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Vegan-friendly laundry detergent?

15K views 46 replies 21 participants last post by  danakscully64 
#1 ·
Are there any main-stream, I can find it at Wal-Mart Vegan-friendly laundry detergent? My mom uses Cheer, which I'm fairly certain isn't, but somehow I don't think "Hey, mom, this detergent conflicts with my morals. You should drive out to the Vegan specialty store half an hour away to get some that does." is going to go over real well. I'm thinking it's going to be easier to say something like "Instead of Cheer, let's try ______. Look, it's two-for-one at Wal-Mart!"
 
#5 ·
Here's an online one I found that's close to mine, but I use probably twice the amount of bar soap and a bit more (about a cup each) of the borax and washing soda as I like it thicker. Feel free to play around with the recipe as you make it as it is fairly straightforward as you get into it.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

4 Cups - hot tap water

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar (or Ivory or any other plain basic soap bar)

1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*

½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!
 
#6 ·
I do (almost) the same except I don't bother with the water. I use 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda, and one bar of castile soap. Throw them all into the food processor and blend into a powder. Use about 1-2 tablespoon per load.

You can also use 1/2 to 1 cup of white vinegar during the rinse cycle as a deodorizer/fabric softener.

Word of warning: Fels Naptha is not vegan. It uses animal fat as do most soaps. Better to go with castile. I like Kirk's Original Coco Castile. It comes in a 3-pack for $3.50 to $4.50.
 
#43 ·
#7 ·
The only problem is how hard your water is. Our water is VERY hard, and homemade laundry detergent was horrible for us. My mom (who lives down the street) has a water purifier and she uses nothing but homemade laundry detergent.

We do however, use a homemade all purpose cleaner, which I love!
 
#10 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alicia Avocado View Post

Here's an online one I found that's close to mine, but I use probably twice the amount of bar soap and a bit more (about a cup each) of the borax and washing soda as I like it thicker. Feel free to play around with the recipe as you make it as it is fairly straightforward as you get into it.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

4 Cups - hot tap water

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar (or Ivory or any other plain basic soap bar)

1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*

½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!
Arm & Hammer tests on animals.
 
#18 ·
Actually we don't really need soap to clean out our clothes. The agitator in the washer does the job, and you can add vinegar too for so many reasons that a link is better! There are many people who tried laundry without detergent just to see if it worked, and it did! And I can testify also. For bad stains, a little soak before starting the washer usually does the trick. I read some people use baking soda instead of vinegar, will have to try it. And by the way, no, the vinegar smell doesn't stay ;)

I use vinegar and baking soda as my daily cleaning/refreshing/scrubbing/germ killing product. I save lots of money and most brand are not filtered through isinglass ( a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish). and again, once dry, the vinegar smell goes away.
 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marjoram View Post

Actually we don't really need soap to clean out our clothes. The agitator in the washer does the job, and you can add vinegar too for so many reasons that a link is better! There are many people who tried laundry without detergent just to see if it worked, and it did! And I can testify also. For bad stains, a little soak before starting the washer usually does the trick. I read some people use baking soda instead of vinegar, will have to try it. And by the way, no, the vinegar smell doesn't stay ;)

I use vinegar and baking soda as my daily cleaning/refreshing/scrubbing/germ killing product. I save lots of money and most brand are not filtered through isinglass ( a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish). and again, once dry, the vinegar smell goes away.
Good to know. I have heard baking soda being used....Hmmm, this might save me money on detergegents haha and I'm willing to try it sometime. I'm in college now, so for now I think I'll go to trader joes and see if I can buy some of their detergent. I'm just used to using those detergent bottles I suppose lol.
 
#20 ·
I mostly dont use detergent, but when I run a lathe (and thus smell like kerosene) or do something else odoriferous I load the washer, get my hands wet, rub a bar of castile soap, rub a shirt with my hands, and toss it in the wash. No more kerosene/car engine/whatever smell. Sometimes I spot treat jeans with my hands the same way. My laundry detergent budget for the year is thus about 10 cents.

Also, I dont eat greasy food so when running the dish washer I just sprinkle a few drops of water on the inside of the door and rub it with a bar of castile soap. That costs me more, about 33 cents per year
laugh.gif


Rather than cost, I started that because the human body knows exactly how to metabolize castile soap and there is no toxicity- the stuffs effectively harmless. Synthetic detergents and the associated UV dyes, etc., have never been properly tested for long term human toxicity but most (or their metabolites) can be expected to freely incorporate into human tissues. Creepy.
 
#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Auxin View Post

I mostly dont use detergent, but when I run a lathe (and thus smell like kerosene) or do something else odoriferous I load the washer, get my hands wet, rub a bar of castile soap, rub a shirt with my hands, and toss it in the wash. No more kerosene/car engine/whatever smell. Sometimes I spot treat jeans with my hands the same way. My laundry detergent budget for the year is thus about 10 cents.

Also, I dont eat greasy food so when running the dish washer I just sprinkle a few drops of water on the inside of the door and rub it with a bar of castile soap. That costs me more, about 33 cents per year
laugh.gif


Rather than cost, I started that because the human body knows exactly how to metabolize castile soap and there is no toxicity- the stuffs effectively harmless. Synthetic detergents and the associated UV dyes, etc., have never been properly tested for long term human toxicity but most (or their metabolites) can be expected to freely incorporate into human tissues. Creepy.
Thanks Auxim!

I have been worrying about vegan laundry detergents that contain optical brighteners and surfactants.... even if they are claimed as biodegradable. I think what you are doing is probably THE MOST natural and eco friendly. My college is so uptight and everyone uses those bottled laundry detergents...and not the vegan or eco friendly ones either...imagine me being the one with a bar of castille soap, or baking soda/vinegar. Oye....PRIDE!
blush.gif
For now though, I think I'll stick to commercial ones I can find that don't contain palm oil. I found a lot of vegan laundry detergents, but palm oil is a problem for me. Method, Seventh Generation, and Ecover all use palm oil

Ecos doesn't use palm oil in some of their products, I'm not sure about all. I think I will write to them and check if they use any in any of their products.

http://www.ecos.com/laundry.html
 
#23 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marjoram View Post

Put your vinegar in an old detergent bottle :D pride saved! Planet also and your wallet will love you.
You are genius.
notworthy.gif
I will consider doing this, though my parents will undoubtedly think I'm crazy. They always think my ways are crazy, like buying second hand clothes and such, until they realized it was a lot cheaper....same thing here...they will think I'm nutty until they realized I just saved them a ton of money LOL I still have some old detergent up at my college that I will have to use up...but I will definitely ponder this :)
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4everaspirit View Post

Good to know. I have heard baking soda being used....Hmmm, this might save me money on detergegents haha and I'm willing to try it sometime. I'm in college now, so for now I think I'll go to trader joes and see if I can buy some of their detergent. I'm just used to using those detergent bottles I suppose lol.
If you want to try doing without, or using a more natural (like Charlies Soap!) one, just save a bottle of eco friendly detergent to put vinegar/whatever else in. People kinda balk at going all out, but if they see brands they feel are doable, they might be more likely to try.

Charlies does have palm oil. They say it's responibily obtained, but what does that really mean?

I may switch to Dr. Bronners soap. I have used it, but have the tea tree, and peppermint and the smell is getting on my nerves!
 
#25 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by silva View Post

If you want to try doing without, or using a more natural (like Charlies Soap!) one, just save a bottle of eco friendly detergent to put vinegar/whatever else in. People kinda balk at going all out, but if they see brands they feel are doable, they might be more likely to try.

Charlies does have palm oil. They say it's responibily obtained, but what does that really mean?

I may switch to Dr. Bronners soap. I have used it, but have the tea tree, and peppermint and the smell is getting on my nerves!
Thanks Silva!! I had just been looking at charlies soap and the reviews like all day since I saw your post about it. Awww, they contain palm oil?=(That's funny because I just sent them an inquiry about that @_@ Well, now I know! Thanks!

Dr. Bronners uses palm oil in their bar soaps. Not sure about laundry detergent

http://www.drbronner.com/palm_oil_from_ghana.php

I don't get why these companies keep using palm oil in their products. This can't be a miracle worker oil, and it's not worth the environmental destruction.

I'm definitely keeping vinegar and baking soda in mind but I have been looking around at other things. I had made another thread months ago in which I posted about Vaska, a cool vegan and supposedly biodegradable laundry detergent. I just asked them today if they contained palm oil. I got a response within 3 hours and NO! They do not use palm oil Yay!! :)

I received a trial size once, tried it, and it worked fine ^_^ Didn't really check my clothes cuz I'm not one to inspect all my clothes after they come out..... but they smelled nice and clean and I'd say it's worth a try for anyone looking for a vegan and eco friendly detergent containing no palm oil!

http://vaskahome.com/



They are also having a facebook contest where you can get 1 dollar off your purchase for liking them, and you also have a chance to win their laundry detergent for a year!!

http://www.facebook.com/VaskaHome?fref=ts
 
#26 ·
So, I just got a response from Charlie's soap, and they just told me that they don't use palm derivative ingredients but then I check their website...and they use palm oil o_O
 
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