IS DIY LAUNDRY DETERGENT WORTH IT?? - A Drycleaner’s Review

DIY laundry detergent is the latest craze within the cleaning and laundry community. It seems like just about every cleaning website and influencer blog has their own magic recipe that promises amazing results for low low prices.

In this video I’m going to make, use, test, and review two recipes from the well regarding cleaning website, The Spruce. The Spruce has a very large following online so I am hopeful the information within their recipes is thorough and backed by science.

Powder Recipe:
1 Bar of laundry soap
1 cup baking soda
1 cup washing soda
½ cup borax

Pod Recipe:
1 & 1/2 cups of super washing soda
1/2 cup pure soap flakes
2 tablespoons epsom salt
3 tablespoons hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
15 to 20 drops essential oil for fragrance (optional)

To test these recipes, we washed stained cotton swatches with a load of laundry (our ballast) with each of these detergents across 3 different water temperatures (cold, warm and hot). We then measured the results before and after to quantify the stain removal, see results below.

Results are as followed:
Powder Stain Removal Performance - 55.83% @ $.40 / load
Pod Stain Removal Performance - 52.70% @ $.75 / load

For more laundry tips and tricks feel free to throw me a sub or follow me on IG and TikTok @jeeves_ny

[lindenpeters]

...I was waiting for the added cost of having to fix or replace your washer because of the soap scum buildup, because soap doesn't rinse cleanly like detergent does.

[professionalcommenter]

As someone who has skin and lung issues, it's alot better for me to clean my laundry this way then any other way.

[CARATMom]

When I first saw the ingredient list for home made detergent I laughed. I generally had all those items already and would never just throw all of them together at once. Some of those detergents are expensive when you consider they are sold in small amounts. Also I use some as occasional boosters which help them last longer on my shelf Thank you for confirming my suspicions.

[tahlenri]

I will also say the diy detergent builds up in your clothes like fabric softener does, and makes your towels stop absorbing water.

[hollybug-]

If you use the appropriate amount of laundry detergent it doesn't really cost that much and you have the added benefit of chemists making a product that would be hard to replicate at home.

I buy a $6 bottle of soap that has aprox 56 loads worth. So that lasts me literally 6 months. I do one to two loads per week. That's pretty darn cheap and it does an excellent job with stains.

[mikeomalley]

A major problem with these DIY laundry detergents is that they lack a sequestering agent, which is a substance that holds the dirt and the minerals in the water in suspension. Without it, soap would react with the minerals in hard water and eventually turn your whites dingy from the buildup. This can be avoided by adding sodium citrate and combining regular dish soap with a small amount of grated bar soap that helps to cut the suds. Now you have a real detergent that really washes and still costs a fraction of the price!

[Taylorprice]

Can you test the foca brand it's suppose to be really good and it pretty cheap

[cthulusauce]

Wow love how quick and simple this was thank you!!!

[lil___deb]

Wait. Ok. I'm finally catching into the board you've referenced n some other shorts. Is there a video where you go over what's on the board or maybe a link we can go to see the latest and greatest on the board? Asking for a friend...and possibly for any other #cleanfreakscrew who are slow on the uptake like me 😂

[DLlama]

I hate that YT limits to 1 min.
Even when you try to be short, it still cuts you off 😓
Still not downloading TikTok though...

[KarenFuchsbichler]

I use the Sal Suds, borax and washing soda with water recipe. Irs great!

[beautifulvictory]

I've made homemade. Ingredients: Zote, Fels Naptha, A&H Washing Soda, Borax, Biz & Oxi-Clean. I grate the soap VERY fine; it's undetectable w other ingredients. I calculated cost, it's VERY inexpensive. Way less. And, I found it to be very good. No dinginess. Most significant stains need spot treating anyway. 😊

[agxryt]

Zachary, would you do an investigation on the effects of pods on water systems? I've heard some bad things about them with dishwashing packs, and have since switched to a no-wrapper variety. Have also experienced the occasional tide pod case leftover in laundry. Curious what you can find

[Shetooktothewoods]

Yeah. Laundry soap bars are meant to be used in tiny amount with scrubbing, not piled into a machine with flopping. I tried that once when my kids were young and had to rewash to get the undissolved blobs of grated soap out. Gross

[PersononEarth-xftg]

Can you tell us how you came to the conclusion that Tide Hygenic Clean is the best detergent on the market.

[thomp]

You should test no detergent on your leaderboard. Ie. Just water.

[daryushnadjafi]

0.40$ per load? Is that normal in north America? I mean 40 cent is not cheap i would say. In Holland i pay 17 cents per 8kg load and i buy premium stuff like Ariël or Robijn. So how much does it cost for real detergents per load there?

[AER]

So I just recently went down this money saving make your own laundry soap. I did the powdered method. Very similar to your recipe it seems. I did this for about 3 months. I started to notice my clothes were not getting very clean anymore. Had to switch back to tide/persil whatever is cheaper when I buy.

Making your own is so not worth it.

[MagpieMalone]

When you put the unstopables in my heart sank that shit stinks so strong and is awful for your hormones

[amorfranco]

What do you think about the baling soda and vinegar as detergent?