Homemade detergent is a great idea to save money and think about the environment. Let’s see how to prepare it for a year.
Making detergent at home will allow you to spend only ten euros for a year of washing machines.
DIY detergent: advantages
In addition to being bought in supermarkets, detergent can also be made at home, saving a considerable amount of money. Making your own detergent will also allow you to respect the environment and the health of your loved ones. Very often, in fact, detergents sold in supermarkets contain surfactants or chemicals that, in the long run, can have harmful effects on the body. Not to mention the dangerous effects on the environment. Homemade detergent is also hypoallergenic and contains no preservatives. It has been shown that French households, for example, carry out an average of 5 machine washes per week , for a total of 220 washes in one year. During these washes, 26 litres of liquid detergent and 40 kilos of powdered detergent are used.
You can make all kinds of detergents at home, including the one you use to wash clothes in the washing machine. Let’s see how to make enough for a year of laundry, using only two ingredients and spending less than ten euros (about 0.35 cents per litre).
Manufacturing process
The ingredients needed to prepare the liquid detergent you will need for a year of laundry are the following:
- Marseille soap flakes , 60 grams (average cost, about 0.40 cents)
- Sodium percarbonate , 15 grams (average cost 0.15 cents)
- baking soda , 30 grams, (average cost 0.10 cents)
- essential oil , a few drops (about 0.05 cents).
- 1 liter of hot water
- 1 liter of cold water
First, you need to heat a litre of water. Add the Marseille soap flakes. Mix the flakes well. With the heat off, pour in the baking soda and then the baking soda. Then, you can blend everything with the help of a blender. The aim is to make the mixture as homogeneous as possible.
After that, the mixture must be cooled and left to rest for about a full day. At this point, the detergent should have become very compact, but this is a normal phase. The next step is to mix everything by adding a liter of cold water . Again, the goal is to make the mixture homogeneous and smooth. You will need jars, those of classic liquid detergents previously rinsed and dried are thin but also simple plastic bottles. If you prefer, you can opt for a glass jar. To the detergent you should add a few drops of essential oil of your choice. It will be used to perfume the clothes. Lavender and lemon are an example. You will get, on a low budget, a liquid detergent that can whiten, disinfect and remove stains from your clothes. These properties are given to it by bicarbonate which is a natural and biodegradable product. In addition, it can also act as a softener and anti-odorant. Sodium percarbonate, on the other hand, disinfects and softens the clothes.
