Yes, it's Laundry Day! (Said, no MOM ever!) - Your Guide to DIY Laundry Detergent Using Olive Oil Soap Flakes.

Guest Blog Post Written by Amal Sarhan, founder of Amal's Apothecary. 

I love doing laundry so much. I love it so much that I do it every couple of days. Nothing makes me happier than sorting, washing, drying, folding and organizing my kids’ clothes nicely into their drawers for it to get ruined 2.3 seconds later. JOKING! Every parent (mostly moms, who are we kidding?) has to deal with the never-ending piles of laundry, so why not use a natural version of laundry detergent to make you feel good about it?

Cue DIY laundry detergent! Homemade laundry detergent is usually suggested as a way to save money, but in my case, I wanted to make an all-natural detergent that eliminated toxins and chemicals for my family. My kids also have sensitive skin and I’ve always used fragrance and dye free detergents so I just went one step further and made my own, which by the way is super easy!

I fiddled with a couple of recipes from good old Pinterest and other DIY sites until I came up with a good one. In the first recipe, I used Castile Soap and it worked just OKAY, but not as clean and fresh as I wanted. When it finished I tried a new recipe that included Sitti Soap Olive Oil Soap Flakes. 

These are soap flakes made from premium quality olive oil, which is hypoallergenic, paraben free, phthalate free, dye free, alcohol-free, and is biodegradable.  They can be used for laundry detergent, hand soap, face wash and more! I also like to mix in some essential oils to the recipe to reap the benefits of those as well. I like to use doTERRA essential oils. For this recipe, I used DoTERRA On-Guard for its protective benefits and Citrus Bliss because it’s a great antibacterial! If you’re interested in learning more about essential oils, check out Amal's Apothecary for more information and essential oil products. 

The laundry detergent recipe I used:

2L boiling water

1 cup Sitti Soap Olive Oil Flakes

½ cup baking soda

¼ cup coarse salt

20 drops On Guard essential oil

20 drops Citrus Bliss essential oil
 

Step 1: Pour Hot Water into Large Glass Bowl 

Step 2: Stir the Sitti's Olive Oil Soap Flakes into the boiling water and keep stirring until they melt.

Step 3: Add the rest of the dry ingredients and stir them in.

Step 4: Add desired essential oils accordingly for fragrance and essential benefit.

Step 5: Allow the mixture to cool and portion it into containers or jars, then try it out! 

It didn’t take long at all to make but I was nervous if it would actually clean our clothes properly. So I put it to the ultimate test—kids clothes! I put one cup into my washer (you put whatever your machine holds) and washed my kid's clothes.  

The Results:

The homemade natural laundry detergent using Sitti Soap Olive Oil Flakes cleans great! The food stains and normal kid dirt I had made a note of were gone! And the smell was so fresh. My husband caught me sniffing the clothes coming out of the washer and I was not ashamed! I had created a great recipe using only natural ingredients and it actually worked. That is what I call a successful day of laundry.