How to Make Laundry Detergent (Liquid or Powder Recipe)

Katie Wells Avatar

Reading Time: 5 minutes

This post contains affiliate links.

Read my affiliate policy.

homemade laundry detergent
Fit Bottomed Zone » Blog » Natural Home » How to Make Laundry Detergent (Liquid or Powder Recipe)

Homemade laundry detergent is one of the easiest parts of a transition to natural living. This natural laundry soap recipe is a great way to save money and is incredibly easy to make. It almost makes tackling that pile of dirty laundry feel like less of a chore!

Have an HE machine? Check out this HE article that addresses high efficiency washers and borax safety. The recipe is the same as the one below, but be sure to check with your washer manual before using a new laundry soap if you have any concerns.

Why Switch to Natural Laundry Soap?

Commercial detergent is loaded with chemicals like sulfates, fragrances, dyes and more. Many brands contain things like petroleum distillates, which are linked to cancer and lung disease. Fragrances in these detergents are made with a mix of harmful chemicals. (This is also why I make my own linen spray.)

Luckily, making your own laundry soap is an easy and fast process! You only need three basic ingredients to make either a powdered or liquid laundry soap. These ingredients are available at most stores, including Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc.

DIY Laundry Soap Ingredients

You can usually find a box of borax and some washing soda at your local grocery store in the laundry aisle. Sometimes I like to add a few tablespoons of baking soda to help freshen clothes. Natural bar soaps are in the health, beauty, or organic sections of the store, or online.

homemade laundry detergent
Print
4.08 from 67 votes

Natural Laundry Soap Recipe

Easily make your own homemade laundry soap with the cleaning power of natural ingredients! This powdered laundry detergent is safe for sensitive skin and free of harsh chemicals.
Prep Time15 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Yield: 2.5 cups
Author: Katie Wells

Equipment

Materials

  • 1 bar soap (such as Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Bar Soap or homemade coconut oil soap)
  • 1 cup washing soda
  • 1 cup borax

Instructions

  • Grate the bar of soap or pulse it in a food processor until finely ground.
  • In a large bowl, mix together the grated soap, washing soda, and borax.
  • Store in a sealed container like a glass jar
  • To use: add 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup of soap per load of laundry.

Notes

See below for instructions on making a liquid version of this laundry soap.

Wonder What’s in These Ingredients?

Borax is a naturally occurring mineral made of sodium, boron, oxygen, and water. It’s in most of the natural soaps available now but it’s much less expensive to make your own homemade laundry detergent. Some people have concerns about borax but here’s why I feel comfortable using it, especially in my laundry room.

Washing Soda or super washing soda (sodium carbonate) is made from common salt and limestone or found as natural deposits. It’s not the same as baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), but you can make washing soda from baking soda. Here are some other great household uses for washing soda.

Dr. Bronner’s soaps are fair trade and made with vegetable castile soap and pure organic essential oils. Some DIY laundry recipes call for a bar of Fels Naptha soap or Zote but I’m not a fan of the ingredients. After years of using Dr. Bronners, I switched to this homemade laundry soap in my DIY recipe.

These tallow based soap flakes designed for DIY laundry detergent also work well.

How to Make Liquid Laundry Soap

  1. Grate one bar of soap with a cheese grater or food processor.
  2. Put the grated soap in a pan with 2 quarts of hot water and gradually heat. Stir constantly until the soap is completely dissolved.
  3. Put 4.5 gallons of really hot water in a 5-gallon bucket. These are often available for free in bakeries at grocery stores, just ask them. Stir in 2 cups of borax and 2 cups of washing soda until completely dissolved.
  4. Pour the soap mixture into the 5-gallon bucket and stir well.
  5. Cover and leave overnight.
  6. Shake or stir until smooth and pour into gallon jars or other containers.
  7. Use 1/2 to 1 cup per load of laundry.

Not only is it easy, but you can save money too!

A Note About Soap vs. Detergent

As mentioned above, there’s a chemical difference between soap and detergent. Conventional laundry detergents are formulated to work specifically with washing machines. They can work even in cold water or with hard water.

Many soaps are designed for the skin and aren’t as strong. Some sources suggest that over time, natural soaps can leave buildup in washers.

I’ve found that while this recipe works well for me, it isn’t suitable for all water types and washer types. If you’ve used natural laundry soap and experienced clothes getting dingy, this may be the reason. Newer HE washer top load machines and especially the front load washers are notorious for not getting clothes as clean as old-school versions. They can also be more temperamental when it comes to which laundry soap they like.

I’ve found one natural detergent that works brilliantly and can be used alone or in combination with homemade laundry soaps like this one. I often add 2-3 Tablespoons of Dr. Bronners Sal Suds per load as a natural detergent. Sal Suds gets out odors and is still a natural product (though technically a detergent/surfactant and not a soap). It even works as a natural stain remover.

Don’t Want to Make it?

I used to always make my own detergent but now I’ll usually buy a natural brand since there are some really healthy options. Here are some of my favorites:

  • Truly Free– Just a warning… after you try this laundry soap, you may never want to go back to DIY. This is the best smelling non-toxic laundry detergent I’ve tried and it works well on tough stains and dirt. Similar to my favorite all-purpose cleaner, a huge bonus is their eco-friendly approach. The detergent comes concentrated in a small refill packet which you add to warm water in the provided bottle. Super smart!
  • 2 tablespoons Sal Suds + 1/4 cup baking soda or washing soda (highly effective and super simple!) You can also use Sal Suds to make homemade dish soap.
  • Emma Eco Me Detergent – Also rated well by the EWG and comes in yummy scents.
  • Planet Natural Detergent –  Relatively eco-friendly and cost-effective.

The most frugal option is to make your own, but these natural alternatives are a good choice if you aren’t able to make it (or don’t want to).

Other Natural DIY Laundry Products and Tips

Instead of toxic fabric softeners, try using vinegar! Simply pour a cup of white vinegar in during the rinse cycle or in the washer dispenser.

Some people report good results with adding Epsom salt to their washing machine during the wash cycle. It can help soften hard water and reduce soap buildup for cleaner clothes. Here are some more DIY laundry recipes to add to your laundry cabinet.

Have you tried making your own laundry detergent? How did it work for you?

This homemade laundry detergent recipe is easy and very inexpensive to make, plus you avoid the chemicals of conventional detergents.
Sources

Become a VIP member!

Get access to my VIP newsletter with health tips, special deals, my free ebook on Seven Small Easy Habits and so much more!

Easy Habits ebook on ipad
Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Fit Bottomed Zone and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. fitbottomedzone.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Fit Bottomed Zone research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Fit Bottomed Zone Cookbook and The Fit Bottomed Zone 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

912 responses to “How to Make Laundry Detergent (Liquid or Powder Recipe)”

  1. Rachel Avatar

    Hi! Excellent article and I’m excited to try these two kids of laundry soap! One question I was hoping you could address….are they ok to use in my high efficiency ‘he’ washer? Thanks

  2. Kelly Avatar

    Another way to get tough odors and/or body oils out of laundry (musty towels, sports uniforms, bed linens, etc.) is to add a splash of white vinegar to the wash cycle along with your wash soap/detergent. For really stubborn sports uniforms, you can add another smaller splash of white vinegar to the rinse cycle. The clothes have no funky smells and they don’t smell like vinegar either.

    My mom used white vinegar on our sports uniforms (cheer, softball, track, tennis) when I was a kid more than 30 years ago, and I still use it today. I haven’t found anything better and more cost effective.

  3. Andrea Avatar

    Hi Katie,
    Do you know if it’s fine to store this detergent in a super hot garage? I live in the central valley and our laundry machine is in the garage, and we’ve been storing it there. Thanks so much for sharing your ideas! Xo
    Andrea

  4. Rebecca Avatar

    I use felsnaptha soap and oxi-clean (powder) I also mix the dry ingredients very well with hot water before adding to the bucket.

  5. Melissa Avatar

    Hello! I made the liquid laundry soap and was super excited to try it but experienced two huge problems: 1.) I followed the recipe exactly and put in 1 cup soap but it did not get my clothes clean. I tried multiple loads and could see food and diet left on my kids clothes. Even my whites weren’t clean. 2.) I washed my daughters pink cotton floral comforter with it and was upset to find that it actually faded the fabric!

    Help? I have so much soap and don’t want to toss it- is there a way to alter the recipe? I know from cloth diapering and testing my water that my water is only slightly hard. I have an HE washer BUT I have the conversion feature of having it deep fill the waters. Suggestions? Thanks!

    1. Christina Avatar

      I would say if it wasn’t effective on clothing, it’s still detergent. Use it on your floors, tubs, toilets. Should be fine.

  6. Lee Avatar

    Sal-Suds contains Sodium Lauryl Sulfate as the second ingredient.
    SLS is used as a skin irritant for testing. I do not knowingly use anything with SLS, SLES, nor ALS.
    Good thing Dr. Bronners has many more natural soap solutions!

  7. Martin Baker Avatar
    Martin Baker

    Love the article and the links to relevant topics. Some observations I’d like to add:
    – Benefits of using homemade soap vs. commercial is they still contain glycerin created in the soap making process. One of the “dirty” secrets of the commercial soap industry is they remove it causing the soap to dry your skin. Then they put it in one of their moisturizing products and sell it back to you to cure a condition they created! Having glycerin in the laundry soap means you won’t need to add fabric softener.
    – Save the 1 gal. windshield washing fluid containers for the liquid detergent. After a thorough rinsing they make great containers. The plastic milk and water jugs are much thinner and easily punctured.
    – Have you priced detergent lately? I think you’re saving a lot more than half with this recipe.

  8. Melany Avatar

    Is there a way to add drops of essential oils to the dry laudry soap recipe, without it clumping up?

  9. Kristin Avatar
    Kristin

    Aloha,
    I’m sorry if I’m missing it somewhere, but I don’t see a recipe for the powder version.

  10. Allison Offerle Avatar
    Allison Offerle

    I just completed this recipe for the laundry soap. I’m so surprised how easy it was!
    I took a picture, but cannot attach. Will continue using this recipe for future soaps!

  11. Nkuli Avatar

    Greetings, very new to this. I have just made the powdered diy detergent. 1 cup of washing soda,1 cup of borax,1 cup of grated sunlight soap..mixed them together. Took one table spoon in a small amount of water. I noticed there’s no foam. Where did I go wrong?

  12. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Great post! In addition, I’d recommend adding Biokleen’s oxygen bleach powder to the dry mixture and some vinegar to the fabric softener drawer (or a Downy fabric softener ball). The oxygen bleach keeps whites bright and the vinegar helps keep the washer clean.

  13. Estelle Avatar
    Estelle

    Hello! How much Sal Suds do you add to each 5 Gallon container? Thank you!

  14. Linda Lundstrom Avatar
    Linda Lundstrom

    I just made the liquid laundry soap with borax, laundry soap, bar of Fels-Naptha soap. It made a 5 gallon bucket. It just occurred to me that perhaps I cannot use this laundry detergent in a high-efficiency washing machine. Could you please tell me if I can use the recipe in a HE machine? Thank you!

  15. Joanne Avatar
    Joanne

    just wondering if you can add the sal suds to the batch of laundry liquid? if so, how much?

  16. Lauren Avatar
    Lauren

    I have used this liquid detergent for years. I’m about to have another baby and an wondering if this detergent works well for cloth diapers? Thanks in advance!

  17. Bertha Avatar
    Bertha

    Could you add the surfactant that you use in your dishwasher to your liquid laundry soap

  18. Katy Wilburn Avatar
    Katy Wilburn

    If I were To replace a bar soap with Dr Bronners Sal Suds, how much would you suggest i use? I’m concerned about residue build up in my machine with the use of a bar soap…thank you!!

4.08 from 67 votes (62 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating