Handwashing clothes - detergent?

6121 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by EnglishTeacha, Aug 16, 2011

christinahudler

Discussion Starter · Jun 20, 2011

Would homemade detergent work well when handwashing clothes? I'm not going to be literally doing it "by hand" in the sense of washing them in the sink or anything, but I'm rigging up a contraption with some 5-gallon buckets and whatnot...but that's besides the point haha.

The point is that I'll be using cold water most of the time as well (though not always) and I won't be using a traditional washing machine so will a powdered homemade detergent work well? Or should I try and make something liquid?

I've never really hand washed clothes before, but my husband and I are moving into a duplex and our side doesn't have washer/dryer hookups so I wanted something for when we needed clothes quick (I'll save the big stuff for going to my mom's here and there).

So yea...any suggestions on what to use for detergent??

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sunshine

· #2 · Jun 21, 2011

Find something low residue - it's very hard to rinse out completely when doing them by hand. I've done ours in the bathtub with a new plunger and it's still difficult to get all the soap out at times.

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sunshine

· #5 · Jun 21, 2011

Some that are low residue:

Nellie's All Natural Laundry Soda (Canadian)
Allen's Naturally
Charlies Soap
Sensi-clean / Sport Wash
Country Save
Tide & Tide Free (just use the plain kind)
Superior Soapnuts

Some not recommended:

All Free & Clear (and other "Free & Clear detergents)
Ivory Snow
7th Generation
Dreft
Dr. Bronner's Soap
Some versions of Bio-Kleen
"Pure soap"detergents
Adding Additional Cleaning

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