Laundry detergent help!

[bluedaisy]

My son has eczema and we live in Uganda where there are NO options for free and clear detergents.  So I am considering two options:

Making my own - I can get pure soap flakes (it says made from vegetable oil) from Kenya and I can get borax in Uganda.  So I can mix these two.  But I can't get washing soda here.  Do you think that would be ok?  Any other suggestions for homemade detergent?

Trying to find a super concentrated natural detergent that I can have someone mail me and load up on when I visit the US about once a year.  Any suggestions?  The problem is detergents are usually heavy and we have 2 kids who love playing outside (i.e. lots of dirty clothes!) and use cloth diapers, so we go through a lot of detergent. 

Thanks!

[mwor]

Here is a recipe from Mother Earth News for making your own laundry detergent. You can skip the scents. In fact, since you have a little boy I would stay away from lavender since it contains plant based estrogens. But the recipe is otherwise solid.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/natural-home-living/make-your-own-lavender-laundry-detergent-for-pennies.aspx#axzz2Md5ESStz

At home we use Charlie's Soap Powder. It rinses clean. A little bit goes a long way. When we were traveling once with the kids I used to hand wash a lot of their clothes. It worked quite well even with hand washing.

Here are some others that are good, too. http://www.safelaundrytips.com/2012/05/04/top-ten-safe-laundry-detergents-for-baby/

Good luck. I know it can be frustrating not having easy access to the products you need for your babies.
 

[Poddi]

Do you have access to soap nuts?  They're natural and pretty effective.  If you can find an Indian grocery store locally that would be the best.  Not sure what to suggest about weight issue.  All detergents are heavy.  We use Nellie's laundry soda, which is similar to Charlie's.  A tin weighs about 3lbs and does 100 loads.  http://www.nelliesallnatural.com/ You can always reserve the scent free detergent for your son's clothes only.