Save Money with These 14 Homemade Laundry Detergent, Static, and Stain Cleaners

When I bought my High Efficiency (HE) washing machine I had a heck of a time finding a HE laundry detergent that didn’t make me itch, cleaned our clothes, AND didn’t make the washer stink. At the time I couldn’t find a HE laundry detergent that accomplished all three important tasks and ended up making my own powdered laundry detergent. Problem solved. 

I had leftover detergent from the old washing machine that let me tell you,it  is NOT a great idea to use in a HE washing machine! However, that liquid laundry detergent is great for pretreating laundry stains so it didn’t go to waste. 

Slowly but surely I started making other laundry cleaning supplies like laundry stain spray, static cling fighter, wrinkle releaser, dryer sheets and wool wash save time (it takes me less than 15 minutes to make this stuff) and money. It also cuts down on our household waste too. High fives all around! 

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Laundry Stain Fighter Recipes

• Mix 3 parts water and 1 part of your favorite laundry detergent in a spray bottle. Ta Da! Instant homemade laundry stain spray. This works with powdered laundry detergent too but you might have to shake the bottle to mix it up before each use. You can find a many types and sizes of spray bottles made from a variety of materials here  (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

• Soak stained items in a bucket with borax and water does wonders especially for whites. The cleaning power of borax impresses me with each new use I find for it. You can buy Borax here 

• Pour shampoo directly on the stain especially if it’s a perspiration or ring around the collar stain. Shampoo is formulated to remove oil and dirt from your hair and scalp which is also the thing that makes perspiration stains on your clothing. Shampoo was made to clean this stuff!
  

• Wet and rub a bar of laundry soap like Zote (learn more about my favorite here) or Fels Naptha (you can buy it here) on the stain before popping in the water. Note: For those of you who don't like to use animal products both of these laundry soaps have animal tallow in it. This isn't an issue for me but it may be for you.

• Soak stained items in oxygen bleach (there are several options here) dissolved in water also works wonders.

• Pour a bit of liquid laundry detergent (or add water to powdered laundry detergent to make a paste) directly on stain and scrub the stain with an old toothbrush is also effective and something I use all of the time with tough stains. Why buy more items than you have to, right?

• Scrub the stain with an old toothbrush and your favorite stain fighter. I mark the handles of old toothbrushes with nail polish so there’s no mistaking that the toothbrush has been repurposed for cleaning.

3 DIY Dryer Static Cling Stoppers

• Tennis balls in the dryer are the perfect homemade dryer ball. I've been using tennis ball dryer balls in my dryer for over 10 years and it hasn't damaged my dryer one bit.  

   

You can buy my funny tennis balls here

• Pin metal safety pins to small fabric squares and toss them in the dryer. I use these with dryer ball tennis balls when the air is especially dry during the winter.

• Cut dryer sheets in half and/or use the same sheet more than once. You might be able to get away with cutting them into fourths too.

2 Easy Homemade Wrinkle Releaser Recipes

I keep a small bottle of homemade wrinkle releaser in my clothes closet because I’m not a big fan of ironing but I do like wrinkle free clothing.

• Spritz water from a spray bottle on the wrinkle and gently stretch it out. This is my favorite. I always have more on hand and it doesn't compete with any scent I've used on my clothing or myself like Downey does. 

• Mix ½ water and ½ fabric softener in a spray bottle. 

Homemade Wool Wash Recipe

• Hair conditioner- works just as well or better than Woolite when hand washing wool sweaters and is much, much cheaper!

How to Make Easy Homemade Laundry Detergent 

I make my own powdered laundry detergent. It is super easy! Combine 1 cup of borax (you can get it here,) 1 cup of washing soda (learn the difference between washing soda and baking soda here,) and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of grated soap. I think laundry bar soap (there are several options here) works much better than bar bath soap. To save time, I make it 6 batches at a time which only takes 15 minutes and is enough to fill the big repurposed protein powder container I use to store it. This recipe works in both conventional and HE washing machines.

 

Photo courtesy of my DIY blog Condo Blues

 

 

My homemade HE laundry detergent works on everything from delicate costumes to my husband's practically a bio hazard workout clothes. It is the ONLY laundry detergent that doesn't make my front loading washing machine stink!

If you'd rather buy than DIY, check out the following options - and more! - below!

 

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