the most permaculture solution for replacing laundry detergent

Here is where I am at now:

about a third of the time, water only

about a third of the time, a quarter of the laundry detergent that is recommended

about a third of the time, a splash of apple cider vinegar


I never mix detergent and apple cider vinegar because the detergent does its magic through the power of alkalinity.  And the apple cider vinegar does its magic through the power of acidity.  Mixing them would cancel their powers.  


Mathing this out, this means that I am currently using a twelfth of the detergent that other people are using.   I have been using oasis brand laundry detergent because it is safe for feeding to plants.  Recently some people suggested it might not be safe for plants.   I like the idea of finding something better.  Something shelf stable.


I feel like if my clothes might have a lot of oils or greases on them, then it is detergent day.  If anything might be stinky, then it is vinegar day.  


I suspect that I wash my clothes more than the average person.  Or, at least i wash t-shirts and undies more.  I ride a fresh t and fresh undies every day.  I end up tossing in a small load of laundry once a week.  I mention this because my overalls might rack up a bunch of stuff, but they go for a ride in the wash about once a month.  


Soapnuts and other saponin based solutions are nice.  But I feel like they are not shelf stable. Make soapy water and keep it in the fridge.  It lasts about a week.  I suppose if somebody has a series of cups on their washer for "wash" instead of "rinse" you could choose to put soap nuts in there.  Some people leave the soap nuts in with the clothes during the wash and rinse cycles - i don't wanna do that.  


I like the vinegar path.  I might even swap it out for citric acid.  Or maybe do both, and swap back and forth from time to time.  

But today I like the idea of talking about emulsifiers, or possibly surfactants.  Things to get oils and greases out of clothes.  Something better than the oasis brand stuff.  

has anybody tried washing clothes with only baking soda?

Only salt?

We use 'water only' frequently, especially summertime.

Otherwise I mix up a gallon of hot water with washing soda (3-4 cups?) and use a cup to 2 cups of that liquid in a load depending on what's in the load of wash and the size.

Washing soda won't dissolve well in cold water and that's all we use in the machine so liquiding first works for us.

We liked soap nuts but they got expensive.
I didn't like the smell of yucca root but it didn't linger in the clothes.
Have been intending to try ivy leaves as suggested here somewhere.

We don't use anything but water when the water is diverted to the gardens though.

When doing laundry by hand, we use olive oil soap. Just shave a little bit off the soap piece with a knife into warm water and slosh it around a bit so it dissolves. Works well, but I don't know how it'd work in a washing machine.