Laundry

Homemade Laundry Detergent

By Lea-Anne O’Connor 

Prep:5 minutes 

Active:5 minutes 

Total:10 minutes 

Yield: 32 loads


Equipment

  • 2 ltr glass jar or bucket


Ingredients 

  • 1.8 ltr warm water, divided
  • ¼ cup washing soda
  • ¼ cup baking soda
  • ½ cup liquid castile soap

Instructions 

  • Fill a bucket or jar with 1 ltr of warm water.
  • Add the baking soda and washing soda and stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve.
  • Add the remaining water and the liquid castile soap and mix until well combined.
  • Transfer the detergent to a storage container.
  • Use 1/4 cup of laundry detergent per load.


Notes

  • Use 1/4 cup per load for regular washing machines. 
  • It is natural for the ingredients to separate. Shake well before each use. 
  • Be sure to use warm water when making your DIY laundry detergent so the baking soda and washing soda dissolve properly.

Citrus Laundry Softener


Using a fabric softener can leave your clothes softer, reduce wrinkles and give your clothes a pleasant scent. 

Commercial fabric softeners make your fabrics softer by leaving behind a film, which is made up of potentially harmful chemicals.

 

Skip the risk and the expense by making your own laundry softener. This is much easier than it sounds—to make our recipe, you only need two ingredients: white vinegar and essential oils.

White vinegar is the perfect fabric softener if you have sensitive skin and cannot tolerate the chemicals in regular fabric softener. It contains acetic acid, which removes leftover detergent and mineral deposits.


The essential oils work to create an appealing aroma that is natural and safe for your whole household.


Ingredients

  • 500ml white vinegar
  • 3 drops Lemon oil
  • 3 drops Lime oil
  • 3 drops Grapefruit oil
  • Citrus peels (optional)


Instructions

  1. Add citrus peels into 500ml glass bottle.
  2. Fill bottle halfway with vinegar.
  3. Add in essential oils and shake bottle well.
  4. Fill remainder with vinegar.
  5. Let sit for at least one week before use.


The application of this recipe will depend on your washer. You have three options: One, during the final rinse cycle, manually add the vinegar mixture (top loading washers only). 


Two, if your washer has one, add it to the fabric softener cup and it will dispense at the right time. Three, if your washer doesn’t have a fabric softener cup, add the mixture into a fabric softener ball and put it in with your clothes at the beginning.

Depending on the size of your load, you can use anywhere from two tablespoons up to ¼ cup at a time. If your water is harder, you may need to use more.


A good rule of thumb? Your laundry should not smell like vinegar when done, if it does, you’ve used too much.

DIY Fabric Softening Spray


Everyone loves a warm, fresh-smelling pile of clean clothes, but sometimes the products we use in our laundry contain unnecessary chemicals and additives. This natural fabric softener DIY uses the power of vinegar and essential oils to give your clothes a crisp, clean scent using just two ingredients.

First, vinegar acts as a natural softening agent by dissolving hard water buildup without leaving residue behind. And don’t worry—although this ingredient has a strong scent of its own, you won’t even notice it once your clothes have dried.

You can choose any number of essential oils to add to this recipe depending on your preferred aroma. Lemon, Grapefruit, and Peppermint are great options if you’re looking for an invigorating boost, but here we have listed Lavender and Geranium oils due to their soothing, conditioning properties. Whatever you decide to use, your clothes will come out feeling softer and smelling nicer.

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces white vinegar
  • 10–15 drops Lavender or Geranium oil


Instructions

  1. Add essential oils to a glass spray bottle.
  2. Fill the remaining space with warm white vinegar.
  3. Shake well before each use to ensure oils and vinegar are well combined. 
  4. To use, spray over wet clothing before drying.

Powder Laundry Detergent 


Conventional laundry detergent is loaded with chemicals like sulfates, fragrances, and phenols. Why not make your own natural laundry detergent? This simple DIY yields a natural and effective detergent.

Ingredients

2 cups washing soda
2 cups borax
1 bar grated castile soap
25 drops favourite essential oil single or blend

Instructions

  1. Mix washing soda, borax, and grated castile soap together.
  2. Add essential oil, mixing to combine.
  3. Use ¼ cup per load. Store in an airtight container.


Tips: Recommended oils include Lavender essential oil, Lemon oil, and Purify Cleansing Blend

Washing Machine Cleaner


Your washing machine is a breeding ground for all sorts of mold, mildew, and soap scum. Front-loading washers can get especially bad (as you know if you’ve ever opened it to start a batch and been repelled by the smell). Take heart, there are many preventative steps you can take so you can feel like your clothes are clean and fresh every time you do laundry.

To discourage mold and mildew as much as possible, leave the lid open after every wash cycle. Another simple change: use the amount of detergent recommended for your machine. Sometimes when we use too much, we think we’re getting our clothes extra-clean. In reality, it only leaves behind more soap scum. If you have an HE washer always use detergent labelled that way. (The doTERRA On Guard® Laundry Detergent is perfect for HE washers.)

We have two recipes that will help keep your washer clean, with variations for if you have a front-loader versus a top-loader. The first recipe should be used on a weekly basis, while the second is for a deep clean to do only a few times a year.

The Weekly Wipe-down
Once a week after you’ve finished a batch of laundry, use this recipe with Tea Tree and Grapefruit oils to help cleanse and refresh your machine.
 

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup white vinegar
  • 10 drops Tea Tree (Melaleuca) oil
  • 5 drops Grapefruit oil


Instructions

  1. In an 250ml glass spray bottle, combine all ingredients. 
  2. Shake well and spray the solution around the seal (the rubber at the front), drum, and door of your washing machine.
  3. Using a soft cloth, thoroughly wipe down.
  4. Remove your soap dispenser tray. Spray and wipe down, then put it back.
  5. Let air dry before you do the next batch of laundry.


For top-loading washers, you can use this same recipe to wipe down the drum and outside of your washer.

The Deep Clean
Many online recipes have you mix baking soda with vinegar. The only problem with this is baking soda and vinegar cancel each other out—when they react and bubble, the ingredients become water and a little bit of salt. While water in itself can dissolve most compounds, all the cleaning power of the vinegar and baking soda are gone. The same goes for washing soda. However, both ingredients used separately are powerful natural cleansers. For this reason, the deep cleaning of your washer is separated into two phases.

Ingredients

  • ½ teaspoon natural dish soap
  • 4 tablespoons washing soda
  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • 20 drops Tea Tree (Melaleuca) oil


Instructions
Phase One:

  1. Remove tray dispenser and fully submerge in hot water with natural dish soap. Scrub away residue with a toothbrush, rinse and put back in the machine.
  2. Put washing soda in the drum. Using the hottest setting on your washer or the “tub clean” cycle on certain models, run your machine.


Phase Two:

  1. After the cycle finishes, pour vinegar and essential oils into your liquid dispenser. Run your washer using the “tub clean” cycle or hottest setting again.
  2. Wipe out the seal, drum, and door with a cloth and let dry completely before doing a batch of laundry.
  3. Remove and clean the filter at the bottom of the machine if your washer has one.


If you have a top-loading washing machine, use the same recipe for deep cleaning, but add the washing soda to a drum full of hot water. For phase two, pour the vinegar directly in the drum.

Dryer Balls


Fabric softeners come in all different shapes and sizes and have scents that range anywhere from “Tropical Breeze” to “Lavender.”


Did you know that most lavender-scented fabric softeners actually contain no lavender—only chemicals that have been blended to give you the impression that you are smelling the real deal?


Substituting these chemically driven fabric softeners for an all-natural, toxic-free alternative is much easier and more affordable than you might think.


Follow this step-by-step tutorial to make your own wool dryer balls that can last for many years and can easily be scented with doTERRA essential oils leaving your fabrics fragrant and soft.

What You Need:

  • 100 percent wool yarn or other 100 percent animal yarn
  • Pantyhose


Upcycling Idea: Reuse pantyhose with runs in them


Directions:

  1. Take the end of the yarn and wrap it around your middle and index finger 10 times. Remove it from the fingers and wrap 2–3 times around the middle (it should look like a bow). This will be the start of your ball.
  2. Continue tightly wrapping the yarn around the start, working toward making a round shape. Once your ball is roughly the size of a tennis ball, cut the yarn and tuck the ends into the sides of the ball. Repeat this process until you have created four or more balls of yarn.
  3. Cut one leg off of the pantyhose. Place one ball into the bottom of the leg and tie a knot right above the ball to secure it in place. Repeat until all the balls have been added and secured.
  4. Once the balls are tightly secured in the pantyhose, put them in the washer (can be with a load of dirty laundry) and wash on the hottest setting. This will allow the yarn to felt. Felting will make the yarn fuse together, resulting in a solid ball. Once washed, dry the balls thoroughly in the dryer at the highest heat setting.
  5. After the balls are completely dry, remove them from the pantyhose and they’re ready for use! Before drying your next load of laundry, add your favourite doTERRA essential oil to 4–6 dryer balls, toss them in the dryer, and enjoy the soft, fluffy, wonderful-smelling fruits of your labour.


Editor’s tip:

  • 2–3 drops of essential oil per ball should last a few loads. Add more drops if you would like a stronger scent.


Fun Laundry Tips:

  • Crumple up aluminium foil into a ball and toss it in the dryer with the wet laundry to get rid of static cling.
  • For an even extra burst of essential oils in your clothing, place a washcloth with a few drops of essential oil into your dryer. It will come out smelling beautiful!
  • Add a few drops of Lemon essential oil to your wash cycle to help remove grease and oil from fabrics.