DIY Homemade Laundry Detergent (Just 3 Ingredients)

This DIY homemade laundry detergent takes just three ingredients, a cheese grater and about ten minutes to make. It gets clothes every bit as clean as the store-bought stuff, costs pennies a load and skips the dyes and heavy perfumes that come with most commercial detergents.

Borax, washing soda and a bar of soap being grated into a white bowl to make homemade laundry detergent

Why Make Your Own Laundry Detergent?

I don't know about any of you, but I love saving money. At the grocery store, at the gas pump, at the movies, really just about anywhere. Laundry detergent is one of those things we buy over and over without thinking about it, and a big jug adds up fast. One batch of this homemade version costs a few dollars and washes somewhere between 30 and 60 loads, depending on how much you use.

It's also a simpler, greener cleaning solution. There are no dyes, no optical brighteners and no plastic jug to throw away, and you know exactly what's going into the wash. If you already make your own dishwasher detergent, you'll be happy to hear this one uses the same two boxes from the laundry aisle.

What You'll Need

1 bar (5 to 5.5 ounces) laundry soap. Fels-Naptha is the classic choice because it was made for laundry and is great on grease and ring-around-the-collar. Zote or a plain bar of Ivory work too; Ivory is milder and grates more easily.
1 cup washing soda. Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (sodium carbonate) softens the water and cuts through grime. It is not the same as baking soda, which is much weaker, so don't swap one for the other.
1 cup borax. 20 Mule Team Borax boosts cleaning power, brightens whites and helps with odors. If you'd rather skip it, use 2 cups of washing soda instead.
A box grater and a large bowl or jar. Pick a grater you keep just for cleaning projects, or give your kitchen one a very thorough wash afterward.

How to Make DIY Laundry Detergent

Basically all you're going to do is grate the bar of soap, just like you would a brick of cheese. This will take some muscle, but believe me, if I can do it, so can you! I enlisted the help of my 10-year-old daughter (who insists, by the way, that children should be able to hold jobs if they want to), and it was easy.

Grate the soap. Use the fine side of a box grater to grate the whole bar into a large bowl. The finer the shreds, the better they dissolve in the wash.
Add the powders. Pour in the washing soda and borax.
Mix well. Stir everything together until the soap is evenly distributed. You can also pour it all into a half-gallon jar, screw the lid on and shake it to combine.
Store it. Keep the detergent in an airtight jar or container with a scoop or tablespoon inside. The recipe makes about 1 quart.

How Much to Use

Load — Amount
Small or lightly soiled load — 1 tablespoon
Regular load — 1 to 2 tablespoons
Large, heavily soiled or smelly load — 2 tablespoons

For a top-loading washer, sprinkle the detergent into the drum as it fills with water, then add clothes. For a front-loading washer, put the detergent directly in the drum before you add clothes rather than in the dispenser drawer, where a dry powder can clump.

Helpful Tips

Make a bigger batch. Once you've got the soap grated, the rest is quite simple, so I'd suggest doubling or tripling the batch. A few bars' worth gives you a few months of detergent from one grating session.

Let the soap dry out first. A bar that has sat unwrapped on a shelf for a week or two gets harder and grates into finer, drier shreds. A food processor with the grating disk makes quick work of it too, but only use one you're happy to dedicate to cleaning.

Dissolve it for cold washes. Soap flakes dissolve best in warm water. If you wash mostly in cold, stir your scoop of detergent into a cup of hot tap water first and pour that into the drum.

Pre-treat tough stains. Rub a damp corner of the Fels-Naptha bar right onto grass, grease or collar stains before washing. It works as a stain stick all on its own.

Keep it away from little hands. Borax and washing soda are common household products, but they aren't food and can irritate skin and eyes. Label the jar clearly and store it up high, the same as any other laundry detergent.

Variations

Scented. Stir 15 to 20 drops of lavender, lemon or eucalyptus essential oil into each batch for a light fresh scent.
Borax-free. Replace the borax with an extra cup of washing soda.
Extra stain-fighting. Add 1 cup of an oxygen booster such as OxiClean for whites and heavily soiled loads.
Gentle version. Use a plain, unscented bar like Ivory or a castile soap bar for sensitive skin or baby clothes.
Liquid detergent. Melt the grated soap in a few cups of hot water on the stove, stir in the washing soda and borax, then add enough hot water to make about 2 gallons. It thickens into a gel as it cools; shake before using and use about ½ cup per load.

Storing Your Homemade Detergent

Store the powder in an airtight glass jar or plastic container in the laundry room. Moisture is the only thing that really hurts it, since damp powder clumps into hard lumps, so keep the lid on tight and use a dry scoop.

Kept dry, the powder lasts indefinitely, so there's no need to freeze it or worry about it going bad. If it does clump, break it up with a fork or give the jar a good shake. The liquid version is best used within a couple of months; if it separates, just shake or stir it back together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is homemade laundry detergent safe for HE washers? This is a low-sudsing powder, which is what high-efficiency machines need, and many people use it in HE washers without trouble. Dissolve it first for cold washes, and check your washer's manual, since some manufacturers only recommend HE-labeled detergents.

Does it really clean as well as store-bought detergent? For everyday loads, yes. It cleans just as well as store brands for normal dirt and odors. For heavy stains, pre-treat with the soap bar or add an oxygen booster.

Can I use it on towels and whites? Absolutely. The washing soda and borax both help brighten whites and freshen musty towels. Skip fabric softener on towels and try a splash of white vinegar in the rinse cycle instead.

Making your own cleaners is addictive once you start. Try this homemade shower cleaner, learn how to clean a refrigerator using vinegar, or browse these oddball cleaning hacks that actually work.