Homemade Washing Powder

In our journey as an Autism family, I’ve explored many ways that I can help, things that are within my control because, quite frankly, there are so many things that aren’t!

Say No to Chemicals

As is my normal fashion, I kind of went into this all guns blazing.

I replaced all my cleaning products with homemade non toxic ones and, to be honest, I was very happy with them!  But, what I found was that I ended up beating myself up as I kept running out of time to make them.  This had the undesirably result of putting me under more pressure.  In a ideal world, I would have carried on making them but I had to get my priorities in order.  Compromises had to be made for my own sanity.  So, I did what I always do and turned to google and pinterest to do some research.  I finally found a range of products that I was happy to use.  If you’re interested, these are the ones that I chose.  They wont suit everybody, but that’s ok, I’m happy with my choice.

Not up for Discussion

Certain things were not up for discussion.  As clothes are in direct contact with our skin, washing powder and fabric softener were among the non negotiables.  (Look out for the article on skin care that will be coming soon.)  Therefore, homemade washing powder was necessary.

Have you ever noticed how much information is available on Pinterest?  It is now my go to when I want to research recipes and natural products.

I found loads of recipes for homemade washing liquid and homemade washing powder.  After much deliberation, I decided that washing liquid was not for me.  So I took that out of my search criteria.  I found lots of washing powder recipes but, a lot of them, were made by people in America which meant that a lot of the products are difficult, if not impossible, to get in the UK.  So, I started experimenting.

I had quite a few failures before I came up with the combination that works for us and I’m excited to be able to share my homemade washing powder with you.

Ingredients:

1 x bar of Dr Bronner’s Teatree Pure Castille Soap Bar (I like this one)

2 cups of Soda Crystals (I use these)

1 cup of Baking Soda (Bicarb)

2 cups of Laundry Boost (I like this one)

30 drops of orange essential oil

30 drops of lemon essential oil

Method:

Grate the soap bar either with a hand grater or your food processor.  I use my food processor with the smallest grating disk then, I pop in the blade and process until the soap is very fine.  Then I mix all the ingredients  before adding the essential oils.  Make sure that you mix it well and try not to breath in the dust – I have been known to just pop the lid on tight and give it a good shake which gives your arms a little work out, especially fun if done to music…….

If you try my homemade washing powder recipe, pop by and let me know how you find it.

Since swapping to this recipe and changing our beauty and skincare products, my daughter has had no flare ups of her eczema.  This means that I must be doing something right!  I’ll save the homemade fabric softener for another post but, just let me say that, I use sleepy essentials oils in this which is great for pjs and bedding and helps my son.

Until next time, stay strong, you are all amazing!

Lyn