We all have that favourite laundry detergent – but how planet-friendly is it?
We’re on a quest to find the best laundry detergent for clean, fresh clothes and a healthy environment. Can we persuade you to make #JustOneSwap to a greener option?
What’s in the bottle
Most have us have used the same laundry detergent for years. Maybe we like the smell, or maybe we’ve stuck with it because we know it works.
But glance at the label on most laundry detergents in the supermarket and you’ll see a list of bleaching agents, brighteners, and surfactants. These ingredients damage our oceans; they poison fish, invertebrates and other organisms which live in the sea.
They don’t break down naturally and so concentrations can build up and enter the food chain. Some of these ingredients have also been associated with health problems in humans, from skin irritations to breathing problems.
And that fresh smell we love? That may be hiding a cocktail of chemicals which escape to pollute our air, water and soil.
Plastic packaging
And of course, as well as what’s inside the bottle, we need to look at the packaging itself. From the single use plastic bottle, to the plastic scoop, to the micro-plastics left behind when laundry pods dissolve, washing our clothes can come at a high cost to the environment.
Plus, it’s easy to use too much detergent in your washing machine which can cause a build-up of residue and mould. If you’ve ever opened your washing machine to a nasty smell, this could be the culprit.
The alternative – best laundry detergent
We’ve already tested a few laundry detergent alternatives and you can read our findings here.
So this time our team have tested a homemade laundry detergent recipe from Nancy Birtwhistle.
Making the detergent
This recipe took about 15 minutes to make in 3 segments. A batch filled several bottles (at least 2l), and cost just 30p per litre. We had fun making it too!
Ingredients
- 150g soap slivers (made by grating a bar of soap, or if pressed for time like me, you could buy ready grated soap)
- 1 litre just-boiled water
- 150g washing soda crystals
- 20ml eco-friendly washing up liquid
- up to 2.6 litres cold water
- few drops of food or soap colour (optional)
- few drops of essential oil for fragrance (optional)
You can see Nancy’s demonstration and the full method here. I used my favourite combo of peppermint and lemon essential oils.
Nancy recommends using a plastic dosing ball with this mixture. I didn’t have one, so I asked my friends to see if anyone had a spare. This sparked a conversation, and resulted in a lovely day spent making laundry detergent together.
Verdict from our Just Helpers Team
Everyone loved this homemade detergent.
Carolina was impressed by how little liquid she needed to get her laundry fresh and clean.
Rosie tested the homemade laundry detergent with her daughter, who was delighted that her school socks came up soft and white.
It even shifted food stains from my favourite dress.
It lost a couple of marks for smell, but as we made it ourselves, this is easily fixed. We all agreed we would add more essential oil next time for more lovely, natural fragrance.
Cost per 100ml: £0.30
Total score: 16/20
What about fabric softener?
I live in a hard water area, so I feel I need to use fabric softener in my wash. Luckily, Nancy has a simple recipe for this too, which I love.
Fabric softener ingredients
- 200 ml white vinegar
- 15 ml vegetable glycerine
- 20 drops essential oil (peppermint and lemon for me)
Simply pour the ingredients into a bottle and shake to mix. I use 2-3 tablespoons in my fabric conditioner drawer and it works a treat. The essential oil gives me the outdoor fresh smell I want, without the overpowering chemical smell of traditional fabric softeners.
Stain Removers
This laundry detergent did a great job on getting our clothes clean. But sometimes a tough stain needs something extra to shift it. So next year we’ll be testing eco-friendly stain removers – watch this space for our results.
Final Thoughts
Okay, so making your own laundry detergent takes longer than simply picking a bottle off the supermarket shelf. But there’s something deeply satisfying about filling bottles with your own detergent, knowing exactly what’s gone into it, right down to choosing the fragrance you like best.
And making #JustOneSwap with friends? Even better.
