Homemade Laundry Detergent

So my first post is going to be about my quest in clearing up my dear daughter's skin. She seems to be allergic to something that is giving her a rash around her panty line. Doc says it's just a contact dermatitis. We've already cut back on juice and the scented lotions. Before I go and spend a thousand dollars on organic cotton undies that don't have ponies or tinkerbell on them, I am going to try some home-made laundry detergent. I have a front-loader so I can't use powder like most home-made detergents. I found this recipe on Pinterest and I bought some Dr. Bronner's Magic Pure Castile Soap that is Unscented and Baby-Mild. Everything else is coming from my cabinets. So already total cost is $3-4. 

I have been using plain organic coconut oil on her skin and that works wonders on soothing the rash. Next week I plan on making a lotion from the coconut oil, some beeswax and olive oil. One thing at a time to save my sanity. 

Recipe adapted from Green Clean by Linda Hunter

1 cup castile liquid soap (Dr. Bronner’s or Mountain Rose Herbs are good choices as they are organic and main ingredients are coconut oil & olive oil) OR Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds
2 cups water
1/3 cup salt
1 cup baking soda or washing soda
vinegar

Warm the salt and baking soda in water until mostly dissolved. Transfer to a one gallon container. Add your soap fill the rest of the jar with water, this giving you 1 gallon of detergent. Use 1/4 -1/2 cup per load, depending upon how dirty the load is. Add a tablespoon or two of vinegar to your wash during the rinse cycle. This works as an effective  fabric softener and disinfectant. Depending upon the hardness of your water, you may want to decrease the water quantity or increase the soap quantity.

Please note: do not add essential oils to your detergent. These oils will break down the fiber in your clothing. If you want a particular fragrance, try putting a few drops of essential oils on a rag and throwing it in the dryer. This will add fragrance but not transfer to your clothing.

Review: So far It is pretty sudsy. Very soft on my hands.  I'll update later on how it works in the washer.

Update on the soap: First thing I noticed was that it did not sit in the soap dispenser because it was so watery. Not sure where it went :) but it did not overly suds up my washer and the clothes just smelled clean so I'm pretty happy. The load wasn't heavily soiled, but it did have some peed on sheets from my daughter's bed.