How to Make Laundry Soap (Liquid or Powder Recipe)

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Liquid or Powder Natural Laundry Detergent
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Making your own natural, homemade laundry detergent is one of the easiest parts of a transition to natural living. This natural laundry soap recipe a great way to save money on laundry detergent and is incredibly easy to make. This homemade laundry detergent post is an updated version of this recipe that addresses high efficiency washers and borax safety.

Why Switch to Natural Laundry Soap?

Conventional laundry detergent is loaded with chemicals like sulfates, fragrances, phenols and more. Many brands contain things like petroleum distillates, which are linked to cancer and lung disease. Fragrances in these detergents are made of 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:

DIY Laundry Soap Ingredients

  • Washing Soda (Arm and Hammer Brand available at most stores)Borax Powder
  • Borax (20 Mule Team Borax available at most grocery stores)
  • Bar Soap (Dr. Bronner’s,  Ivory, or other natural, unscented bar soap)

Washing Soda and Borax should be available at your local grocery store on the laundry aisle. Natural bar soaps are in the health, beauty, or organic sections of the store, or online. You can also add a couple tablespoons of baking soda to help freshen clothes.

Wonder What’s in These Ingredients?

Borax is a naturally occurring mineral made up of sodium, boron, oxygen, and water. It is an ingredient in most of the natural soaps available now (Seventh Generation, etc.) but it is much more inexpensive to make yourself. There are some concerns about the safety of Borax, but here’s why I feel comfortable using it, especially for laundry.

Washing Soda

Washing Soda, sometimes called sodium carbonate or soda ash, is made from common salt and limestone or found as natural deposits. If you can’t find this locally, you can make your own from plain baking soda with this tutorial. 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 oils.

Liquid or Powder Natural Laundry Detergent
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4.10 from 66 votes

Natural Laundry Soap Recipe

This homemade laundry detergent recipe is easy and very inexpensive to make, plus you avoid the chemicals of conventional detergents.
Prep Time15 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Yield: 2.5 cups
Author: Katie Wells

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 chop 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.
  • 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.
Homemade liquid laundry soap recipe

How to Make Liquid Laundry Soap

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

These recipes are also a great way to save money on laundry. By my calculations, I am saving over half on my laundry bill by switching

A Note About Soap vs. Detergent

All Natural Laundry Soap Recipes - two ways

As mentioned above, there is chemically a difference between soap and detergent. The advantage of conventional laundry detergents is that they are formulated to work specifically in washing machine environments. Many soaps are designed for skin and are not 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.

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 tough stains and odors and is still a natural product (though technically a detergent/surfactant and not a soap).

Don’t Want to Make it?

Homemade Natural Effective Laundry Soap Recipe

We usually make our own detergent, but for times when we are traveling or I haven’t had time to make it, I’ve found a few good brands of eco friendly laundry detergent that actually work (all received an “A” by the Environmental Working Group):

  • My Green Fills Laundry Detergent – Just a warning… after you try this laundry soap, you may be ruined for DIY forever. 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 (hence the name) 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!)
  • Ecover Zero Laundry Detergent– Works well, relatively cost effective and low/no risk of developmental or reproductive toxicity and cancer according to the EWG.
  • Emma Eco Me Detergent – Also rated well by the EWG and cleans up to 64  loads for $12. Good scents.
  • Planet Natural Detergent –  Relatively eco-friendly and cost effective at $9 for 32 loads.

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

Have you tried making your own laundry detergent? What ingredients did you use?

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

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama 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. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

906 responses to “How to Make Laundry Soap (Liquid or Powder Recipe)”

  1. Doris Avatar

    Hi! I made this today for the first time (a similar version 4lb box Borax/4lb box A&H Baking Soda/3 bars of Ivory soap) and am having some concerns.

    1. There isn’t a lot of sudsy action in the water.
    2. The clothes don’t smell like anything when I take them out of the washer.
    3. I am putting the 2 tbsp of dry detergent in the bottom of the washer, like when the water is filling up and then add clothes on top of that. Is this why my clothes aren’t smelling/getting sudsy?

    1. Joseph Ashford Avatar
      Joseph Ashford

      The sudsing could be due to hard water. Your clothes are getting cleaned. If you want a smell/ fragrance add some essential oils.

  2. Mary Avatar

    I used some soap base that I had on hand and grated it. It was a little moist and all my powders clumped together in one big solid clump after a few hours. Does this happen with the Dr. Bronners?

    1. michell Avatar
      michell

      I did the same thing . I let it dry out then blend it in my food processor you may have to add a little more dry ingredient of your choice ( arm & hammer) it will come fine.

  3. Leigh Avatar

    I have been making my own laundry soap for about a year. I am having a problem with stinky laundry, especially my husband’s work clothes and linens. I use powder and usually wash clothes on cold but the linens on hot. Any tips?

  4. chell Avatar

    I want to know what happened to Jamie’s new found experiment with the COOL WHIP detergent ? Did it work ?

  5. Bear Avatar

    Has anyone tried the liquid versions of the castile soaps in their laundry detergent mixes?

  6. Susan Avatar

    I found this on wikipedia and I must say I would think twice before using borax “Borax was added to the Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) candidate list on 16 December 2010. The SVHC candidate list is part of the EU Regulations on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals 2006 (REACH), and the addition was based on the revised classification of Borax as toxic for reproduction category 1B under the CLP Regulations. Substances and mixtures imported into the EU which contain Borax are now required to be labelled with the warnings “May damage fertility” and “May damage the unborn child”.[

    1. Joseph Ashford Avatar
      Joseph Ashford

      Straight use of borax can be dangerous. Just as straight alcohol can be dangerous. But by adding other items the danger deminishes. Borax is a caustic chemical, as are most household chemicals.

  7. En Avatar

    I refrain from using Fels-Naphtha soap because it still has colorants in it as well as petrochemicals. The smell gets to me as well,….funny, it never did when my grandma used the stuff ages ago. Methinks the FN recipe has been altered since then

  8. Sica Bishop Avatar
    Sica Bishop

    Love the effectiveness of this recipe!
    Living in Florida, I have had a problem with caking though… I have to chisel it to use it. Do you have any handy suggestions?

    Thanks!

    1. Joseph Ashford Avatar
      Joseph Ashford

      Add more baking soda. Also, if feasible, place some rice in cheesecloth and hem it up. The rice will absorb the moisture before the detergent does. Apply this rice pouch to the lid of your detergent bottle.

  9. Shaunda Avatar
    Shaunda

    I’ve commented a few times but my posts never seem to make the board, I hope this one does because I’d really like your and others opinion on this one…
    I’ve heard Borax is not good to launder cloth diapers with, apparently it will make the diapers less absorbent and can build up. I’ve been cloth diapering my 2yo since birth and have been using Nellie’s laundry soda which seems to be great but I would like to pinch some more pennies and keep a few chemicals off my baby’s bottom in the process. Any thoughts? A tip I’ve found with CD is to put a cup of white vinegar in the rinse cycle if you plan to use baking soda.

  10. Deborah F Avatar
    Deborah F

    REGARDING MAKING LIQUID LAUNDRY SOAP: Say, has anyone had problems with the soap re-hardening and rising to the top of the liquid mixture after melting and blending on top of the stove? I used ZOTE originally, thinking I would make this into a dry laundry soap. However, I do not have a food processor and using my blender did not granularize the grated soap with some of the soda but make a gunky mess in the bottom. So I thought, okay, I’ll make liquid laundry soap instead, so I put the soap mixed with some soda into a stock pot on the stove with water, brought to boil, turned down and simmer until the soap melted. Then I mixed hot tap water into bucket, added borax and soda and melted soap/water/some soda mixture and stirred it up. Later, I went to check on it and the soap had risen to the top and formed a “crust” on top of the mixture, even though the liquid still was hot and condensing water on the pail lid. What did I do wrong?

  11. Tristan Avatar
    Tristan

    Hi Katie,

    I have really sensitive skin and I am allegeric to a lot of chemicals that are in regular laundry detergent, I’m also allergic to formaldehyde. I plan on trying your recipe for laundry detergent. Do you think it would be ok if I also added a quarter or half cup of white distilled vinegar to my laundry during the rinse portion of the cycle? I’ve read that vinegar can actually help remove some formaldehyde that is in clothing. Thanks in advance for your help!
    Best,
    Tristan

  12. Shaunda Avatar
    Shaunda

    Hi Wellness Mama,

    Laundry aside, what do you use as a dish soap?

    Thanks, Shaunda

    1. Shaunda Avatar
      Shaunda

      p.s. you had me with the Placenta Pot Roast, I was close to boycotting your site 🙂

  13. Cris Avatar

    I have made this recipe and it works great. I would even argue that I got way more than 80 loads as well! Also, as an eczema sufferer, I have absolutely no problem with this recipe, Borax, or the washing soda.

  14. Jamie Avatar

    So, in an attempt to find a short cut to making a liquid detergent with what I had on hand I made an interesting discovery I thought I would share. I only had about 1 cup of Dr Bronners left from making my previous batches of powdered soap, so I didn’t have enough to follow the recipe without going to the store and I needed to wash clothes asap. So I dissolved my 1 cupish of grated soap in a 2 qt pot on the stove, poured it into the food processor and added 1 cup each of the Borax and Washing Powder then turned it on. I left it running for just a minute or two, thinking it would mix everything up better than I was doing with the spoon. I loaded my laundry into the washer and came back to a very surprisingly whipped batch of detergent! It is about the same consistency of cool whip. I thought hey that works for me! In theory it should dissolve better and be more effective. This made about 2/3 of a gallon and I added 1 scoop to the wash. I will let you know how it works out! Just may be the perfect inbetween for making smaller batches in less time. 🙂

    1. chell Avatar

      GGirrrllll did it work .I really want to know so I can make your COOL WHIP RECEIPE !!!

  15. Gloria B Avatar
    Gloria B

    Thanks for the soap recipe
    I found that the ivory soap does not truly make flakes and does not mix with the borax and washing soda to an even consistency.
    Is this normal?
    I will be trying this recipe tomorrow.

  16. James c Avatar

    Wow there are a lot of comments
    But
    You say to use a quarter cup to half a cup in your recipe. But every other recipe calls to only use a teaspoon to two teaspoons of powder depending on load size.
    Why the significant increase in amount if powder per load?

  17. Rachel Avatar

    I’ve been using the liquid detergent for a little over a week, and I love it!! I have two sons and a hard-working husband, so we tend to have lots of dirty clothes and they’ve all come out sparkling clean! I just have a quick question… there are small particles mixed in the detergent (maybe soap). I was sure that I had dissolved the soap fully before mixing, but they do seem to dissolve as soon as I touch them. I’ve just made sure to give the gallon jug a good shake before pouring into the washer. Is this normal?

  18. Christine Avatar
    Christine

    Hi! I made your laundry detergent recipe last weekend (my first time ever making my own laundry detergent!) I used the same ingredients you listed. After I let it cool overnight, I found that the detergent was very liquid-y. Is that what the consistency is supposed to be? I know store bought detergents are quite thicker, but this was not like that. I stirred and stirred it but it looked to be more like cloudy water. I used it on a load of laundry and it left soap residue—I had to re-rinse several times to try to get the residue out. Do you know what I could have done wrong?

  19. Denise Avatar

    Hi. I was curious if you can interchange the Dr. Bronners bar soap for the liquid soap? Thanks!

    1. Caitlyn Avatar

      Denise, I use 1 cup of Dr Bronners liquid castile soap in place of the bar soap. Rogughly replace 1 bar of soap with 1 cup liquid.

  20. Natalie Avatar

    Hi Katie! I just made a batch of the powdered detergent, modified slightly. I used 2 c borax, 2 c washing soda, 1 c OxiClean, 1 c grated bath soap and 1 c Purex Crystals (for scent). I just did my first load using 1/4 c detergent, and nearly all the elastic clothing items are damaged.

    Do you have a suggestion for how I could alter the proportions in my recipe (add to what I already have) to prevent this from happening again? I’m fairly clueless on pH issues! Thanks. 🙂

4.10 from 66 votes (62 ratings without comment)

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