Homemade Laundry Room

After years of using Charlie's Soap, I am finally going to start making our laundry detergent too. I am planning on only making small batches, as large batches are hard to mix thoroughly and need a cool place to store. All my cool storage space is for food...

I am going to use the following recipe

• 1 bar (or 4 1/2 oz) of grated bar soap (homemade basic bar soap, Dr. Bronner’s, Ivory, ZOTE, or Fels-Naptha) I will be using my own homemade soap.
• 1 cup of borax
• 1 cup of washing soda
• 1/2 cup baking soda (buy in bulk and save big!)

Thoroughly stir together and use 1 tbsp for small loads and 2 tbsp for large/heavy duty loads. Yes, this is safe for HE washers.

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I also came across homemade fabric softener.  I haven't used any for a long time, much to my husband's dismay. So I will start, so his clothes can "smell clean". It's amazing what the laundry industry has done to us. Making us think our clothes have to reek of smell to be considered clean!

You can either add 1/4 cup of white vinegar and 6 drops of essential oil (lemon, sweet orange, tea tree, or lavender) or you can mix 1 cup Epsom salt and 10 drops of essential oil and add 1 tbsp in the softener spot.

I will try out both versions and let you know which I prefer. One may be better for hard water, but we will see.

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For dryer sheets, I have 2 alternatives. I have made/bought wool dryer balls. You can add a drop or 2 of essential oil on it and toss it in with your laundry. The other is to dampen a cloth square (my cloth
diaper wipes) and add a drop or 2 of essential oil on to that and toss it in with the clothes.

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Lastly, I have been using a natural alternative to bleach. There is a recipe here, but I just squirt a little lemon juice (bought in bulk at Sam's) and a squirt of hydrogen peroxide (also at Sam's) in the bleach spot.

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Here is an alternative to Oxyclean that I have not tried out yet. If you do try it, please leave a comment.