Homemade laundry detergents are more sustainable, better for your health and significantly less expensive than store-bought options.
Not surprisingly, commercially available laundry products aim to do two things well in order to attract returning customers. They’re designed to get your clothes as clean as possible as efficiently as possible, and they’re two results many of us are well accustomed to paying a premium price for.
To produce the best results in a way deemed efficient by consumers, that is with the least amount of powdered or liquid detergent, often means a cocktail of harsh chemicals. These are not only harmful to our waterways and the environment, they can be harmful to humans, too.
Why Make Your Own
A really common ingredient in commercial laundry products is sodium laureth sulphate/sodium laurel ether sulphate (SLS and SLES) compounds which lower the surface tension between a liquid and a solid, therefore loosening dirt and stains from the fabrics you’re washing. But because SLS/SLES were initially designed as industrial degreasers, they also strip the oils from your skin which can cause irritations and allergies.