DIY Powder Laundry Detergent
**POST EDITED: I still use this detergent for everything and have had great success. Some people have commented to say that it does not clean their diapers and so they said they’ve been using this detergent for everything BUT their diapers. I think that it TOTALLY depends on your machine and your water (hard or soft water). We have a GREAT washing mashing… BUT, I did want to add that caveat, that you may experience issues with cleaning your diapers. If you do, just use your regular detergent for your diapers and this for everything else… if you want! 🙂 Wanted to add that. 🙂
As I’ve been on this gradual quest to get toxins out of our home wherever I can, one thing I’ve had a really hard time replacing is our laundry detergent.
I honestly have been very loyal to plain, old Tide original powder. But, as I did some reading, I came across the ingredients list and saw all that was in it… but what was even CRAZIER is on the ingredients list was “Fragrance” which linked to a page, TWENTY pages, to be exact, that showed ALL the different chemicals that are used to create a fragrance and can be just labeled as one thing: “fragrance”… That’s INSANE!! Seriously.
So, I set out to find a recipe for homemade laundry detergent that did a few things:
- Cleaned
- Smelled good
- Was non-toxic
- Affordable and easy to make
I found a bunch of different recipes… some liquid, some super complicated, and then some that had a couple ingredients but not enough to really get my stuff clean.
So I toyed around and played with some recipes and ended up combining a couple I’d found and came up with this one! I’ve now been using this detergent for two weeks and have done about four cloth diaper loads with it and I LOVE it.
Check it out!
DIY Non-Toxic Powder Laundry Detergent
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/2 cup of pure baking soda
- 1 1/2 cup of washing soda (plain – no additives)
- 1 cup Borax (optional – I used it, but you could omit if you wanted)
- 1/2 cup Epsom salt
- 2 tablespoons of salt
- 5 drops Purification Essential Oil blend (where to buy)
- 5 drops Lemon Essential Oil (where to buy)
- Glass, airtight container
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until fine. Pour into your airtight container. I use about 1-2 tablespoons for a load. I actually use my old scoop from when I used Tide and fill it up to the 1 line… which I think is about 2 tablespoons.
This recipe, with the Borax, makes approximately 74 loads.
What about you? Have you made any DIY home products? Have you made DIY laundry detergent before? If you could replace a toxic item in your house, what would it be?
Looking to get started with essential oils? Visit my essential oils page for more information on how!
I was just wondering why there is no soap in this recipe. thx
Have been using this recipe for years. Cant remember when I got chemically laden laundry soap.
1 cup arm & hammer power detergent
1 cup oxi clean
½ bar fels naptha (next to arm/ hammer soap)
1 cup 20 mule team borax
1 cup baking soda
1 cup your favorite smelling laundry crystals
Use 3-4 tsp each load, lasts 6 months or more and gets load smelling fresh and sparkling clean. Grind up the fels naptha in the blender. Takes about 10 seconds
how can I print this
Why does it need to be put in the food processor? Can’t you just stir??
It really needs to be finely ground up and the only way to do that is in the food processor
anyway to print just the recipe? gonna give it a whirl…want to stop putting all those toxins in my body!!!
Do you sprinkle this over your laundry or does your washer dispense it?
my washer does dispense it 🙂
I have read that Epsom salts actually create hard water and that using ice cream salts help soften the water and your laundry. What results have you found?
I haven’t tried ice cream salts. So my only experience is with the Epsom salts
ohhhh I’d love to know more about Ice cream salts and hard water! we have super HARD water – thanks for the heads up
I’m on my second batch and love the cleaning results; however I have noticed a film on the inside of my washing machine and the dispenser. It’s a HE front loader, have you experienced this?
Hey Jennifer! I have not… I have an HE top loader… have you tried doing a tub cleaning? Just running it on the tub clean cycle or with vinegar?
I have run a cleaning cycle and it did clean it, guess I’ll just have to remember to do it every now and then. After I wrote I did think that it may have occurred now after having my college kids home doing wash, they tend to use too much! ( least they do their own wash!!)
I would just add Vinegar and liquid peroxide to your laundry along with the detergent and those should also help the powder completely dissolve and help sanitize as you go.
The borax is not non-toxic. It also has an F rating from EWG.org, with the most serious concerns being developmental and reproductive toxicity. Do you have an alternative to this ingredient? I see you say you can omit it, how would this effect the detergent? I can’t seem to find any DIY laundry detergents that don’t use borax.
I’m sorry, but EWG is going to find fault with everything. Borax is a naturally occurring mineral and if you want to make cleaning products that actually work, then there are times you’re going to have to use ingredients that don’t grow on trees. Borax is a great alternative for the crap that Big Business puts in their pretty containers to entice us to buy.
This is a problem people see something and who ever is reporting it must be correct. while I did some checking and foud out the study done on mice was flawed they were fed 5000 mg of Borax over a short periond of time that comes out to .29 of the weight of the mouse I took 17G of weight for the mouse. Using the same for a 120 pound human came out to 34 pound in the same time frame! But we are not talking about eating Borax it is being adsorb thru the skin and studies have shown that it would take a lot of Borax to cause any health effect on a human and how much are we talking here 1 cup used and how much is exposed to the skin a Mg or even a Gr I would suspect that the amount adsorb throu the skin would be in the micro-grams and that amount is not enough to cause any health problems.
While I hate to disagree with the study in mice I did do some research and found they were give around 5000 Mg of Borax (Force Fed). that comes out to you eating 34 pounds over the same period. We are not talking about absorption thru the skin. Which Borax has a very low rate So low the EPA does not require it to be reported! I have attached links to different articles on this subject.
https://crunchybetty.com/getting-to-the-bottom-of-borax-is-it-safe-or-not/
https://wellnessmama.com/26407/borax-safe/
http://www.healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2016/59514a-eng.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax
Is this safe to use in a food processor you use in your kitchen? Does it make a difference if you skip that step?
Yep! I made this in my kitchen food processor. You definitely need to blend it in a food processor or blender (I recommend food processor) to have everything properly mixed.
Hi Molly! Thanks so much for posting this recipe. I made a batch last night and am super excited to give it a whirl! When I was looking for recipes online, most of the powder ones call for using a bar of soap. Would you mind explaining why you chose not to use this ingredient in your recipe? Do you feel it is not necessary?
I honestly just chose not to to try it without the soap and it worked great. I’m going to try a batch soon by adding the grated soap to see how it is with it. 🙂
The feels-naptha bar of soap has an F rated on EWG.org for safety.
*fels-naptha
Oh man! I didn’t know that. Thanks for looking out!
Could you grate this down with a cheese grater to replace the FN? https://gimmethegoodstuff.org/store/tandis-naturals-solid-dish-soap/
Do you use this on delicates also? I tend to wash some items that say to dry clean, but I wash them on a delicate cycle in cold water and wondered if this laundry detergent would still be safe on them.
Hmmm I don’t wash anything that says dry clean (I sometimes use Dryel)… I am honestly not sure. I mean, it’s pretty delicate (this detergent), but I don’t want to tell you it’s okay and then it end up messing up.
for this recipe, can you use scented epsom salt?
personally, I would not… only because you don’t know what they’ve used to scent the epsom salt (a lot of times it’s a harsh chemical fragrance that could affect your clothing). this is why i used the essential oils i did. but i think it’s just personal comfort / choice.
Angie, I have a glass canning jar half full of epsom salts. I’ve been throwing my used Young Livining oil container in there to “soak up” any residual oils before I wash them out and re-use. (Waste not, want not!) The scent is beautiful! I can’t remember all the jars in there, but there’s peppermint, thieves, Christmas, and Lavender. I’m going to use Molly’s recipe and put in my scented Epsom salts. 🙂
Is it important to use those essential oils or could I use lavender and peppermint?
lemon is for stains and purification is for fighting mold and odor.
So if I use gain original powder for my cloth diapers, will I have to strip them before washing them with this detergent? Really hoping I can use this with no issues!!
Thanks!
I didn’t strip mine, but you might want to. If you notice leaking, then I would strip them.
So tell me about the epsom salt, what is it for? Like does it do something special to the laundry? Also, does adding the oils to dry detergent make it a weird consistency? Or do you just throw the drops in and stir it around?
Hey Jessica! The epsom salt is an emulsifier and works to lift stains. And the oils doesn’t do anything to the consistency of the detergent because there’s only a few drops. I added it before I blended it all together in the food processor and it mixed right in. 🙂
Do you use it in a HE washer?
I do! 🙂
That is so awesome! I love your posts Molly!
Love it! I’ve been making my powder detergent for a while and just a couple weeks ago I started making liquid detergent. Right now I’m on a peppermint/lavender oil kick 🙂
Rebecca, would you like to share the liquid laundry detergent recipe?
Hi, Joanie! Unfortunately, it’s not my own and I found it in a book. I use the Clean Mama’s liquid detergent recipe in her Organically Clean Home book.