Love Your Laundry: Homemade Laundry Detergents

For fresh, clean laundry without chemicals, make your own powders and sprays.

By Natural Home Staff
July/August 2010
Homemade laundry detergent
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Make your own laundry detergent to keep harsh chemicals out of your clothes.
Photo By Povy Kendal Atchison
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For fresh, clean laundry without chemicals, make your own powders and sprays.

Simple Washing Powder
16 cups baking soda
12 cups borax
8 cups grated castile or glycerin soap flakes*
3 tablespoons lavender, lemon or grapefruit essential oil
Combine baking soda, borax and soap flakes. Add essential oil and mix with a wire whisk. Use 1⁄8 cup per load.
Yield: This recipe makes enough powder to last a family of four one year.
*Try Sun Feather Natural Soap Company, or buy bars of castile soap (e.g. Dr. Bronner’s) and grate with a kitchen grater.

Pre-Wash Stain Spray
1⁄2 cup white vinegar
1⁄4 cup baking soda
3 cups water
Stir together and fill a labeled spray bottle. Spray on soiled spots just before washing. Always test a hidden spot first.

Bleach/Brightener Substitute
1 cup hydrogen peroxide
1⁄4 cup lemon or grapefruit juice
12 cups water
Store in a labeled plastic jug. Add 2 cups per load along with detergent.

Extra tips:
For extra-clean clothes, follow your detergent with ½ cup of borax, an all-natural laundry booster. Add baking soda to wash water at the same time as detergent to soften and freshen clothes and linens.

Buy it instead

Biokleen
phosphate- and chlorine-free bleach, detergent and stain fighter

Clorox Green Works
naturally derived detergent and stain remover

Maggie’s Soap Nuts
100 percent natural hypoallergenic laundry soap

Planet Inc.
100 percent biodegradable detergent

Seventh Generation
nontoxic, biodegradable bleach, detergent, softener

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Archived Comments

  • Tidbitz 7/25/2011 8:48:22 AM

    We use powder laundry detergent that I make, it is MUCH more affordable than store bought. It works, with some vinegar added for the rinse on some loads, and a scoop of oxi-clean for whites. I do use store bought stain remover for my kids clothes on occasion. Its 1 c borax, 1 c washing SODA and 1 bar soap grated. (We prefer Fels Naptha or Zote) Throw the washing SODA and borax in a blender or food processor with your grated soap and pulse til nicely blended. Use 1-3 tbls depending on load size or if its especially stinky or dirty. Works great. Store it in an air tight container. We recycle dairy tubs or powdered formula cans cans with good caps to store it in.

  • Leana 7/24/2011 1:10:33 PM

    I use white vinegar for a softener/rinse in my laundry and if the load goes into the dryer, I have rubber dryer balls that bounce around with the clothes.

  • G in E 7/23/2011 7:22:32 PM

    To Gary, the REASON people make these concoctions is that SOME of us are allergic to the perfumes that the major corporations have decided for us are 'nice' and 'clean-smelling'. Yes, the cost of them could be prohibitive, but so is the cost of major rashes everywhere your clothes make contact with your body. You might be able to go to work naked, you might even WANT TO, but the vast majority of humanity feels a need to wear clothing. It shouldn't have to make us itch.

  • Helen Capone 7/21/2011 7:43:58 PM

    To Gary, this is not useless information, I make this laundry soap regularly. One bar of Fels Naptha, or Zote if you live in the south plus one cup washing soda and one half cup of borax. All can be purchased in walmarf for less than ten dollars. That recipe makes ten gallons of laundry soap. It works out to less than 20 cents per gallon. peroxide can be purchased at walmarf as well and makes a great brightner as does lemon juice.

  • Carole Nowicke 7/21/2011 1:12:33 PM

    My question would be whether this could be used in a HE washer? They don't seem to like powders.

  • georgette 5/2/2011 4:48:00 PM

    vinger can be use as a fabric softer

  • georgette 4/29/2011 5:15:52 PM

    need hg recpire

  • JTBryars 2/20/2011 5:53:27 PM

    Does anyone know of a green fabric softener? I live on a mountain of limestone and I don't have a saltwater softener for the house which makes the tap water uber-hard. I'm using a commercial "green" softener but I'm not happy with it and would prefer to make my own but can't find a recipe.

  • siren71 2/18/2011 9:13:15 PM

    I used to make homemade detergent using borax, washing soda and fels naptha(grated). It wasnt hard to make or expensive.Less than 10$ to make 20 gallons+/-?? I dont recall the exact measurements but something like 2cups of each dumped into 2 gallons of very hot or boiling water. mix mix mix!! have a 5 gallon bucket ready, dump it in and add cold water till the bucket is full. let it set overnight,it will thicken. then i used electric egg beaters to mix it up again.pour into saved/old liquid deterent bottles. this makes about 4-4.5 gallons. use as you would regular detergent.Not good for whites,you will still need bleach or if you like alot of bubbles.

  • siren71 2/18/2011 9:08:26 PM

    I used to make homemade detergent using borax, washing soda and fels naptha(grated). It wasnt hard to make or expensive.Less than 10$ to make 20 gallons+/-?? I dont recall the exact measurements but something like 2cups of each dumped into 2 gallons of very hot or boiling water. mix mix mix!! have a 5 gallon bucket ready, dump it in and add cold water till the bucket is full. let it set overnight,it will thicken. then i used electric egg beaters to mix it up again.pour into saved/old liquid deterent bottles. this makes about 4-4.5 gallons. use as you would regular detergent.Not good for whites,you will still need bleach or if you like alot of bubbles.

  • Gary_3 2/17/2011 8:31:21 AM

    Has anyone priced the ingredients required from the posted link?
    I did.
    Don't waste your time, unless you are independently wealthy and if you are why are you making your own soap?
    Another useless article.

  • brenda cook 9/23/2010 2:31:52 PM

    I thank you for these Important finds.

  • Lori_1 8/6/2010 4:35:23 PM

    Be very careful of so called natural or green cleaners.
    Chlorine and ammonia are NOT natural cleaners.
    Any product that says "Do not mix with chlorine" or Do not mix with Ammonia" means that the "green" product actually contains one or the other.

    I find that hydrogen peroxide works fine in the laundry in place of bleach as long as the fabrics are colorfast.

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