Is body wash ok to wash your clothes with? And are there other alternatives you can use? I’ll tell you here!
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Can You Wash Clothes With Bathing Soap or Body Wash?
Whether it’s because you’ve run out of laundry detergent or because you love the scent of your body wash and want your clothes to smell the same, you’re probably wondering if you can use this product to clean your clothes.
You can use body wash on your clothes! This is valuable information to know when you’re in a pinch and can’t make it to the store before laundry needs to be finished. While you can use body wash to wash your clothes, this method may have some drawbacks.
Drawbacks to Know
The most significant drawback to washing your clothes with body wash is that it can’t remove stains like legitimate laundry detergent can. If you’re washing clothes without stains, then you shouldn’t have any issues.
Another drawback is that you won’t be able to use body wash in your washing machine. Well, you technically can, but it may cause too many bubbles during the rinse cycle.
This can cause your machine to overflow and lead to more chores.
Lastly, you’ll need a lot more body wash to wash your clothes as you would with laundry detergent properly. While this method works in a pinch, using it often may prove to be a waste of money since you’ll be buying a lot more body wash.
Other Laundry Detergent Alternatives You Can Use
Since you can wash your clothes with body wash, what other household products could you use to clean your clothes?
Bar Soap, Borax, and Washing Soda
If you’ve run out of laundry detergent, you can make your own. It’s much easier than it sounds. All you’ll need is bar soap, borax, and washing soda.
You’ll need a cheese grater to shave the bar soap. You’ll need to combine a half cup of borax, one cup of washing soda, and one bar of soap. You’ll mix this, and then you have homemade laundry detergent.
The best part about making this is that you can use this in a washing machine, unlike body wash.
Using a Laundry Detergent Booster
A laundry detergent booster is something that will help what little is left of your detergent last longer. You can use laundry borax or baking soda for this. You’ll add this to your washing machine before you add the last of your laundry detergent.
You can also use this combination when you don’t have any detergent left. You’ll need to adjust the ratio, though, to do this.
Oxygen-Based Bleach
This isn’t the alternative to make your clothes smell like flowers, but it will get the job done. If you have no detergent left, using a cup of oxygen-based bleach will do the trick.
Other Types of Soap You Can Use for Washing Clothes
If you have dish soap, you can use this to wash your clothes too. It’s better to use this for handwashing, but it should be fine if you use a small amount in the machine.
Hot Water & Soap Nut
Soap nuts are an eco-friendly product you can use to wash your clothes. The best part is that you can reuse them!
Soap or Detergent Products to Avoid
While it may seem like you can use many products to wash your clothes, there are some you’ll want to avoid.
Dishwasher Detergent
Most dishwasher detergent has much harsher ingredients than your traditional laundry detergent. Using this product on your clothes may cause fading and skin irritation.
Shampoo or Bubble Bath
Shampoo and bubble baths smell lovely, but unless you’re washing your clothes by hand, you won’t want to use these. They create too many suds and may cause your washer to overflow.
Ammonia and General Household Cleaner Products
If you think dishwasher detergent has harsher ingredients, your household cleaning products do. Using any household cleaner or ammonia to clean your clothes is asking for trouble.
Hand Washing Detergent Substitutes to Consider
Some alternatives don’t work in the washing machine, but they will if you can handwash your clothes.
Bar Soap
Bar soap is an excellent handwashing alternative. It’s easy to rub the soap into your clothes to ensure they’re clean.
Hand Soap or Body Wash
Body wash isn’t great in the washing machine, but for hand washing, it’s great. If you don’t want to use your body wash, hand soap works just as well.
Vodka
Combining vodka and water can help get your clothes clean. They won’t come out smelling like roses, sugar, or another scent, but they will be cleaner than when they started.
Baking Soda
If your clothing has stains, but you don’t have a stain remover, baking soda is there to save the day. This will effectively remove odors and stains without stripping the color from your clothes.
Vinegar
For your whites, vinegar is a great option. It’s acidic enough to remove stains and leave your whites much brighter than before.
