A homemade laundry detergent is soap to lift the dirt and an alkaline ingredient to help the water do its job. Most of the rest, in shop-bought detergents, is fragrance and optical brighteners.

What you need

3 tablespoons of Marseille soap flakes
2 tablespoons of washing soda
2 tablespoons of baking soda
5 drops of lavandin or tea tree essential oil

The method

1

Mix the soap flakes, washing soda and baking soda in an empty jar.

2

Add the drops of essential oil and stir.

3

Pour the mixture into a dosing ball, for a five-kilo machine.

4

Place the ball in the middle of the laundry, not in the detergent drawer: the powder clumps there.

What you need to know

This detergent is suitable for whites and colours, but not for wool or silk, which alkaline ingredients damage.
It works best from 40 °C. In cold water, the flakes dissolve poorly.
For dull white laundry, add a tablespoon of sodium percarbonate at 60 °C.

Look after the machine

Homemade detergent does not descale the machine. Run an empty cycle at 90 °C with citric acid twice a year: that is what keeps your laundry fresh.

The doses for our products are on their packaging, and that is what counts. If swallowed or splashed, call the Poison Centre on +32 70 245 245 and keep the packaging to hand.

The ingredients