This article may contain affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you buy through them — at no extra cost to you.
Making your own laundry powder is one of those swaps that sounds complicated until you actually try it. In reality, you only need a few ingredients and about ten minutes.
For some households, a homemade laundry powder can be an inexpensive way to simplify the products used around the home and skip added fragrance and dyes.
But homemade laundry soap isn’t necessarily the right choice for everyone—or every washing machine. Below, I’ll show you exactly how I make it, what each ingredient does, and a few things to know before you decide whether DIY laundry detergent makes sense for your home.
Looking for a ready-made option instead? Read my Best Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent: What to Look For & Avoid guide for what I look for on ingredient labels and my favorite cleaner laundry detergent options.
The Short Answer
A basic homemade laundry powder can be made with:
- 1 cup washing soda
- 1 cup borax
- 1 bar unscented pure soap, finely grated
Mix everything together, store it in an airtight container, and start with a small amount per load.
That’s it.
But before you grab your mixing bowl, there are a few things worth knowing about the ingredients—and especially about using soap-based recipes in high-efficiency washing machines.
Why Make Your Own Laundry Detergent?
The biggest advantage of making laundry powder at home is simple: you know exactly what’s in it.
Instead of choosing a product with a long ingredient list, added fragrance, dyes, or ingredients you may prefer to avoid, you’re starting with just a few basic cleaning ingredients.
It can also be:
- inexpensive per load
- easy to make in larger batches
- packaged without another plastic detergent bottle
- customized without added fragrance
- convenient once you have the ingredients on hand
That doesn’t mean every conventional detergent is “toxic” or every homemade ingredient is harmless. I prefer looking at individual ingredients rather than assuming natural = safe and synthetic = unsafe.
If you’d rather buy detergent than make it, my article to choosing a non-toxic laundry detergent walks through the ingredients I look for, what I avoid, and some of my favorite options.
The Basic 3-Ingredient Laundry Powder Recipe
What You’ll Need
1 cup washing soda
Washing soda, also called sodium carbonate, is much more alkaline than baking soda. It helps soften water and gives the wash water more cleaning power, particularly when you’re dealing with grease, oils, and everyday grime.
1 cup borax
Borax is a mineral-based laundry booster that can help soften water and improve cleaning.
However, I don’t consider borax something that should be treated casually just because it is naturally occurring. Avoid inhaling the powder, keep it out of your eyes, and store it securely away from children and pets.
1 bar unscented pure soap
Look for a simple, fragrance-free bar with as short an ingredient list as possible.
I prefer skipping heavily fragranced laundry bars if the goal is to reduce unnecessary fragrance in the first place.
How to Make Homemade Laundry Detergent
Step 1: Grate the soap
Finely grate one bar of unscented soap.
The finer you grate it, the more easily it can disperse in the wash.
I found a simple box cheese grater at my local thrift store and keep it just for grating soap. You definitely don’t need anything fancy for this step — an inexpensive grater works perfectly fine.
If you’d rather buy one new, here’s a box grater I recommend. I wouldn’t spend too much on it, though, since you’ll likely only be using it for soap.
Step 2: Add the washing soda and borax
Add:
- 1 cup washing soda
- 1 cup borax
Mix thoroughly with the grated soap.
Because these ingredients can create fine airborne dust, pour and mix them gently rather than vigorously shaking or stirring the powder.
Step 3: Store it
Transfer the mixture to a tightly sealed container and keep it somewhere cool and dry.
A glass jar with a secure lid works well—as long as it’s clearly labeled and stored safely away from children and pets.
Step 4: Use a small amount
Start with approximately 1 tablespoon for a regular load.
For larger or heavily soiled loads, you may need slightly more.
More isn’t necessarily better. Using too much laundry product can make rinsing more difficult and contribute to residue on clothing or inside your washing machine.
Does Homemade Laundry Detergent Actually Work?
This is where I think it’s important to be realistic.
A homemade recipe like this isn’t the same thing as a professionally formulated laundry detergent.
Commercial detergents often contain carefully formulated surfactants, enzymes, water conditioners, and other ingredients designed to remove different types of stains across a range of temperatures and water conditions.
This homemade version is much simpler.
For everyday lightly to moderately soiled clothing, some households may find that it works perfectly well.
But results can vary depending on:
- your water hardness
- wash temperature
- type of washing machine
- how dirty your clothes are
- fabric type
- how much powder you use
This is one reason I wouldn’t promise that homemade laundry powder will clean exactly as well as every commercial detergent.
A Note About HE Washing Machines
If you have a high-efficiency washer, check your machine’s owner’s manual before using a homemade soap-based laundry recipe.
HE washers are designed to use low-sudsing HE detergent, and manufacturers may specifically recommend using products formulated for HE machines.
Soap-based homemade mixtures haven’t necessarily been tested or formulated for your washer and can potentially contribute to residue or buildup.
If your washing-machine manufacturer requires HE detergent, I would follow the manufacturer’s instructions and choose a fragrance-free HE detergent instead.
You can find cleaner ready-made options in my Best Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent: What to Look For & Avoid article.
What About Borax? Is It Really Non-Toxic?
This is probably worth addressing because borax gets described online as both completely harmless and extremely dangerous.
The reality is more nuanced.
Borax is a naturally occurring mineral compound, but natural doesn’t automatically mean harmless.
It can irritate the eyes and should not be swallowed. I treat it the same way I treat other household cleaning products: use it as directed, avoid breathing the powder, and keep it safely stored away from children and pets.
If avoiding borax altogether is important to you, a borax-free laundry routine may be a better fit.
What About Borax? Is It Really Non-Toxic?
This is probably worth addressing because borax gets described online as both completely harmless and extremely dangerous.
The reality is more nuanced.
Borax is a naturally occurring mineral compound, but natural doesn’t automatically mean harmless.
It can irritate the eyes and should not be swallowed. I treat it the same way I treat other household cleaning products: use it as directed, avoid breathing the powder, and keep it safely stored away from children and pets.
If avoiding borax altogether is important to you, a borax-free laundry routine may be a better fit.
What About Sea Salt?
You may notice that some homemade laundry detergent recipes include sea salt.
Salt can play a few small supporting roles in a laundry powder. It may help keep the mixture dry and free-flowing, and it can sometimes help with color bleeding or certain water conditions.
But sea salt is not a detergent or surfactant, so it doesn’t actually do much of the heavy lifting when it comes to removing oils, body soil, or everyday dirt from fabric.
That’s why I don’t include it in this basic recipe.
Washing soda, borax, and soap already each have a clear purpose, and I prefer keeping the formula as simple as possible rather than adding ingredients that aren’t essential.
You’ll sometimes see claims that salt dramatically brightens whites, sanitizes laundry, or makes homemade detergent much more powerful. At the small amounts typically used in a washing machine, I wouldn’t rely on it for those purposes.
Bottom line: Sea salt isn’t necessarily a bad addition, but for this recipe, it’s optional—not essential.
Optional: What About Essential Oils?
You’ll see essential oils added to almost every homemade laundry detergent recipe online.
They’re completely optional.
If your goal is a truly fragrance-free laundry routine—particularly for sensitive skin—I would actually leave them out.
Essential oils contain naturally occurring fragrance compounds, and “natural fragrance” can still cause irritation or sensitivity for some people.
If you enjoy a light scent and tolerate essential oils well, you can experiment with a small amount. Just remember that adding essential oil doesn’t improve the cleaning ability of the recipe.
For the simplest version?
I would keep the detergent unscented.
How Much Does Homemade Laundry Detergent Cost?
One reason DIY laundry powder remains popular is cost.
Washing soda and borax are relatively inexpensive, and one bar of soap can make many loads of laundry.
Your exact cost per load will depend on the brands you buy and how much powder you use, but making a basic batch can be considerably less expensive than purchasing many specialty laundry detergents.
And because all three ingredients are useful for other cleaning projects around the house, they don’t necessarily have to sit unused between batches.
A Few Tips Before You Start
Start with less.
Using extra detergent doesn’t automatically make clothes cleaner.
Watch for residue.
If you notice a film on your clothes or inside your washer, your mixture may not be dissolving or rinsing completely.
Water hardness matters.
Soap-based laundry recipes tend to behave differently depending on the mineral content of your water.
Be careful with delicate fabrics.
Always check garment care instructions before experimenting with alkaline laundry boosters.
Keep powders away from children and pets.
Homemade doesn’t mean edible or harmless.
Check your washing-machine manual.
Especially if you own a front-loading or HE washer.
Homemade vs. Store-Bought Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent
So which one is better?
I don’t think there’s one answer for every household.
Homemade laundry powder may be a good fit if you:
- want an extremely short ingredient list
- prefer fragrance-free laundry
- enjoy making household products yourself
- want an inexpensive option
- have a washing machine that is compatible with the recipe
A formulated detergent may make more sense if you:
- have an HE washer requiring HE detergent
- regularly wash heavily soiled clothing
- need enzymes for food, grass, sweat, or protein stains
- have very hard water
- want something independently evaluated for ingredient safety and performance
- simply don’t want another DIY project
Both can fit into a lower-tox laundry routine.
The goal isn’t to make everything in your home from scratch. It’s to understand what you’re using so you can decide what makes sense for your family, your washing machine, and your budget.
Want to Keep Cleaning Up Your Laundry Routine?
Homemade laundry detergent is just one possible swap.
If you’d rather find a ready-made detergent with ingredients you can feel better about, start here:
→ Best Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent: What to Look For & Avoid
In that article, I break down what to look for on laundry detergent labels, ingredients you may want to avoid, certifications that actually mean something, and some of my favorite cleaner options.