If you would like an alternative to liquid laundry detergent , we offer here a recipe for powdered laundry detergent , perfect for households with access to hard water and for washing absorbent fabrics ( menstrual panties , washable diapers, washable cottons).
This article is brought to you by Odile Niederhauser, founder of Madame Pepperpote . Based in Geneva, Madame Pepperpote helps you declutter and organize your home so you can stop accumulating, rediscover simple happiness, and live better with less.
Water hardness, a factor to consider for cleaning
Water hardness is a measure of its calcium and magnesium content . It varies depending on the soil it passes through and is expressed in French degrees (°F). 1°F is equivalent to 10 mg of calcium carbonate (limestone) per liter of water. Up to 15°F, water is considered « soft. » It becomes « very hard » above 30°F (source: www.eaupotable.ch ).
Two neighboring regions can have different levels of water hardness due to the water source. Take, for example, the Geneva municipality of Chêne-Bougeries, where the water – which comes from the Geneva aquifer in the Arve sector – has a hardness that varies between 18° and 22°F. You only have to travel less than 2 kilometers to find the mains water sourced from the lake, where the hardness drops to 12°F!
Hard water is good for the taste, but not so good for cleaning! The harder the water, the more maintenance is required on household appliances, which tend to accumulate limescale . When it comes to laundry, this means using more detergent to neutralize the calcium. Or… you could use a homemade detergent specifically formulated for hard water!
The laundry powder presented in this article is best suited for washing period underwear , cloth diapers , or reusable cotton pads. In short, for all fabrics whose function is to absorb.
With a liquid laundry detergent based on Marseille soap, for example, a deposit of glycerin can be deposited, making the fabric – over the course of washes – less absorbent.
The recipe for powdered laundry detergent
The recipe is very simple but requires careful preparation to protect the mucous membranes. It contains a volatile surfactant , which is why you must cover your airways and mix the ingredients in a well-ventilated or even open space, such as a terrace or balcony.
The recipe for powdered laundry detergent contains only 1 surfactant and alkaline ingredients.
The surfactant used here is certainly not as natural as a handcrafted soap, but if we want a good result with hard water, it must be « powerful » to overcome the limescale.
We therefore use a synthetic surfactant: Sodium Coco Sulfate (SCS) . During washing, it traps germs in its foam and has an antiseptic effect after being rinsed with clean water.
For alkaline ingredients , we use:
Baking soda , for its stain-removing and deodorizing properties
Soda crystals to soften the water, improve the impregnation of textile fibers and thoroughly rinse the SCS
There are as many eco-friendly recipes as there are eco-accounts on the internet!
Here are the proportions recommended by Madame Pepperpote , tested and approved by Les Paillettes Vertes:
For 500 grams of laundry detergent:
150g of SCS
150 g of baking soda
150g of soda crystals
50 g of percarbonate of soda
Mix everything together (handle carefully) and store the powder in an airtight container. Two tablespoons per wash is the recommended dose, either in the detergent compartment or in a dosing ball directly in the drum. This recipe can also be used for handwashing laundry in the sink.
And if you do a load of white or light-colored laundry , feel free to add a tablespoon of sodium percarbonate directly into the drum, provided that it is a machine at a minimum of 40°C (below this temperature, the percarbonate does not react).
