Our Laundry Powder Recipe
Buying all natural laundry powder is better for us and the planet but if you’d like to take it one step further we’ve got a powerful all natural laundry powder recipe for you to make at home. With just four ingredients and your choice of essential oils this homemade washing powder recipe is quick and easy to make.
Why go natural? Did you know that laundry powders contain all sorts of ingredients that aren’t good for us – chemicals and fillers like phosphate, sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium lauryl ether sulfate, dioxane, formaldehyde and fragrances/parfum just to name a few. They can affect our endocrine system, skin, lungs, heart and more. These laundry powders also damage our waterways and marine life.
Our homemade laundry powder does an excellent job of cleaning clothes leaving them fresh and smelling of sunshine rather than manufactured fragrances. With a homemade laundry powder you only need to use a small amount – just 1 tablespoon for lightly soiled clothes or small loads and 2 tablespoons for heavy soiled clothes or large loads.
What about stubborn stains? If our clothes are particularly dirty we’ll add a little Kin Kin Laundry Soaker to boost the wash. To remove grease stains which is our biggest stain nemesis we’ve started using a little lemon essential oil directly on the stain, rubbing it in and then washing the stained clothes immediately.
It’s easy to make the laundry powder – once you have all the ingredients and a recycled plastic tub or glass jar with a lid it’s time to use our washing powder recipe to make your first batch. It really is simple and only takes five minutes to make.
Laundry Powder Recipe
This recipe will make approximately 1 kg of laundry powder.
- You will need:
- Measuring cups and scales
- A large airtight container
- Large mixing spoon
- Large bowl
- A face mask that filters fine dust particles
Ingredients
- 200 g of ground coconut soap or 2 bars of pure laundry soap grated
- 500 g or 2 cups of bi-carbonate soda
- 280 g or 1 cup of washing soda
- 220 g or 1 cup of borax
- 30 drops of essential oils (I like using either a blend of Eucalypts and lemon essential oils but you can used your favourite oils.)
Method
- Wearing a face mask, combine all your dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well ensuring you don’t inhale any fine dust particles.
- Add your essential oils to the dry ingredients and mix well. Your laundry powder is now ready to use.
How to use your laundry powder
1 x tablespoon for a lightly soiled/small loads
2 x tablespoons for a heavy soiled/large loads
Tips: You wont need fabric softener as the bi-carb in your powder acts as a fabric softener. For grease stains rub a little lemon essential oil on the stain before putting the clothing straight in the wash.