Pros and Cons of Making Your Own Laundry Detergent

Let’s face it, making your own DIY household cleaners can be hit and miss, like laundry detergent. Here are some Pros and Cons of Making Your Own Laundry Detergent that you’ll want to consider before making it yourself.

DIY Homemade Laundry Detergent

Homemade laundry detergent: to be or not to be? Well, there certainly are a whole host of reasons to go organic with your detergents, especially when you know conventional detergents contain so many toxic ingredients. However, homemade products do have their downsides, too.

So what path should you take? The best way to decide whether it’s worth the trouble of opting for DIY detergents is to weigh down the pros and cons. Home Cleaners in East Finchley have narrowed them down to a few paragraphs. Here they are, the advantages and disadvantages of making your own laundry detergent. Take a look and decide for yourself whether it’s worth your while.

PROS

  1. It’s nature and family friendly. It means no toxins and no harsh chemicals that cause itchy skin or many other health problems. Homemade laundry detergents don’t pollute the environment and are safe for your pets and children, too. There are no unpleasant or pungent scents or added perfumes. Not to mention, if you don’t buy tons of commercial laundry detergents, you won’t promote packing. This will help reduce the impact on nature.
  1. It’s easy to make. You just have to mix all the ingredients, let it sit for a while and then – voilà! – your homemade detergent is ready to use. Most of the time you only need castile soap, essential oils, washing soda, water and Borax.
  1. It’s frugal. A batch of detergent costs about $8, based on the ingredients you put, and you can use it in the months to come! Depending on the recipe you go for, your laundry detergent might yield 60 to 100 loads.
  1. It lasts a long time. If you make a batch of laundry detergent, you can use it at least half a year, considering you use one tablespoon or so per load. How much does your regular detergent last?
  1. You control the ingredients. This points back to 1.

CONS

  1. It is less convenient. First of all, you need to find a container where you can store the detergent. Second, you need to look for ingredients from various sources. Third, you need to put effort into it. It’s not such a big deal but it’s a little bit more tedious than buying a product at the store where you just have to pick up the box and pay at the cash register. Then you go home, you open the box and you use the white powder straight away.
  1. Your clothes may not be as soft as when you use a regular laundry detergent. This is because conventional detergents contain lots of harmful additives that make clothes feel soft to the touch. Not to mention, some stains just don’t come off that easy when using homemade detergents.
  1. It takes time and it’s also a messy job. Depending on the ingredients you choose, you will have to spend time to process them. For example, you need to grate a bar of soap, which definitely takes time (at least 15 minutes). You may have to use a food processor and a box grater to do the trick. In addition, you will have to use various bowls and containers that will need cleaning later. But if yo are okay with that, preparing a detergent will be piece of cake.

Weighing down the pros and cons, it still feels that the benefits of making your own laundry detergent are more than the downsides. On a large scale, it depends on whether your health is your priority. Of course, if your homemade detergent turns out not so efficient, it is perfectly okay for you to stick with its commercial counterpart, right? Anyway, it is an idea worth considering. Next thing you can try is switching from conventional cleaners to all-natural cleaners.

What are your thoughts? Have you ever made your own homemade cleaners? How did (or do) they work for you?

(photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/emmandevin/8109569619/ under Creative Commons – they are not affiliated with or endorsing this site).