When we first set out to make our own homemade laundry detergent we thought it would be difficult and time consuming, boy were we wrong! It was actually incredibly fast, easy, and inexpensive. Now, years after making our first batch, thousands of others have tried it and loved the results.
Homemade powder soap required only 3 simple ingredients & took around 5 minutes to create, in respect of opportunity cost I abandoned my original idea of brewing a liquid detergent and set my sights on creating the powder variety. What follows is my own personal pictorial tutorial to making homemade powder laundry detergent. Enjoy!
Note: This soap/detergent works in all HE front-load washers… read more below.
Detergent cost breakdown & savings
Prior to making our own, we were using Arm & Hammer liquid detergent. Here is the breakdown in cost analysis:
Note: you only need to use 1 tablespoon of this homemade detergent per load, although you can use 1 – 2 tablespoons for heavily soiled loads)
- Arm & Hammer® liquid 100 ounce detergent – $6.79 – 32 loads = $0.21 per load
- Tide® with Bleach powder 267 ounce detergent – $20.32 – 95 loads = $0.21 per load
- Jabs Homemade powder 32 ounce detergent – $2.98 – 64 loads = $0.05 per load
As you can see, whether I compare against traditional store bought liquid or powder, I am saving $0.16 per load!
There are also many other benefits of homemade products aside from cost savings.
Laundry ingredients
I purchased all these ingredients at my local grocery store:
- 1 – 55 ounce box of Arm & Hammer® Super Washing Soda = $3.99
- 1 – 76 ounce box of 20 Mule Team® Borax = $4.99
- 1 – 10 pack of 4.5 ounce bars of Ivory® Bar Soap (**note** you can use cheaper soap, I actually had this on hand already. Use whatever tickles your fancy – Other brands of commonly used bar soaps include Pure & Natural®, Fels-Naptha® and/or ZOTE®. Both ZOTE® and Fels-Naptha® are made for and sold as “laundry bar soap.”)
All items were found in the laundry aisle.
Soap recipe
Each batch yields approximately 32 ounces (between 32-64 loads based on how many Tbsp used per load).
- 1 bar of shaved bar soap (Ivory, ZOTE, Fels-Naptha)
- 1 cup of borax
- 1 cup of washing soda
Thoroughly stir together for 5 minutes and enjoy the results! That’s it folks…seems too good to be true, but it is true indeed!
High Efficiency (HE) Washers
HE front-load washers require “special soap” for one reason alone – low suds. Because they use less water, they require soap that is less sudsy. The good news is, this homemade detergent is VERY low suds. The ”special” HE detergent is just another advertising mechanism to push consumers to buy “special soap” for unnecessarily high prices.
Regardless of your washer type, just make your own in confidence.
Safe for septic tanks and fields
This is the best laundry soap to use with septic tanks because it contains zero phosphates and zero fillers (like montmorillonite clay) that cause commercial powder detergents to clog lines. It is also completely non-toxic so it will not harm necessary septic bacteria like toxic detergents and antibacterial soaps. Use with confidence.
Detergent directions
1. Start with these ingredients & utensils:
2. Shave 1 bar of soap. I used a simple hand grater:
3. My shaved bar looked like this:
4. Add 1 cup of borax:
5. Add 1 cup of washing soda:
6. Stir thoroughly:
7. Continue stirring thoroughly:
8. Stirring is complete when you have a powder like this:
9. 2 batches of this recipe fit perfectly into a 32 ounce yogurt container:
10. I wanted to use my trusty black Sharpie, but my wife LOVES her some label maker!
When you do a load use 1 tablespoon of detergent per load (you can also use 1 – 2 scoops for heavily soiled loads).
There you have it folks!
Simple, easy, fast, & efficient homemade laundry detergent.
What are you waiting for? Go get the ingredients & make yours today!
*******
References and Resources
- Borax on Wikipedia
- Toxicity reports for Borax on PesticideInfo.org
- Washing Soda (a.k.a. Sodium Carbonate or Soda Ash) on Wikipedia
- International Chemical Safety Card for Sodium Carbonate at the Center for Disease Control
- Sodium Carbonate on the National Center for Biotechnology Information PubChem
- Fels Naptha on Wikipedida
- Fels Naptha Material Safety Data Sheet MSDS L-101 on Prosarcorp.com
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Hi all,
I was just thinking. So if we are buying 3 laundry items at the store and mixing them together, is this really homemade? Well, yes it is. But, I’m thinking why not just use the washing soda? Is it that the borax and Fels make the washing soda clean better? Do they make it cheaper overall?
Thanks for the conversation,
Carol
The ingredients work together for a better cleaning solution.
I just love your idynatural website. I have learned a lot and love some of the humor along with it… “Peter Pan” peanut butter….lol. I love your homemade HE washing machine soap…. works wonderful…… thanks…..
Things are tough out there and I feel for the younger folks. It was tough for me living on my own and later being married with raising young kids.I did learn a lot from my grandparents on saving and reuse. Now my kids are on their own and take any advice on saving tips, so I share your website with everyone. We all thank you both for putting up this wonderful site.
Cheers
Marti
Do you put the detergent in the detergent dispenser on the washer even though it’s powder??? Or do you just put it in the drum???
I have an HE front loading washer, it has a cup to use for liquid detergent. When you use powder detergent you just take the cup out and put the detergent directly into the slot where the cup was. I’ve been using this powder formula for about a month and it works GREAT!!!
We’ve been doing the same with out top loading HE washer (pouring the powder down the same liquid chute). Apparently on a Maytag Bravos (love it) the manual calls for that when using powder.
I’m not arguing whether this is safe for septic systems or not – i would think that it is – but how can you say it contains zero sodium? That’s what Borax and washing SODA are – sodium.
Borax is known to be septic system safe but it definitely contains sodium. It can be called: sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate. I’d like to know why they claim this myself.
who said it contained zero sodium, and why is that bad that it contains sodium
THE RECIPE STATES THAT IT DOES NOT CONTAIN SODIUM. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY IT IS BAD AS WELL.
Hey all, it was a typo that was meant to say “zero phosphates.” Apologies, the article has been updated.
I have a friend who made this for me but it was in liquid form and it was great. I used it and now I looking for the ingredients and found it on your website. Thanks~~
I have tried this recipe and used Ivory soap, but the soap does not disolve and floats on top of the water. I stored it in a plastic coffee can, could it be that it is not air tight enough. The soap felt really hard and I could not even mash it between my fingers. Could I possible have gotten old soap?
I cook my ingredients making liquid instead… for the same reason. I think it will not dissolve because of your hard water. I found out that the water (4 cups) recommended to cook and dissolve the powders needed to be increased to 8 cups and the temp. needed to be increased to almost a rolling boil. I found that if the water was not hot enough it did not melt the pdrs and the soap. I used the Zote bar and love it. When it sat over night and gelled up, I stirred it again filled my storage containers 1/2 with water and 1/2 with my soap concentrate. Add your favorite scent oils shake and bamm, wash! Patchouli oil is absolutely the BEST scent oil out there!
Has anyone else had problems with this detergent causing itchy skin? My family is struggling with my change to this soap. Is that any particular ingredient that may be harsh that I could substitute another ingredient for. I also added (per someone’s suggestion) a box of OxyClean. Could this be the problem? Thanks for any ideas or help.
I think oxyclean is the same as the borax with 2x the price. Maybe try an additional rinse?
I’ve heard to use 1/2-1 cup white vinegar in your Downy ball as a softener AND rinse agent. They said it will not make your clothes smell bad, just line dried. And removes old detergent build-up as well. I haven’t tried it myself, but I will! We use vinegar for everything. Good luck… Can’t have itchy kiddos!
I have been using a version of this recipe for almost 6 months now. The only difference is that I use Fels-Naptha. I have a HE washer/dryer and this has worked wonderfully! And, it got the wierd moldy smell out of my towels! I recommed this to everyone. We haven’t had any allergic reaction, but I still use baby soap for my baby. I also put in my fabric softner because I like the smell.
Someone may have already asked this question, but there are so many comments that I didn’t have time to go through every one. My question is: Instructions are 1-2 tbsp per load, but is that the same measurement you use for top-load washers? Top-load washers usually take more. I’m thinking for top load, it’ll be about 1/4 or 1/2 cup. I’m pressing for time, as I have already sent a message to diy natural earlier on Fb and have not heard back, so I think tonight I’ll use 3 tbsp, just b/c I’m not sure at this point and we need our laundry done for the morning. Goodnight and thanks for a great recipe! I hope someone can answer my question.
I HAVE A TOP LOADER AND I USE 2 TBSP
I have a top loader and only use 1 T.
I use 1 Tbsp. stirred 5 min. into almost boiling water (1 cup). Using Fels, soda and borax. Top loading machine. Hard water. Works fine.
Wondering what you all use for stain remover. When it is in the right spot I can wet the fabric and scrub Fels into the stain. When it is hard to get at, like shoe polish along the bottom hem of pants let) I still resort to spray. Any ideas?
The best spot remover is dawn soap mixed with peroxcide. I used it on a shirt that was covered in blood and it took it completely out. Found it on pinterest. It didn’t have exact measurements, but I just mixed it about 1 part dawn to 2 parts peroxcide.
I cannot wait to start making/using my own laundry soap. We do tons of laundry and it is a significant expense! Just a tip I got from someone else who makes their own: They put the bar soap in a food processor and then add the other ingredients. Apparently blends everything perfectly. Thanks for this awesome site! Loving it!
This could be the answer to my dilemma – I am having trouble grating my soap so will definitely give this a try. Not only caking up on the grater but arthritis is restrictive in how long I can grate.
Thanks for the tip.
One question – why is it necessary to buy one 10-pack of Ivory, etc., if I’m using only one bar per batch of soap?
Thanks
Vera
It’s not, buy as much as you want.
Thank you so much! I love making every thing I can homemade. This is great. I will never go back to store detergent again. I’m trying to get all my friends and family to try it.
Thank you very much for your recipe. Had used it for two weeks with the ivory soap… The laundry came out perfect and soft. Also remove stain very well. Mild scent…Ooooh and so simple…
I finally got to use this recipe and I LOVE it. What I love most is that I don’t need to use fabric softener! Not only do I save with the laundry soap itself, I also save with not having to buy fabric softener. I don’t have to wash my towels separately anymore. They turn out soft AND absorbent. It works great for hand washing too, rinses out well. And clothes are soft even line dried. Can’t go wrong with this formula. I will definitively be passing this on.
Nice article. I made some up, but instead of Fels-Naptha I used already grated Candao, a laundrysoap flake from Dominican Replublic.
My question is, will this recipe work in cold water?
Doesn’t things get hot when you add borax to water?
You can dissolve the detergent in a cup of hot water. No, borax does not have that effect.
Just wanted to thank you for this recipe. I have been using this for about 2 mos. I love the fact that I made it myself & it works great! I have also made the spot remover & it has taken out grass stains from baseball pants & chocolate milk out of a white shirt. I have shared this with my older children, who are on very tight budgets. This has been a blessing to help in being more frugal with our environment & our budgets. I am looking forward to trying the dishwasher soap as soon as I use up my xyz brand. I also love bypassing the cleaning aisle at the store. No more $$$ being wasted there : ) Thanks again & God bless!!!
Awesome Kerrie, we’re glad it could be a blessing to you!
OK, love the soap but having a devil of a time getting my soap “shaved”. I’m wondering if I need a different grater……I’m using a box grater and using the side with the little holes but the soap cakes up between the teeth coming out of the holes….is this more of a zester than a grater? If so, where do I find the small hole grater?
I have heard of people actually making it in a blender after grating the soap…put all ingedients in a blender and it made a fine powder. I havent tried it yet myself, but it may work?
I just tried the blender now – it works wonderfully. Just try not to let it go too long because it will get hot & the soap will start to melt & cake.
Just curious… The description says that this laundry soap contains no sodium. I’m pretty sure that the Washing Soda is Sodium Carbonate. Doesn’t that count?
Thanks for asking Adam. It was a typo meant to say “zero phosphates.” The article has been updated.
I know it’s not safe for women who are nursing to use tea tree oil, but is it safe to wash your clothes with tea tree oil? I just bought some Dr. Bronner’s soap with tea tree extract to make some detergent, and then it dawned on me that it might not be safe. Would an extra rinse help or should I just hold off and use a different soap for now?
I would consult your physician.
I’m really excited to start doing this! Thank you. Just a FYI, the link for the washing soda costs $8.90, not $3.99, and the Borax is up to $6.90.
I just made my first patch and had some problem grating my soap. So i pulled out my food processor and it worked great! I have a very sick child and this sight was a great find!!!!! I can’t wait to start making other homemade items as well!!!!
This is great! So quick, easy and cheap. Just one quesiton, though, can you use it in a top loader in cold water?
apparently the makers of Zote laundry soap has caught on to the diy laundry soap craze. They now make Zote laundry flakes so no more grading! It cost about $2.20 a box at Walmart. I used this in the recipe and it worked great. No more blending/grateing.
Great info Chrystal, thanks.
Just an FYI-
You can also put a bar of Ivory soap in the microwave to make a “soap cloud” (we do it with the kiddos …,just pop a bar of Ivory in the microwave for a minute or so.) After you take it out if the microwave it will break up in your hand to a fine powder. No need to grate and super fast.
Several questioned whether this mix will work well in a top loader using COLD water. I may have missed it, but I didn’t see a response. Does it work well in cold water?
I currently use Tide for Cold Water and would love to try your recipe for homemade laundry detergent instead.
Works fine. To ensure it dissolves just mix the detergent into a cup of hot water, then add to the load.
Sandie, I use a glass pyrex liquid measuring cup. Put one cup tap water into the cup. Microwave on high for 3-4 min. until almost boiling. Stir in one tablespoon of mixed DIY detergent, stir and let dissolve for a short time. Pour into washer filled with any temp. of water (no clothes yet). I use cold all the time. Add clothes and let ‘er rip!
Thanks – I’m definitely going to try this one.
I have sensitive skin and am allergic to many things. The only detergent I can use is Dreft…I want to try this and want to know is it safe for people with sensitive skin?
I read somewhere online that the Arm & hammer washing soda can also be used to clean bathroo, floors, etc..but it said to use gloves with it as it may irritate the skin so if thats the case then it may cause a skin reaction when used as a detergent???
We have been using this dry recipe with Ivory soap for over a month now and we love it. It gets the clothes clean and smelling fresh. The wife likes the ivory smell as well. We have had no problem with it dissolving at all. Oh yeah, the money saved is awesome too.
Great to hear it Wallace, God bless.
When using the powdered Zote, how much do you use? 1 cup?
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