Remember that borax and washing soda are not food safe, so if you are using your kitchen appliances be sure to wash them very very thoroughly aftward.

I’m a bit confused because you are NOT suppose to mix vinegar and castile soap… Could you please explain how this works, mixing them?

Agreed! I just asked the same question and am not too thrilled to find your unanswered post! The simplest recipe that I’ve found so far and the one I think I am going to try is 1 cup washing soda, 1 cup baking soda, and one finely grated castile bar. Use just under a tablespoon per load and store in tight-lidded container. The poster said it lasted about 3 months, but I’m thinking maybe one for me cause I wash for 5! ;)
Then vinegar in rinse cycle :)

Look three posts up. I address the acid (vinegar)-base (baking soda) MYTH multiple times throughout the comments.

Ooh thanks for this Melynda!

I’ve been using this recipe for years now! It’s fantastic for anyone who has a sensitivity to SLS, which is the main ingredient even in most *green* laundry detergents. No more itchy knees, elbows, and armpits! I too was having some clump-y type troubles with the original recipe. The bigger clumps wouldn’t dissolve all of the way in the wash (a problem since I share my laundry facilities with others who are unaware of the awesomeness of this detergent ;-). I accidentally discovered a solution one day when all I could find was solid bar-style castille soap. I ground it in my food processor and added it in lieu of the liquid soap; the result is a perfectly powdery, totally dissolving detergent! (I have used either a whole bar of Kirkland’s or half a bar of Dr. Bronner’s per recipe, both to good effect). Thanks for all your amazing posts, Sayward!!!

Borax is poison :( looking for alternatives – anyone got any?

Yup, it’s natural. It’s basically just baking soda that has been heated (you can make it at home basically by *baking* baking soda, haha) and that changes the chemical structure just slightly, so it acts differently in the mix. But still totally natural, and should be okay for sensitive skin.

THANK YOU for posting a liquid detergent. As silly as it may be, I was super turned off of making my own detergent b/c I don’t want to grate a bar of soap when there is awesome castile soap already out there in a usable form. :)

I read somewhere that PH + (you put to neutralize an outside pool) is made with sodium carbonate which is the same ingredient in washing soda.
Baking soda…………sodium bicarbonate
Washing soda………..sodium carbonate
The PH+ for pools…………sodium carbonate
We don’t have Washing Soda here so I’ve been using that with success.

Have you made a new recipe without borax yet?

Sayward, may I suggest that you check out Walter Last’s “The Borax Conspiracy” at
http://www.health-science-spirit.com/borax.htm

I have been using Borax in my homemade laundry detergent for years and I and my dog consume it daily in small dosages. It is purported to clean out mites and such from the dog’s fur. My Corgi’s fur gets powdered in it regularly to make sure she is clean of mites etc. I use it to dust my carpets, rake it in leaving it there for a day or two and then vacuum it up. I also use it in a mixture of baking soda, magnesium chloride and iodine added to some water to bathe my skin, daily. (See Mark Sircus) I do not dry it off but let my skin dry on its own. I understand that it is unlikely to be absorbed by the skin, but I have some eczema on my legs which is mostly gone and I suspect it is the borax on the open sores that is helping.

It is needed for stronger teeth and bones and other functions you will find on Walter’s site. It has anti-fungus, bacterial (slight), mould, parasitical and other good properties. It along with baking soda is my tooth paste.

I also wipe my walls in my kitchen with a solution of borax and I no longer get those darn little flies sticking around if I miss wiping a spot that has a sugary treat for them and my beer tins no longer house the little pests. Bugs and borax do not get along.

If thou do make up a laundry detergent recipe nix the Borax, please keep your other one available. I have it by memory and in safe keeping elsewhere but those in the know will want to use the borax recipe. And here, good lady, is another informative site I am sure you will find interesting—the lady does her research. http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/borax.html

Namaste and care,
mhikl

Hi, I’m not a hippie, thought I should clarify first. But I’m looking for ways to clean my house and my family, that are safe for the environment, because that is what I’ll leave for my kids, and ways that will not harm my family’s health
I heard of making soap with the ashes of the fireplace, just ashes from burnt wood
Putting those ashes with boling water, in a big bat (sorry, I don’t remember the ratio, think it was 1-3, but not sure) and leaving it for two days, they also gave the tip of placing a potato, to see if it sinks or floats as a way to know if it was ready
After that they skimmed the solution, getting rid of the water, and were left with a sort of slippery gel that was ready to use as soap, for laundry, dishes and house cleaning
I suppose the Castile soap would be better for personal use, but this recipe has no chemicals
For white clothes, if you wash, and don’t rinse but hang dry outside, so the sun can “bleach” your clothes, leaving them all afternoon, specially when the sun is at its strongest, noon, and rewash afterwards, you will have really white clothes
And for cleaning the house, I just use vinegar and water, the smell fades within half an hour, but it desinfects well
And for the shower/tub, I mix dawn dish detergent with vinegar, half and half, on a spray bottle, spray on your tub, leave for an hour, and then rinse while whipping, no need to scrub
Hope someone has the recipe for the burnt wood soap, and hope this helps someone
Have a nice day to all

The EWG’s Skin Deep Database lists it as a 5-6 (or moderate hazard), but trying to find the studies they used for their rating proved difficult, and the ones I did find were the nebulous “borax or boric acid” test studies.Borax, also known (most predominately in the way we’re talking about right now) as sodium tetraborate, is a boron mineral and salt that’s mined directly from the ground.

Borax is not boric acid.

That’s where the majority of the online confusion appears. With no surprise; at least half of the studies I’ve found and citations I’ve read have listed their testing matter as “either sodium borate or boric acid.”

The difference between the two is: Boric acid is produced when borax is reacted with another acid (like sulfuric or hydrochloric acid). The result is an acid structure (pH of 5.0), rather than alkaline, as borax is (9.3 pH). (I’m not going to get into the “is boric acid safe or not” question here, because that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.)

Borax and boric acid are found together in many places, especially volcanic areas where the borax has naturally reacted with sulfur. You can also find both compounds in seawater.

I love looking for DIY recipes for household chemical products so that I can use a simple set of bulk materials. This reduces cost, is more efficient, and allows me to use ingredients I know are rather benign to both the environment and myself. However, in doing this research I am simply appalled at the amount of ignorance displayed by those claiming to do this research and know how to make such recipes. For instance, a commenter on here mentioned that EWG(environmental WORRY group) rates borax as toxic, which is, forgive my french, complete bullsh*t. Commenters are not the only ones guilty of ignorance of basic chemistry, whoever posted this recipe is as well. Vinegar is acetic acid, and as its name implies it is an ACID. Borax(sodium borate), washing soda(sodium carbonate), and baking soda(sodium bicarbonate), are all BASES. Now, if you took a basic chemistry class, you would know that acid and bases are on opposite sides of the PH scale. Adding an acid to a base reduces the effectiveness of each. This, and the fact that acid is often more harmful to many household objects, is why most commercial cleaning products have a higher PH(they are basic-Soaps, washing soda etc) or are compatible with higher PH products(ethers, solvents).

Washing soda is quite drying to skin, you should wear gloves while cleaning with it- and ANY residue is extremely irritating. It’s a great degreaser- and will strip the oils out of your skin just like it will mdegrase the oven and the barbecue. “Natural” does NOT mean harmless- cholera is natural, smallpox is natural, and your genetic skin issue is natural, too. Read the boxes, people, look it up in Wiki, google it!

Using vinegar and castile soap together is highly discouraged.

Messaging the Dr Bronner website is a good idea :)

thanks for letting me know that Borax is toxic also it is not cruelty free. so u know by the warning lable on the product hundreds of animal had to suffer to make and package this product. so if u love animals for gods sake please look for the cruelty free sign or a picture of a rabbit.

I want to modify this recipe to take put the washing soda and borax, so how much of the other ingredients do I use?