homemade laundry detergent with sensitive skin

[__nopanuru]

I've been looking through the memories about homemade laundry detergent, and they've been really helpful.
I'd like to try 1 c Borax, 1 c Washing Soda, 1/3 c unscented Dr. Bronner's.

My issue is that I have to be cautious about the soaps and detergents I use because I have eczema. 7th Generation unscented detergent works well for me, but it's too

Comments

[mycologynerd]

I haven't used fabric softener in years and never noticed a difference. I used to be a house cleaner and I would secretly not use them in clients laundry for months and then finally tell them and noone EVER notices a difference.

[__nopanuru]

I've used just plain Dr. B's in the past, but I never felt like it got my clothes clean enough. I haven't ever tried Sal's Suds, though.

I know this seems like a pretty obvious solution, but I've recently realized that just using really low heat eliminated such a need for fabric softener. I was just curious about the vinegar to deodorize and soften certain things like bed sheets.

[hicat]

I use that recipe, with the tea tree soap, and then with a cup of baking soda, too. I only use the vinegar on things that smell really bad and towels- I've not really needed it to counteract the washing soda and borax.

And it is a very very good hypo-allergenic recipe! I meant to say that from the beginning. I am allergic to a lot of weird things (lavender, whyyyyy), and it seems to do a good job of getting rid of other people's residue in the stupid apartment machines, too.

[mycologynerd]

I am also allergic to lavender! I love OT when I see they people are because it makes me feel like I am not alone

[__nopanuru]

Thank you for your input! I'm glad to hear this works for someone else with sensitive skin.

[oxymoron02]

I have really bad skin. I use washing soda and borax all the time as laundry boosters (I have a baby, and too little time to hunt each stain to pretreat). I've never tried Dr Bronners.

[rainbow]

it really depends on your skin; borax breaks me out, but i have scary sensitive skin (along with being allergic to most of the world and having severe mcs). for *most* people with sensitive skin, it seems to be safe.

if you find that you're not one of them, one of my tricks for making 7th gen effectively less expensive is to use 1/3 to 1/2 the amount called for on the bottle. i find that it cleans just as well for almost everything.

[rubykins02]

I have quite sensitive skin. I use homemade laundry detergent. I have used plain Kirks Castile soap. It doesn't bother me at all. The nice thing about this detergent is that you really don't need to use a lot and it rinses out really well-much better than any commercial brand I have ever used. I think you may have good luck with what you are going to try.
I would not worry about the vinegar issue since the fabric softener only goes in the last rinse to soften so it should not cancel out the function of the homemade detergent and if there is any residue from your homemade detergent it may help to strip the last little bit of it out of your laundry.

[rubykins02]

Not sure if I made this clear in the previous post but I use the plain Kirks Castile for the soap part of the homemade laundry detergent recipe not all by itself however this is making me wonder if I need the soda and borax unless something is particularly dirty....