So I thought maybe some of you might be interested in this topic.
I'm trying a few environmentally-friendly alternatives (which also smell lovely with the addition of essential oils).
Sarah and I made our laundry detergent today. It was easy peasy! (And I'll let you know how it works here in a bit, as our first load is washing.)
3 c. borax
3 c. washing soda
30 drops lavender essential oil
20 drops eucalyptus essential oil
Store in a glass container. Use 1/4 c. to 1/3 c. per load.
Then we made some soft scrubbing cleanser.
3/4 c. baking soda
1/8 c. biodegradable cleaner
1 Tbsp. distilled water
Mix, then add:
20 drops lavender
10 drops eucalyptus
5 drops lemon
Mix, then add 1 T. distilled white vinegar. I'm storing ours in small glass canning jars, but I think it can be stored in a heavier plastic container.
I can say that this worked well on my sink.
As soon as I get some spray bottles, I'm going to try an antibacterial countertop spray, a glass cleaner, and a room freshener/antiviral spray. I have recipes for these if anyone's interested.
From a chemistry standpoint, I know it's the baking soda, vinegar, et al that are doing the majority of the cleaning work. But the essential oils supposedly help, too, as well as making things smell nice. Eucalyptus is supposed to have antiviral and antibacterial properties (works airborne, too). Lavender is also supposed to be antibacterial.
So does anyone else do things like this?
If I'm doing my cost analysis correctly, it breaks down like this for the laundry detergent:
It costs approximately $3.17 to make a batch that will last me for 24 loads of laundry. That's a cost of $0.13 per load.
The detergent I normally buy costs about $0.14 per load. So it's not a huge savings or anything, but it is better for the environment.