eliminating toxins in our home + homemade laundry detergent for h.e. washers

It can feel overwhelming to think about reducing your family’s toxic burden. I know, because we’ve been working on that very thing for quite a few years! One of our kids has chemical sensitivity – which means they react to a lot of chemicals that really weren’t on our radar for a long time. Things like painting a room in our house, the smell of new carpet, and eating food or drink containing artificial dyes and preservatives can have negative affects for days.

Not cool.

So over the last 5 years or so I’ve been doing lots of research on eliminating toxins in our home and our bodies. The benefits have included reduced allergy symptoms and migraines, improvement in consistent, calm behavior (obviously chemicals affect a lot, but sometimes my kids are just cray for the heck of it!), and I’m working toward balancing my hormones as well.

There are a lot of factors that go into living lives of wellness and health, and eliminating toxins is just one of the pieces to the puzzle for all of us. But in doing so, we truly have reaped the benefits!

Making my own laundry detergent wasn’t just a frugal decision…it reduced a large amount of chemical toxicity for our family. Along with replacing dryer sheets with organic cotton dryer balls, the laundry detergent I make leaves our clothing clean and smelling fabulous, and keeps some of those nasty chemicals out of our home.

We have a high efficiency washing machine, and this liquid detergent recipe works great in it! With a few easily attainable ingredients and 5 minutes of your day, you can make your own laundry detergent…and eliminate a huge toxin in your home while saving some major bucks!

Here’s what I use:

Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda – You can buy this online or at most grocery stores

Baking Soda – I buy a BIG box and use it for a ton of cleaning projects…it lasts forever!

Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Soap (or Sal Suds Liquid Cleaner) – Walgreens and Target have good prices most of the time…you can also order through Amazon.com or Grove Collaborative

Anjou 100% Pure Essential Oils – I use a mix of Tea Tree, Lemongrass, and Lavender

You’ll also need a storage container with a tight lid to store the detergent in…I use a large Mason jar and it works great! This recipe can be doubled – my container just isn’t’ big enough to make a super large batch. 😉

To make the detergent:

Measure 2 heaping tablespoons of the Washing Soda and Baking Soda into a 2 mason jar. Add around 2 cups of very hot water and whisk the soda mixture into the water until it is completely dissolved. Add the essential oils (I normally do 15-20 drops of Tea Tree, which is anti-microbial and anti-bacterial, followed by 10 drops each of Lemongrass and Lavender. You can experiment with the oils until you find your favorite “scent”, but make sure to include one that has similar properties as Tea Tree.)

Once you have added the oils, fill your jar with hot water leaving a 2″ gap at the top. Measure 3 tablespoons of the Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap and whisk into the soda/oils mixture. Top off your jar with hot water….and you’re done!!

Give the jar a good shake before pouring into a liquid measuring cup for use. Depending on the size of your load of laundry, you’ll need 1/3 – 1/2 cup of liquid detergent per load. This batch will complete 16-18 loads of laundry.

Investing in a few key ingredients will save you a ton of money in the long run, and leave you with the peace of mind of knowing you are eliminating toxic chemicals from your home!