Homemade Environmentaly Friendly Detergent

Before you read further please read these reports.

• Detergents are bad for health and environment
• Environmental Impacts of Detergent
• How Laundry Detergent Works

Need I say further.

So here is the recipe of my very own homemade laundry detergent.

Ingredients:
4 bars of Chandrika Soap
1 kgs Washing Soda
2 kgs Baking Soda
2 small packets of Epsom Salt
4 tblspns Table Salt

Step 1: Grate the Chandrika Soaps.

Step 2: Mix the Washing Soda, Baking Soda, Epsom Salt, Table Salt in a bowl and add the grated soap. You can also use the food processor to grind the soap into a coarse powder. Soap shavings work for me hence I did not go through the extra step

Step 3: Make a small bag/pouch of rice. You can use a muslin cloth or a netter pouch like the one I used.  The rice absorbs any moisture and keeps lumps from forming.

Step 4: Store the detergent in a jar with a tight lid. I used an old Quaker Oats Jar.

Step 5: Label (Not Required). My domestic help helps with my baby's laundry and labeling the jar helps her identify the laundry detergent from the one we use to clean the bathroom tiles.

To tell you the truth this detergent does not  remove stains as well as most chemical/commercial detergents do. But it does most definitely clean your clothes. Though staining clothes is not a regular routine (thank God for that) , when I need do additional help with stains I used some commercial detergent, hydrogen peroxide, toothpaste, lime juice etc. So I do use some commercial detergent. But using this homemade detergent has drastically reduced the amount of commercial detergent I use. We are trying to reduce our carbon footprint one step at a time.

Cost Analysis: 4 kgs commercial detergent, approximately INR 500
 4 kgs Homemade detergent, approximately INR 270

Make the right choices.

Regards,
Z

PS: I will share how I wash my clothes using this detergent along with Hydrogen peroxide and vinegar soon.