DIY Chemical Free Laundry Detergent- Only 3 Ingredients!

My relationship with laundry is about to get more serious.  Reminder not needed- I know I will be doing lots of loads of laundry in the weeks, months and years to come!  Living in Florida with constant heat, sweating and swimming, the number of loads skyrockets.

It has been important to me for years to make our own laundry detergent. The cost savings is nothing to be cross about.  On average, homemade laundry detergent costs maybe 2 cents per load, compared to over 20 cents for big name brands like Tide, Method and Seventh Generation.  

What is disappointing looking at these "natural" and "chemical-free" brands, is that most aren't.  I was surprised to find in selecting a detergent for baby that Seventh generation, Method, and Ecover detergent brands all contain sodium-lauryl-sulfate (SLS), which has potential health hazards of reproductive and developmental toxicity, and tissue damage that could result in chronic brain, heart and lung damage.  How do we know this?  Because SLS has been found in tissues of these organs, so we know it accumulates in the body.  It can also affect the immune system and irritate the skin.  Not to mention its involvement in toothpaste, where it can cause damage to tissues in the mouth, ulcers in the mouth and gum disease.  SLS has been listed in multiple studies as "toxic or harmful," "a human irritant with strong evidence,"and an "environmental toxin." Here are some more articles about SLS:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/174367-dangers-of-sodium-lauryl-sulfate/

http://www.mhra.gov.uk/safety-public-assessment-reports/CON251956

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ipcsneng/neng0502.html

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/21/are-you-slowly-killing-your-family-with-hidden-dioxane-in-your-laundry-detergent.aspx

Being on the chemical free cleaning journey for the past year, it was important to me with baby coming to have a DIY laundry detergent on hand that was not only chemical-free, but simple, affordable, and not-to-mention effective.  

Say hello to my DIY laundry detergent recipe.  It only has 3 ingredients plus water.  My husband was a huge help in this, as always, doing the heavy bucket lifting and bending that my full term baby bump sometimes prevents me from doing.  No reason to use two separate detergents for baby and adults folks if it's chemical free as long as baby's skin is tolerating it.  Try it out! 

DIY Chemical Free Laundry Detergent

• 1 cup Dr. Bronner's pure castile liquid soap (I used lavender scent!)**

• 1 cup baking soda

• 2 cups water

• 1/4 cup salt (why salt? it acts as mild abrasive and cleaning booster to help remove stains and prevent colors from bleeding)

Blessings,

Lindsay

**Special Note: There has been some concern as of recent of lavender oil being a potential hormone disruptor.  Nothing is yet conclusive, however, you could substitute Dr Bronner's Lavender with the citrus blend if you have concerns! Here's two great recent articles http://www.naha.org/naha-blog/neither-lavender-oil-nor-tea-tree-oil-can-be-linked-to-breast-growth-in-you/ and http://roberttisserand.com/2013/02/lavender-oil-is-not-estrogenic/