A New Way of Washing Clothes!

I wanted to talk about something that I have been really excited about lately, and is completely changing my way of doing laundry!

Now, I'm not talking about a magic fairy that does all of my laundry for me, folds it, and puts it away - but if you find one, please let me know! ;) As you already know, I have been trying to find alternatives for household chemicals, but I grew up using a strongly-scented Tide detergent with strongly-scented fabric softener sheets, and that being the only way to wash clothes. I'm at the point in my life, that I actually do care about what I use and if I can save $$ in the process, it's a no-brainer!

I started my journey at my home away from home, Whole Foods, and I started using their 365 brand of laundry detergent, as well as using Mrs. Meyers fabric softener sheets, in my way of making "the big switch". What I found is that, there wasn't much of a difference in washing my clothes, maybe not even as good, and was more costly. PLUS, it had the some of the same chemicals that the alternative had, maybe one or two less. Still, I had to find another way.

That's where I turned to Pinterest for help! I found a blog about making homemade laundry detergent, and I was fascinated by the idea of it. I started researching and finding out that a lot of people said their clothes actually cleaned BETTER than store-bought detergent. I did see a majority of people using Borax, and as I have been really trying to avoid chemicals, I wanted to make sure that the recipe I chose was Borax-free. The recipe I went with was from a blog called Life Could Be a Dream, which had the best and simplest recipe I could find. So I set out to get the ingredients for the laundry detergent. The Super Washing Soda comes in a box where the recipe uses most of the box, but not all, so I just used the whole thing. I used Dr. Bronner's Rose Castile Soap, which I got from Whole Foods and used a food processor to grate the soap. I found that adding a small amount baking soda to the food processor, maybe a tablespoon, made the soap grate even finer. Once I created the mixture, I added it to a glass container I got from Target, (which was the best deal I could find on one of these containers), and per the recipe's instructions, used about 1/4 cup for large loads or 1/8 cup for small-medium loads.

I also wanted an alternative to fabric softener sheets, so I did as the recipe stated, and I used vinegar in my fabric softener compartment in my washing machine per the instructions. When I washed the clothes, I noticed that they washed EVEN BETTER than before! I was shocked! My only issue - STATIC! The vinegar did soften the clothes, but I was left with a ton of static and I was NOT about to go back to those awful sheets! So I set out again for a way to stay natural, but remove the static, and I found it! I went to Amazon and after reading reviews, I went with some wool dryer balls that I fell in love with! These dryer balls supposedly will last years, meaning no need to buy any more dryer sheets ever again, and will save us $$!

My whole set-up, with the wool dryer balls included. I just keep them in the dryer at all times!

I really enjoyed the process of finding an alternative for my chemical-laden laundry. I really hope that if you do want to change things up in your own house, that you will not be intimidated by the actual process of making the items. I have found that if you don't have a food processor or just don't want to grate the soap, you can make a liquid version using liquid castile soap (this looks like a great one from Back to Her Roots) and instead use a container like this to pour when using. Either way, it is a very gratifying feeling I have found in doing things homemade and having a say in every ingredient that goes into the product being used.

I hope that you will try this out for yourselves! Let me know in the comments what you think!