Homemade Laundry Detergent Atherton

Homemade Detergent for a Cheap and Effective Wash

It's quite easy to make a simple homemade detergent for washing clothes, at least as a get-you-by until you can get to the shops.

Here's how to make a simple but effective homemade laundry detergent from common household ingredients.

Real detergent?

OK, this isn't strictly what we generally mean by detergent. Wikipaedia defines detergent as: "a compound, or a mixture of compounds, intended to assist cleaning." Which is what this is...but, it goes on: "The term is often used to differentiate between soap and other chemical surfactants used for cleaning purposes."

Well I won't split hairs about it! This mixture certainly works well and you don't have to be concerned about the chemical surfactants, phosphates and the complex chemical fragrances present in detergents which can cause both health and environmental problems.

This homemade laundry detergent is also quite cheap - though probably not quite as cheap as .

Washing machine safety

This recipe for homemade detergent is suitable for use with all common types of washing machine, though you should check with your manufacturer if you have a gleaming new machine and/or you are of a nervous disposition!

It should not cause any damage to your machine (at least not for occasional use) but if your washing machine drum is developing rust spots the salt will worsen the problem.

See below for another method of making homemade laundry detergent which does not use salt.

Click here to read more from Green Footsteps