Tightwad tip: making your own laundry detergent

For as long as I can remember, the recipe of homemade laundry detergent is circulating around the blogosphere - the frugal blogospgere that is. Some people add a bit more ingredients, such as washing soda or borax, or both, while others prefer to keep it as plain as possible. No matter how you make it, it's going to save you LOTS of money. I did some math, and compared to the cheapest powdered detergent I can find here (bought in bulk which is cheaper than the smaller packages), using a frugal dose, my homemade detergent is still five times (!) as cheap, per load, compared to the cheapest powdered store bought detergent. That doesn't seem to be a lot, but small things add up - especially when you do several loads a week. If I'd compare it to the more expensive name brand detergents such as Ariel or Tide, it's an even bigger saving. 

I've been making this on and off for years - at times I switched back to store bought detergent, only to realise that those store bought detergents don't really work better than the homemade ones. The big companies have done their utmost best to make us customers believe that store bought detergent cleans much better. And not only that - they also make us believe that you really need to have something scented, otherwise it's "not clean". I've been making this detergent again for a while, and now that I'm back to making it, I don't get why I sometimes did switch to the store bought stuff. Probably because of the scent, despite the scent usually being gone when completely dried. Apparently the pro-scent marketing worked for me too, despite me being sensitive to most scents! But not anymore. Clean is clean, even if it's smells of "nothing" (and line dried laundry always smells fresh already!). I read that weaning yourself off of scented detergents to gradually make the shift to scentless ones, is like weaning yourself off of food with artificial flavours. It sometimes just takes some time. And I think that's a rather good comparison. In a few weeks, you're so used to it that the smell of store bought detergent is just overwhelming. If our grandmothers could just use soap for cleaning clothes, and didn't miss a scent, so can we. It takes some adjustment because we're so used to all the chemicals and scents- something our ancestors didn't have to worry about. 

I remember the hard financial times we went through, and making my own detergent was just a life saver, as we were already very penny pinching but still couldn't get by. At least our clothes could be washed for almost nothing! We had the assurance to have clean clothes and that we still could afford simple foods instead of having to borrow money for food because there wasn't any money left after having to buy detergent (I've heard that way too often!). Last year, I bought a 10 KG bulk sack of powdered detergent and was shocked that the price had more than doubled in a year. We don't go through an insane amount of detergent, but why paying a high price for something that isn't even food? Heck, it's even bad for our health - despite it not being that heavily scented, I still get respiratory issues of it, not to mention that most detergents (except the very expensive green ones) itch on our skins. The environmental impact of homemade detergent is obviously not as much compared to store bought, as it contains less harsh chemicals, doesn't come in much packaging and doesn't need a car to for transportation- as detergents usually come in heavy packages. So a in all these are all good reasons, in my opinion, for making detergent. 

No more talking, here's how I make it. You'll need: 

A bar of soap of approximately 80 gram (I've never really measured it, one gram more or less doesn't really matter), whatever brand or kind you prefer

5 liters of water 

Grate the bar of soap and dissolve in a litre of hot water- just stirr it until it's all melted, usually it reaches a boiling point by then. While I'm stirring I have another pot on the hob with 1.5 litre water that I want to reach a boiling point. If it boils, just combine the hot soapy water with the hot plain water in a bucket that's big enough and add another 2.5 litre water, just cold tap water. Make sure to rinse the pot in which you were stirring the soap with hot water as there are usually remnants there. Cover it with a lid and let it sit for a day - I usually make it in the morning and won't come back to it the next day's morning, which means I let it sit for around 24 hours. You could probably also wait a little bit less. If using soap that is palm oil or tallow based, the soap will likely thicken. It's a bit difficult to handle as it's quite lobed, so you need to stirr it with a whisk (or use an immersion blender). I usually kind of knead it with my hands. And then I transfer it to an old 5 L jug (a one that had washing up liquid in it). If using olive oil based soap your detergent probably won't thicken and stay liquid, but that won't make any difference in terms of cleaning. 

Just a few notes: some people add more ingredients such as washing soda of borax. I can't find either of them here, so I just only use soap, and although I did add washing soda when I made this when living in the Netherlands, I haven't noticed a difference with or without it anyway. But if you prefer using washing soda, you can totally use it. Just make sure to add the exact same weight of that. So when using 80 grams of soap for instance, you'll need 80 grams of washing soda as well, which you'll add after the grated soap has melted. With borax I don't have any experience. There's also powdered detergent recipes out there, which I'm yet to try, and they all use a bit of different ingredients (some use washing soda, some both washing soda and bicarbonate of soda, some even use plain salt, etc). My mother in law is an old fashioned woman who always used soap instead of harsh chemicals, and didn't even bother to make a "detergent" out of it. She always rubbed some fabric with soap, an old sock for example, and then put that in her semi automatic washing machine.  So if you're too lazy to grate, that is even an option too 😉

Doing laundry frugally

Laundry... Another chore that most of us are not particularly bothered to do, myself included. But still, your clothes need to get clean. Fortunately, there a quite a few tricks you can put into practice to make doing laundry somewhat easier, more frugal and greener. Here's a few ways of how I try to conserve our precious resources while cleaning our wash. 

Make your clothes last longer

This is probably the #1 tip one could get. Especially when it comes to the environment- as clothes aren't necessarily that expensive, especially if you're like me and shop at thrift stores. Anyway, here's a few things to make our clothes last longer. 

First of all, what we do is we wear our clothes multiple days. I know that most people are grossed out by this but if you think about it: even if you'd wear freshly laundered clothes every day, even after 15 minutes they'd be "dirty" already. Your bacteria are there from the moment you put the fabric onto your skin. Of course, there are items that need to be changed every day, like underwear. But not every item needs to be changed that often. Especially during the winter when you're wearing multiple layers of clothing (to avoid heating up the house too much), the outer layers won't need a wash that often. Too much washing will do no good for your laundry. I do own some items for years already, which is most likely due to the fact that they won't get washed that quickly. 

If you're wearing synthetics, this is especially important because everytime synthetics are being washed they'll release microplastics. Less washing simply means less microplastics! Taking care of your clothes means washing your delicates by hand too. 

Using a dryer is detrimental for most fabrics, too. Line drying is the optimal way of drying laundry! While some people live in a climate that doesn't allow them to line dry year round, for a lot of people it is doable. Did you know that even if it's freezing outside, you can even "freeze dry" your laundry? Fortunately, I live in a country with a dry climate where it's warm for most part. We do have a short winter but usually it's not freezing. Since it's a dry climate we have little rain. During the winter we do have to hang the laundry somewhat earlier so that at the end of the day it's dry, making it less convenient than line drying during the summer... But still, doable. To make drying outside during the winter season easier, I sometimes use an extra spinning cycle. This really works well. 

Instead of line drying outside, using a clothes drying rack is an alternative to a dryer. This is somewhat tricky because you don't want your house to get humid. Providing you have the room and you don't have multiple loads of laundry every day, this is an option if the weather doesn't allow line drying outside. 

If this all isn't an option for you and the dryer needs to be used, be sure to put a dry towel with your wet laundry. Apparently, this makes drying much quicker! (Or so I've heard at least- don't hold me accountable ;))

To prevent your clothes from fading while drying in the sun is important too. This will keep your clothes in a good condition longer! So get them inside when they're dried- no reason to keep them in the sun longer than necessary. And dry the clothes inside out, if possible. 

Saving precious resources while doing laundry

With all the conveniences and luxuries these days, one can quickly forget that washing a load of clothes actually uses quite a lot water. If you own a "standard" washer, all this water will be washed away, into the sewage. Where I live, there are still many people who don't own a regular washer. Instead they have a semi automatic machine, which basically means that the washer and spinner are separated from each other. The rinsing needs to be done by hand, using a large bucket or a washing tub. The water also won't be washed away automatically, so most people will use that water for flushing the toilet, and the rinsing water for mopping the floor. That alone saves a lot of water! 

I do own a "regular" washer and not a semi automatic washer, because I have quite a few health issues and it seems to be more work to me. But I'll acknowledge that owning of a washer that does EVERYTHING for me is quite a luxury. I know that many people in the west take these things for granted, and it's totally fine to own these luxurious things. But at least I will acknowledge the fact that these still are luxuries. Anyway, back to the topic. You can actually do quite a lot of things to save water, even if you have a fully automatic washer. 

I've read that by using your towel after showering twice instead of once, you'll already save thousands of litres of water! Which brings me back to my nr. 1 tip of wearing clothes more often, because the same thing is true for clothes. So this is a way we're saving thousands of litres water: by using most items multiple times. Saving water doesn't seem to bother most people. After all, water is free or nearly free. But is it? Where we live, water is quite expensive. We live in a drought stricken country so the government tries hard to make people use less water- and by increasing the price, that surely works. But even if water is free where you live, it's still better to be frugal with your water use for environmental reasons. Water is a precious resource and only so much of the water we have on this earth is actually suitable for human consumption, so it's a shame that so much of that actually will be poured into the sewage! 

If you have an eco setting on your machine, this could save water too. I say *could*, because in some cases,  this will only save you somewhat on electricity. I personally don't use the eco setting. It lasts quite long and I don't feel like waiting for almost three hours just so I can go and hang my laundry, with the risk of having a blackout in between, which happens a lot where we live. Instead, I use the short 45 minutes cycle if it's just clothes. 

Another way we save water is that I quit doing an "extra rinse". It was something I was just used to do I guess, but why? I'm not sure. In most cases, that extra rinse is totally unnecessary. Most people use the extra rinse because they follow the "recommended" amount of laundry detergent, which is, in my opinion, overdosing big time. An easy way to avoid the extra rinse is by decreasing the amount of detergent you use! 

When it comes to electricity, there's also a lot you can save. If you follow my advice on laundering less often, you're already saving quite a lot electricity. 

What uses the most electric, though, is the temperature of the water. Be sure to wash your clothes as cold as possible. Not only is this better for your clothes, it saves a lot of money too! We still do wash on 60° c (a hot cycle), but only things like sheets, towels, cleaning rags and the likes. Washing on a hot cycle sometimes is necessary for your washer too, especially when you use liquid detergent. We use powdered detergent though, as it's much cheaper here, and has no heavy fragrance (I can't stand most of those smells). 

Other things you can do 

I think we've all heard about making your own detergent. Most of these recipes contain either borax or washing soda or both. Unfortunately, these are not available where I live. But when I still lived in Europe and money was very tight for us, I sometimes made my own detergent. It's quite easy and VERY cheap; about a few cents per use! So if you have a lot of laundry, making your own detergent is a wise thing to do. 

Swapping laundry softener for vinegar is another great way to save money and the environment. And no, your clothes won't smell vinegar-y, I promise! 

Last but not least is the maintenance of your machine. Be sure you do an empty load on a very hot cycle once every few months. It might sound like a huge waste for the ultimate frugal person. But this really can avoid a lot of damage being done to your washer, which would avoid a lot of extra money for a repairman, thus being something frugal in the end. I usually add one tablet of dishwasher detergent. I don't own a dishwasher, but I purchased a box of these tabs especially for my washing machine. 

Also, and this is for the front load folks: I never ever use the drawer, other than for the vinegar. My drawer looks like brand new! I always put my powdered detergent directly into the machine, which works great. With my old washer, I remember that it was such a hassle to get out that drawer, let alone cleaning it.