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Natural Liquid Laundry Detergent

This natural liquid laundry detergent recipe uses just five simple ingredients to get your clothes clean, without the hefty price tag of store-bought detergents!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cooling Time3 hours
Total Time3 hours 20 minutes
Course: Cleaning Recipe
Cuisine: Home
Keyword: castile soap
Yield: 64 ounces
Author: Stephanie Pollard
Cost: $8

Equipment

  • Medium stock pot
  • Gallon size jar or plastic bottle with lid

Materials

Instructions

  • Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium-size pot. Remove from heat and add the borax and washing soda.
  • Whisk until the borax and washing soda are completely dissolved. 
  • In a separate bowl, combine the remaining water, castile soap and essential oils. 
  • Combine the borax mixture with the castile soap mixture in a large lidded jar or old laundry detergent jug.
    Liquid laundry detergent recipe
  • Gently stir to combine. As the mixture cools it should thicken up. If it's too thick, add more water and mix again.
  • Use ⅛ cup for small loads and ¼ cup detergent for large loads of laundry.
    Natural Laundry Recipes

Video

Notes

I know some people aren't big fans of borax. Most of the studies used to prove borax's toxicity refer to ingestion, eye contact or prolonged undiluted use. In all my years of making my own laundry detergent, I have never had any issues with it. But if you would prefer not to use it, simply replace the borax with more washing soda.
Since this contains water, it should be used quickly. If you have a small family, halve or even quarter the recipe, and try to use it within 2 weeks.