Have you met Kylie of Everblossom yet?
Not only does she have an UhMaaaZing blog dedicated to natural living and DIY galore, she’s been rocking out Scratch Mommy’s social media since January as the Scratch Mommy Community Manager. We are over the moon and filled with joy to have Kylie in our Scratch Mommy family.
Kylie’s passions lie in living a non-toxic life for herself and her family, supporting companies who ‘do it right’, and in creating natural, organic skincare products, which makes her a fantabulous fit for the Scratch Mommy Community, don’t you think?
This DIY lavender laundry soap recipe is Kylie’s first contribution to all of us living life from scratch here at Scratch Mommy…and I think you are going to love it!
I first dabbled in living #LifeFromScratch to save money. When my husband and I got married, we were pinching pennies pretty tight! Anything that saved us even a few dollars a month was welcome. At the store, every time I added something to my shopping cart, I asked myself, “Would it be cheaper for me to make this myself?”
Some projects were no-brainers. Growing up, my family had always made all of our own bread. That was easy to get back into!
Other projects turned out not to be worth my time. My homemade pasta turned out soggy and didn’t save us enough money to stay with it.
Making my own laundry soap was one of the first new DIYs that became part of my routine – complete with Irish Green soap, just like all the frugal blogs recommended! I was so satisfied to wash a load of clothes with it for the first time and see that they actually came out clean! For pennies on the dollar compared to the cost of store-bought laundry soap, too.
As I continued learning more about making as many things as I could myself, I learned that much our mainstream food and household products are filled with toxic additives. Food dyes in “healthy” snacks? Phthalates in that “fresh scent?”
What had I been bringing into my home?!
I committed to using safer ingredients in the things I made and checking them more thoroughly in those I bought. That meant the Irish Green soap had to go.
It (and so many of the other cheap, harsh soaps recommended for DIY laundry soap) has ingredients I don’t want touching our bodies all day long!
Synthetic fragrance, for one, is an umbrella term that leaves a lot to the the imagination. It’s a toss up as to what you’re getting — most are petroleum-based and linked to allergies, irritation, and immunotoxicity.
Castile soap became my new best friend – I use it in this DIY lavender laundry soap recipe, as well as in my liquid “never ending” laundry soap.
You can easily customize the scent to your liking, but I love lavender here. There are so many aromatherapy benefits to lavender! It’s mood-lifting, calms nerves, and eases both physical and mental stress.
Plus, slipping between lavender-scented sheets at the end of a long day is one of the great pleasures in life, I’m convinced. I love using this laundry soap for our blankets and towels.
- Large bowl for mixing
- Small jar or cup for mixing
- 1-Quart glass jar for storage
- 2 bars of lavender castile soap (I love and use Dr. Bronner's lavender castile soap)
- 1½ Tbs borax (like this one)
- 2 cups of oxygen cleaner (this one is free of all nasties)
- Lavender essential oil (pure, wild, and sustainable essential oils like this)
- Chop or grate your soap. I don’t grate my soap because I’m clumsy and always seem to grate my knuckles, so I just chop it up as fine as I can. If you have a food processor, by all means, throw your soap chunks in there for a spin to get them supah-fine. Add the soap to your large bowl along with 2 cups of oxygen cleaner.
- In a small jar, combine your borax and about 20 drops of lavender essential oil. Mix the two together until there are no lumps. I press the lavender oil into the the borax until the lumps are gone.
- Add the borax to the large bowl and mix it together with a whisk or fork until everything is evenly combined.
- Store it in a quart jar and use 2 tablespoons per medium load of laundry!
Comments 8
Kylie,
This looks like a wonderfully simple recipe! I have always looked for an easy DIY laundry soap, but never tried any of the recipes because they were too involved. Yours however looks so easy! Thanks for sharing, I can’t wait to try it.
Author
I’m all about easy, Jena! 🙂
Kylie,
Do you know if this recipe can be used with a high effiency washer?
Author
Hi Karie,
I’m not sure, since I don’t have one.
That was my concern too. Those HE machine are pretty tempermental when it comes to using the right washing product.
I’ve been making my own laundry soap for the past two years but I miss that clean scent. This recipe looks good but I wonder about its lacking in laundry soda. I use arm & hammer brand. Is there a reason why you have not added this ingredient, for example, is it not safe? or does the oxiclean replace this ingredient? Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Author
Hi Alexis,
You could definitely add washing soda to boost this detergent even more, but I find that it works great for me without it. (And my husband’s clothes get really grimy at work!! Haha..)
What brand of detergent did you use before? If you’re looking for more of a clean scent, try adding 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup water, and 5 drops of an EO you like to your rinse cycle!
I love lavender! Count me in x