Have you made any DIY home products? Have you made DIY laundry detergent before? If you could replace a toxic item in your house, what would it be?

Looking to get started with essential oils? Visit my essential oils page for more information on how!