How to Make Borax Free Laundry Detergent

Hear ye! Hear ye! I have heard the cry of the people!! No more BORAX!!

I set off on a mission to find a good alternative to the original laundry detergent recipe using greener ingredients!! {superman pose} I did a bunch of research as to what can be substituted in place of borax and there were many, many, many suggestions. I ended up trying out a few different recipes, but settled on what I call…. {drum roll}

DIY 100% Natural Laundry Fabric Softener

In my quest for chemical free cleanliness, I started browsing the internet for ideas about fabric softener and I was bombarded by this recipe that is based on mixing vinegar with hair products. I'm sorry, but ew. Gross.

Do you know what's in most shampoos? It pretty much defeats the "natural" part of green living.

It seemed like everyone else used just vinegar and essential oils which is fine, but a little boring. I thought that there could be something more! That's when I stumbled across a post from An Organic Wife where she uses alcohol in her recipe. Cha-ching! Thank you very much!

It's brilliant because alcohol has been used by a lot of people to help remove stains, plus it is a disinfectant!! It makes so much sense to put it in your laundry!

However, she also added dried herbs, but I am going to skip. But essential oils-- heck, yeah! She used lavender, which has calming properties, but also acts as to clean clothes. But don't feel like that's your only option! There are so many essential oils that have great cleaning properties: Lavender, Tea Tree, Peppermint, Spearmint, Thieves Purification... this list goes on! Personally, I love Tea Tree. I think it's the best single ingredient in the essential oil world for making sure your clothes stay clean and sanitary!

What You Need

• 3 c White Vinegar
• 1/4 c Rubbing Alcohol (or vodka)
• 20 drops of Essential Oil (such as Tea Tree, Purification, or Thieves)- I recommend this brand

This is easy! Simply put the ingredients into a glass jar, shake it up and you're ready to go! Just add ½-¾ cup to your fabric softener dispenser in you washing machine the next time you do a load.

Natural Dryer Sheet Alternative: DIY Wool Dryer Balls

Oh, Lordy-- what's she doing now. Um, I'm playing with dryer balls, of course! {rolls eyes} If you haven't tried these-- you absolutely have to!!! They are amaze-balls. Literally.

I looooove good smelling things so, of course, I used to be obsessed with fabric softener and dryer sheet. But what most people don't know is that the wonderful smell is actually a lot of toxic chemicals. And I didn't love that so much.

For a while, I was using vinegar to squirt on my clothes as a fabric softener, but that wasn't doing it for me. I was still always missing the fresh, lovely scent of newly dried clothes. And that is the reason why I started to look into wool dryer balls. I can SCENT THE BALLS!! {does the happy dance}

So, obviously, I'm thrilled about the whole fresh smell thing, but the more I looked into the wool dryer balls the more I realized that these balls really kick butt! They help to quicken drying times by around 25% (varies on your dryer, clothes, the amount of balls you use). That's not only great for the planet, but that's also pretty great for the wallet. {Dreams of shoes}. They also have zero chemicals so it's healthy! Have you looked at the EWG's rating of cleaning products? If not, go look up your dryer sheets. It's disturbing.

DIY Drawer Freshener: Lavender Sachet

I decided on trying to make lavender sachets as dryer sheet substitutes because if they didn't work, then I would just use them as drawer fresheners to keep my clothes smelling great!

Well, shocker-- they don't work for laundry, but they are fabulous for keeping laundry smelling fresh!

It's so simple because once you make a sachet, they will stay good for quite a while. If they need a little sprucing up, you can toss them in the dryer and the heat will release some of the oils.

Also, you can add essential oils to the bags for a little boost. It's also nice if you wanted to do something like lavender herbs with vanilla essential oils. Mmm… smells divine!

But the great thing about this is you can really use any herbs that you want with any combination of essential oils. It's great because you can really make this YOUR SCENT! And if you're married, you can also make your husband's scent if he has his own clothes space.

And you, know that's Totes McGotes.

This Is How You Do It:

• 1 sealable tea bag
• 1 cotton muslin drawstring bag
• 1 tsp dried lavender- I used Lavender Flowers 1/2 Pound from France.

1) Add a scoop of the lavender to the tea bag

2) You can use an iron or a hair straightener to seal the tea bags.

3) Put the sealed tea bag into the muslin drawstring bag

4) Stick it in a drawer to add a fresh scent! 

You can use a lot of different scents/herbs, too! Pretty much any dried herb or flower. Endless possibilities! 

• Rosemary
• Rose Petals
• Basil
• Lavender 
• Mint
• Thyme

You can also add essential oils to the dried herbs such as orange, lemon, vanilla, mint, grapefruit, and so on so you can make a signature scent!

Update: Essential oils that are not 100% Therapeutic Grade should not be ingested and probably should be avoided topically. I have had several complaints of rashes, eczema like symptoms, GI distress and other symptoms from using oils that are not therapeutic grade. I recommend Young Living essential oils.

They are can also be used in drawers to keep clothes fresh!!

DIY Cheap Laundry Detergent

I don't consider myself a tree hugger, but I do consider myself cheap. Sure, I care about the environment so I recycle and I do the whole paperless billing thing, but if we're going to be honest then you should know the truth. I care about learning how to lessen my environmental impact especially if it’s convenient and more cost effective in the long run. Yeah, yeah, yeah… maybe I’m a little selfish. I’ve accepted it and you probably should too.

A friend of mine, Leslie (love ya!) gave me the idea about making my own laundry detergent a few years ago. It is not only more cost effective, but it's gentler on your body and the environment, so I thought why not?