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. Mark Avatar

    I am very keen to try this as we live in an area particularly sensitive to detergent contamination. We don’t have a washing machine, I was hoping to use this as a hand wash detergent. Do you have any suggestions regarding dosage, or any other thoughts other than wear gloves? BTW, I just found your site and it ties in beautifully with the life we live here, many thanks for your work.

  2. Amanda Avatar

    Hi Katie!

    Have you tried Molly’s Suds Laundry Powder? Seems the most natural and I think it is working for me but would like to know what you think of it. EWG rated A

  3. Sarah Avatar

    I have been using this recipe for as long as I can remember. I use all natural products since I had my daughter. I currently use Kirks Coconut Castle Soap because my husband is allergic to Olive Oil so Dr Bronners is out of the question. I like using Zote because it is a natural brightener and in my experience works better alone than washing soda and baking soda. I was wondering if anyone has tried using 2 bar soaps instead just 1? I was thinking 1/2 part one soap and 1/2 part the other soap?

    1. Natalie Avatar

      Kirks Coconut Castle Soap comes out cheaper. Do you like it better?
      Also does Zote work well on dark clothes?

      1. Sarah Avatar

        Yes, I love the Kirks feel like our clothes are more soft and comfortable. I find the Zote works very well and I noticed none of my husbands dark work clothes are faded. The Zote seems to keeps clothes color brigthnes

  4. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    I am interested in trying the powder detergent, is this safe to use for my baby’s clothes too?

  5. Tony M. Avatar

    Can scented bar soaps, like Irish Spring or something, in place of Ivory or the others? Or is just better to stick with what’s recommeded?

  6. Jennifer Avatar

    I have been using this recipe for quite some time. It is SO much cheaper this way.

  7. Julie Avatar

    Love that your laundry soap is an easy one! I am planning on trying it ASAP, especially since I found out on the EWG website that All Free and Clear is not rated well at all. Thanks for the info!

  8. Sharon Avatar

    What about the washers that require HE soaps? Will the brands you recommended and the recipes work for these?

  9. Malee Williams Avatar
    Malee Williams

    Hello. I have been using the recipe 1 part grated soap + 2 parts Borax + 2 parts Washing soda for over a year now . Seems to work great. However, I am seeing other recipes online with VERY different ratio. One I just found says this:
    1 cup grated soap
    1/2 cup borax
    1/2 cup washing soda

    This means that the there is MUCH less borax and washing soda than the recipe I’ve been using…Any thoughts on this????

  10. Christian Avatar

    I made this laundry detergent (liquid) according to recipe, and I have noticed that it’s developed a weird smell. I have stored it in a 5 gallon bucket on my back porch, out of sunlight, in southern Alabama heat.

    The container is not airtight, but I put a piece of wood over the top to keep anything out of it. I used Seventh Generation bar soap instead of Ivory.

    It has been doing a pretty good job, but today I noticed it kind of has a chemical smell almost like ammonia. It stays clumped at the top and the rest is liquid, like water. I have no idea what I did wrong and would love your insight.

    Thank you so much, and I look forward to hearing back from you!

    1. Jackie Avatar

      When I made this, it would always separate over time. After it sat in the 5 gallon bucket overnight, I used a mixing attachment on a power drill to mix it up (every time I made it, it had a thick layer of gel with watery stuff underneath after resting overnight). Then, I would put it into gallon or half gallon jugs making sure to leave plenty of space to shake it up. It does tend to separate but I found that if I combined it really well, a few shakes when I did laundry was enough to combine it for use. I used a big wooden spoon the first couple of times but the power drill worked great!

      I don’t know what to tell you about the ammonia smell. I never had that happen but I live in the midwest and kept mine in the basement, which never really gets hot. Maybe Katie will have some insight.

  11. Andrew Avatar

    WM, following your laundry detergent recipe, you note that

    “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.

    Washing Soda Washing Soda, sometimes called sodium carbonate or soda ash, is made from common salt and limestone or found as natural deposits.”

    As these two cleaning/polishing agents are derived from Earth-based mineral deposits, their commercial-scale extraction, transport, processing, packaging and retail must require expenditures of enormous amounts of fossil fuel-derived energy (the mining/extraction, transport and refining of which are a witches’ brew of environmental insults to the biosphere), not to mention the devastation caused by related mineral mining operations.

    In light of these insights, have you come across any laundry detergent recipes developed from sustainably sourced materials?

  12. Joyce Avatar

    You can answer me privately if you want on this question but I tried the following recipe for about 4 months (it’s a dry soap solution) and it slowly turned all my white clothes gray. I’m back to using Tide again and now my whites are staying that way.
    I’d rather use a natural soap but the solution that I used should have worked. Did I do something wrong?

    Ingredients
    • 1 Box of Super Washing Soda 3 lb. 7 oz.
    • 1 Box of Borax 4 lbs 12 oz. size
    • 1 Box of Pure Baking Soda 4 lb.
    • 3 bars of Fels-Naptha 5.5 oz. or you could also use Ivory soap (I used Zote)
    • 1 container of Oxy-Clean 1.3 lb ($3.86) or use 3 lb size for about
    • *optional: Purex Crystals 28 oz. for scent (or you could use Downy unstoppables (3 tbls)

    Thanks!
    Joyce

  13. Dee Avatar

    This appears to be the same recipe as the HE recipe. I assume the ingredients are all the same?

    Can’t wait to try it! 🙂

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      The ingredients are the same, but the proportions are totally different! This creates a lot more suds than the HE detergent because of the proportions, so please use the detergent appropriate to your machine!

  14. Morgan Hunter Avatar
    Morgan Hunter

    Hi I would love to make the liquid soap. My sister made the powder soap and I found it cleaned better than the tide pods we had at the time. I would like to do the liquid soap but would like to concentrate it so I can reuse the bottle of purex powershot to make sure everyone is measuring correctly. The bottle fills up 1 oz. I know normally, you use a 1/2 cup or a full cup of the liquid. If I triple the recipe but use the same amount of water, would that work so I just have to use 2 oz per load? Or would that cause something bad to happen or for it not to work?

  15. Sarah Avatar

    I live in South America and can’t get washing soda here. I added more baking soda to my batch. Does regular baking soda work in place of the washing soda?

  16. Bianca Avatar

    Is the liquid laundry soap suitable to use on Modern Cloth Nappies/diapers?

    Thanks

  17. Allyson Judkins Avatar
    Allyson Judkins

    Just made this!! All ingredients together cost me roughly $9 ( I bought a 3pk of Ivory soap) To make a triple batch took me less than 15 minutes!! And that is actually including some clean up because I forgot I was timing myself! Super easy. I was initially going to add some lavender essential oil but I think the Ivory has a pleasant clean smell to it!! I definitely recommend this for busy moms! I work full time and am in school and this wasn’t very timely. Thanks Katie!

  18. Chanel Avatar

    According to Crunchy betty’s site, borax can be a skin irritant, and caused infertility in men (they tried it on mice). So I thought this would be a natural, healthy, recipe but I’m trying to find one without borax and would be good on the skin since it matters what we wash our clothes with since it goes on our body.

  19. Rachel Avatar

    I was originally planning on doing the dry detergent b/c it seemed more convenient. Dr. Bronner’s soap yielded 1 cup after chopped up ($4.69, ouch!). I also measured six cups in the 55 ounce box Washing Soda (at $3.97 is $0.66/cup) and nine cups in the 76 ounce box of Borax (at $3.97 is $0.44/cup).

    Making a 5 cup batch would bring my total for the batch to $6.89 (.66*2 +.44*2+4.69). Five cups would make 40- 1/8 cup loads or 20-1/4 cup loads. Each load would cost $0.17-$0.34 per load while my usual detergent (All Free and Clear) is about $0.10 per load. Tear.

    The cost for the liquid detergent is different because it only uses one cup of borax and one cup washing soda and also yields many more loads (5 gallons = 80 cups, so 80 one cup loads or 160 half cup loads). This is the only $5.79 (.66 +.44 + 4.69) for one batch making each load $0.036- $0.07 (not to mention a little more time).

    So my question is why does the powdered detergent need more borax and washing soda than the liquid?

    My Conclusion: I think it’s worth the time, money, and space on my shelf to make the liquid detergent. This homemade detergent is greatly cheaper than buying all natural detergents in the store. The 3 listed above are $0.28, $0.21, and $0.41 per load. I need to find a cheaper place to buy Dr. Bronner’s soap, and I recommend reading previous comments before posting a question. I read a few questions more than 3 times.

    Sorry for the long mathematical post (I’m a math teacher) and thanks for the recipe! I really enjoyed your blog and can’t wait to try my homemade detergent! Next up, I’m making dryer balls from wool yarn and mixing up some essential oils with water to spray on the balls before putting them into the dryer!

  20. Paula Frischknecht Avatar
    Paula Frischknecht

    I love your page! I use a recipe similar to this, but with the fels-naptha. We are trying to rid our home of all harmful substances and was wondering what is in fels-naptha that is questionable.
    Thanks,
    Paula

4.10 from 66 votes (62 ratings without comment)

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