With more than 60 natural cleaning recipes for every room in your home, our Homemade Cleaners Book empowers you to make your own cleaners naturally. Save money and keep your family healthy & chemical-free.
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.
Note: This soap/detergent works in all HE front-load washers… read more below.
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!
Soap/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 scoops 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.
SIMPLE 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 isle.
A SIMPLE 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!
Regarding High Efficiency (HE) Front-Load 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, here’s how.
THE MAKING OF A BATCH
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!
Get the book… help us change the world!
With the 60+ natural cleaning recipes in the book you will learn how to:
- clean and do laundry without harsh chemicals
- keep floors and other surfaces looking great
- deodorize and freshen the air with essential oils
- disinfect the kitchen and bathroom
- care for your wooden surfaces
- click here to learn more.
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I am getting a Front Load Washer and Dryer and I am afraid to destroy my new set by not using the recommended soap. I have a couple different questions…Has anyone used home-made soap and had issues with their front loaders? If I add oxi-clean to my mix is that going to be too many suds? Is there a place I can add vinegar to my front loaders where fabric softener should go (I haven’t seen them yet, they were a gift)?
Hi Amanda… I have Maytag front loader and use homemade laundry detergent with no problems at all. I use vinegar in the fabric softener well. I even use the dry powder mix by adding it right into the clothes area when I put the clothes in. I have been doing this for over a year with no problems.
I use homemade soap powder in my Gibson front loader. No Problems at all. I put the powder in with the clothes. I have put oxi- products in the mix, too, and that was fine.
I’ve read a few just right stuff here. Certainly price bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much attempt you place to create any such fantastic informative website.
Quick question… I have a HE washer. Put the detergent straight into the tub or the drawer?
Thanks!
This works Great! Far better than any commercial detergents I’ve used. My daughter uses the liquid version and I use the dry version. For the bar soap I got the cheap paint mixing attachment for my electric drill, which if you break up the bar into small pieces first will do the same job as a food processer. I also added a little Oxi-Clean equivalent that I found at the grocery store, simply called oxygenated cleaner. It’s the same thing just much cheaper.
I used the shredder attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer to grate the Fels Naptha. Worked great!
I cant wait to try this! Can essential oils be used for a scented batch? If not, what else would be added?
I have a front loader/HE washer. I put the dry powder in where the liquid powder should go and the vinegar into the fabric softner place. What a difference it makes! I have two kids who wet the bed. All I need to do is add these two ingredients before washing the clothes on normal cycle and voila! With storebought detergent, I would need to run the cycle on heavy duty once, sometimes twice just to get the urine smell out. I highly recommend using this product!! While I am not sure about putting oxyclean, bleach or essential oils into the wash, with vinegar and this detergent you don’t really need it. Using the Fels-Naptha has a wonderful, clean smell right out the washer and dryer.
Hi, I’ve been using this wonderful recipe for about 6 months now with great results (in my front loader). Thank you so much!
One question: I’ve noticed a big difference between types of bar soap when I grate it up. It all works well, but I’ve been experimenting with cost and type in search of a less expensive and less chemical-filled bar. Today I used Sunlight soap (the old-school yellow bar) and it took me ages to grate because it was so solid & heavy. The quantity of grated soap was about 3 times more than in the cheap bars I’ve previously used. So should I triple the amount of borax and laundry soda also?
In general, the heavier, better quality bars of soap seem to be denser than the cheapo ones, so does that change the quantity of the other ingredients at all? I was thinking I might use equal amounts; ie: if the soap grates up to 2 cups, then maybe use 2 cups of the other ingredients as well? Or would that throw it off??
I am all about homemade things that at healthy and save us money regarding the homemade laundry detergent and cleaning products please, please, please beware of borax it can be harmful to fertility and if you are pregnant to your unborn baby. In europe (where I am from) it has been banned and but on the list of ‘toxic’ products.
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