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 (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, 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.
Natural Laundry Soap Recipe
Yield
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
How to Make Liquid Laundry Soap
- Grate one bar of soap with cheese grater or food processor.
- Put grated soap in pan with 2 quarts water and gradually heat, stirring constantly until soap is completely dissolved.
- 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.
- Pour soap mixture from pan into 5-gallon bucket. Stir well.
- Cover and leave overnight.
- Shake or stir until smooth and pour into gallon jugs or other containers.
- 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
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?
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?
Can you use this with high efficiency washing machines?
Yes
If I use liquid castille soap instead of a bar for the liquid detergent recipe…do I still need to combine it with the 2 quarts of water? And how much liquid soap equals a bar of soap? Thanks!
About a cup… you don’t need to add the liquid, but if you don’t, just use a couple tablespoons of the mixture per load.
So if I use te liquid Castile soap instead of the bar of soap I should use a 1 cup?
Yep
What do u mean by parts on the powder mix?
In other words, if you are mixing them up, use the measure you want to use as the “part.” For instance, if you were using a cup measure, 1 cup=1 part
Dr. Bronner’s soaps are FAIR trade. That is the opposite of Free trade (I’m sure you know, just wanted to give you a head’s up that the terms got switched in your post!) Thanks so much for this tutorial. It is almost exactly how I make my laundry soap, too, except that I favor Fels Naptha.
Thanks for catching that typo! I’ll fix it.
I’ve seen several different recipes. Some say to use to use 1/3 bar of fels naptha, some say to dilute the five gallons of detergent with five gallons of water. I am getting ready to make my own & don’t know which to follow.
I’m wondering if there is any way that body wash could be substituted for a bar of soap? My hubby wants his detergent to smell “manly” if possible. Any suggestions?
The Dr. Bronners comes in a peppermint that I think smells amazing, also in tea tree or almond. Would he like any of those? Using a body wash adds in a lot of the chemcials some of us are hoping to avoid.
I would use tea tree, cedarwood, lemon, cypress, and myrhh essential oils for a man.. my husband smells so good with cedar and patchouli!!
Eucalyptus and peppermint! There used to be a bath and body works line of soaps, bodywashes, etc..they smell very manly.
I just made my first batch of liquid laundry detergent and I’m excited! My house smells so clean and fresh! I used part Zote and part Ivory for my soap and after adding my Borax and washing soda, I added 1 cup of oxy-clean and 1 cup Purex crystals. I can’t wait to try it. Now maybe I won’t dread laundry days so much. Soon as I find a way to grind up my soap, I’m going to try the dry type.
I have a bar soap of Austin’s natural soap called hippie hollow with hemp seed oil…..do you think I could use this? This is what is in it:
Austin Natural Soap is handcrafted and handmade in Austin, Texas in small batches using only quality plant-based oils for their moisturizing properties. All of our soaps contain base oils of olive, palm, and coconut with vitamin E added as a natural preservative. In addition, all of our soaps include one or more extra moisturizing super-fatting oils (e.g. cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, castor oil, avocado oil, hemp seed oil, jojoba oil and/or shea butter). Your skin will feel clean, smooth, and soft after using our soap – no lotion needed! No animal fat is used in our handmade, vegan, herbal soaps and natural glycerin is not extracted – unlike commercial soaps. All of our handmade Texas soaps are pH tested and we do not test on animals (only willingly tested by our friends and family!).
It should work…
What do you use in the dryer, if anything, or do you line dry your clothes?
Usually dryer balls- get it soft without the chemicals
Do dryer balls also take care of the static (my main concern)?
Yes
I tried the liquid laundery soap recipe this weekend and it did not gel and it seemed that 4.5 gallons plus 2 qts of water was too much. What did I do wrong?
What kind of bar soap did you use? There can be some variation there, but it should still work, even if it didn’t gel.
So is it supposed to gel? I made it last night, and mine gelled but I thought its supposed to be smooth?? Also, does it go in the top dispenser or in with the clothes? Thanks!
Gelling is good. It goes in with the clothes
Thanks for the recipe! I use Kirks Castille soap (for the grated soap bar component in homemade laundry detergent), it’s in a white package with red & navy writing, it’s pretty cheap per bar, and you can find it at any grocer. I also use vinegar in a laundry ball for fabric softener (no, clothes do not smell like vinegar afterwards). I also put alot of essentail oil in mine, like lavender or eucalyptus.
I have been looking for a natural homemade laundry detergent but all the recipes I have found have borax in them. Isn’t borax something you should avoid? Maybe I am wrong but could someone please explain?
what about adding Dr. Bronners castile liquid soap? I bought lavender for a nice smell. Would it mix well with the ingredients? Also, I have read that it might fade clothes. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Can you not use liquid Dr. Bronners to make liquid detergent?
You can, or you can even use it alone as a detergent.
I have the peppermint brand of Dr. bronners liquid. Please advise what would be the amount needed into the mix and how many cups of Borax and washing soda. Is it the same?
Can you use this on cloth diapers also to get them clean without weekening them?
I’ve heard opinions both ways on this, as some people say the soap can clog them. Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds does great by itself though…
I’m making the liquid version today and was wondering since this recipe makes a lot how long it will last in a closed 5 gallon bucket…will it not go bad? Thanks for any help!!!
Mine have lasted up to four months before I’ve used them up
In a 2 person household doing maybe 4 loads a week, it lasted for a very long time with no problems. I dated the bucket, but the marker wore off!
Depending on which version you make, it would have natural soap in it. I personally do use it on my diapers, but definitely follow the instructions for your brand!
I was wondering if Mrs. Meyers triple presses Castile soap will work? I cannot find dr. Bronners in my town. Thanks 🙂
That will work
Can you use Zote laundry soap instead of Dr. Bronners? I have seen other recipes with Fels-Natha laundry soap and the Zote is basically the same.
A couple questions: 1) ls this recipe safe for HE front-loading washers? 2) The grasshopper cloth diapers website says not to wash the diapers with “natural soap” – . Would this recipe be considered “natural soap?”
1 part baking soda/1part oxyclean or sun oxy/ 1 part soda wash/ 1part borax for cloth diapers. No castile/ bar soap due to residue build-up which can affect absorbtion! <3. *I Love your toothpaste Wellness Mama!*
Is this recipe safe for HE front-loading washing machines?
Yes, it is non foaming…
I am planning on using a (cleaned) re-purposed 5 gallon container that held liquid and does not have the wide open top like a regular 5 gallon bucket. Do you think it would be ok to mix/ dissolve the borax and washing soda and hot water in a large pot (like a canning size pot) then pour into the 5 gallon container with the rest of the hot water and shake to mix? Then complete the rest of the recipe as stated?
absolutely. As long as they dissolve, it will work. You could probably even do it in a smaller container… You’ll just have to shake the bucket rather than stir it to remix the next day…
Worked like a charm – thanks! I dissolved the Borax and Washing soda in about 2.5 gallons of hot water and then mixed in the soap mixture with the remaining 2 gallons of hot water and now it’s doing it’s overnight thing! Thanks for your response – and your recipes! I also made the counter top cleaner so I’m feeling nice and natural today! Wellness Mama is a fabulous site!
Thanks so much! Glad it worked well 🙂
Quick question: Do you recommend using only Dr. Bronner’s unscented soap, or could I also use the lavender scented bar? Is the scented okay to use?
Yep… Scented is fine 🙂
Is this safe to use in an he washer?
YES. Just use 1-3 tablespoons!