Making your own laundry detergent can save money and give you control over the ingredients. If you are looking for a base recipe to get you started, this is it!
It took me a long time to jump on the bandwagon of making my own laundry detergent. My husband works a blue-collar job, my children love to play in the mud (and I let them), and we raise some of our own food.
Between car projects, garden projects, and all-around fun that comes with being a kid, I relied on store-bought laundry detergent to tackle stains and odors.
It wasn’t until we were spending a considerable amount of money on stain treatments and laundry detergent that I began to wonder if there was a better option for our family. I researched homemade laundry detergent recipes and tested both liquid and powder recipes.
You can read about my results in this blog post!
We did have our favorite recipe. But I found I wanted a little more to fight set in stains and odors. So I continued to tweak the recipe and came up with this one!
Here is Homemaker and Happy’s powder laundry detergent base recipe.
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Table of Contents
Why Make Your Own Laundry Detergent?
FREE Printable Recipe Card – My Powder Detergent Recipe
How to Make Powder Laundry Detergent
Products to Use (Affiliate Links)
Substitutions (Also Affiliate Links)
Why Make Your Own Laundry Detergent?
The main reason I make my own laundry detergent is to save money. I have found that when I purchase the ingredients I need, I can make multiple batches of laundry detergent for the same price as when I buy commercially produced laundry detergent.
I have also found that with this particular recipe, I am not relying on stain removers nearly as much. I still have to use them from time to time, so just know that this recipe is by no means perfect.
Finally, I like to make my own laundry detergent to avoid scents and ingredients that cause my family to break out. Every member of my family has allergies and sensitive skin. I have found it best to make products wherever we can to avoid the scents traditionally found in them.
I love that I am able to make a product that works for my family with the most basic ingredients!
Printable Recipe – My Powder Laundry Detergent Recipe
Powder Laundry Detergent
Making your own laundry detergent can save money and give you control over the ingredients. If you are looking for a base recipe to get you started, this is it!
*This is not an edible recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 Unscented Castile Soap Bar, shredded
- 2.5 Cups Baking Soda
- 2 Cups Washing Soda
- 1/4 Cup Sea Salt
- 1/2 Cup Enzyme Laundry Booster
- 1/2 Cup Epsom Salt
Instructions
- In a bowl, grate a bar of castile soap. Set the cheese grater aside.
- To the shredded castile soap, add the rest of your ingredients - baking soda, washing soda, sea salt, enzyme laundry booster, and Epsom salt. Mix well with a spoon.
- Transfer to an airtight container and store in your laundry room.
- Wash the bowl, cheese grater, and spoon with soap and water.
- When it comes time to do laundry, add one to two tablespoons to the bottom of your washer prior to filling with clothes. Wash on your preferred cycle.
Notes
All of the products I use are available at your local grocery store. If they aren't, you can purchase them on Amazon! I have everything linked in my Amazon Storefront. These are affiliate links, which means when you click on my link and make a purchase, I make a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Homemaker and Happy!
Making your own laundry detergent is just one of the many homemaking hacks I have on my blog. For more laundry hacks, check out this blog post!
How to Make Powder Laundry Detergent
It’s important to note that when I make my own laundry detergent, I am using tools that I don’t use to cook food. These are tools specifically for homemade beauty products and laundry detergent!
In a bowl, grate a bar of castile soap. Set the cheese grater aside.
To the shredded castile soap, add the rest of your ingredients – baking soda, washing soda, sea salt, enzyme laundry booster, and Epsom salt. Mix well with a spoon.
Transfer to an airtight container and store in your laundry room. Wash the bowl, cheese grater, and spoon with soap and water.
When it comes time to do laundry, add one to two tablespoons to the bottom of your washer prior to filling with clothes. Wash on your preferred cycle.
Related Blog Posts:
How Do the Best Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipes Compare?
Genius Laundry Hacks for Busy Moms
Products to Use (Affiliate Links)
Making your own homemade laundry detergent has never been simpler! Here are some of the products I use. To see a complete list, including the tools and storage containers I recommend, check out my Amazon Storefront!
Substitutions (Also Affiliate Links)
There are plenty of recipes that circulate online with other ingredients. And I put those recipes to the test!
When I compared them, I found that they weren’t the ingredients that worked best for my family. However, they are great alternatives to any of the ingredients listed above!
It’s important to note that my family doesn’t use Fels-Naptha or borax in our laundry detergent because they irritate our skin. Both ingredients are known to be harsher on oils, which is what makes them great additions to laundry detergent. You want something that will fight oils!
However, when you wear your clean clothes, those products can work against the oils on your skin. That’s what landed them in the alternatives category for my family. We did experience skin irritation when we used them.
Try them out for your own family to find what works best for you!
Ingredients aren’t the only thing you can substitute in this recipe. There is more than one way to make this laundry detergent!
If you aren’t a fan of using a cheese grater, consider using a food processor.
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What Do These Ingredients Do?
I spent a good deal of time comparing products and DIY laundry detergent recipes to find the best possible combination. When I researched products, I was able to formulate my product list and ratios based on how these products performed.
Here is why each of these ingredients made my ingredients list.
Castile Bars of Soap
Soap, in general, acts as a surfactant. That means it lifts dirt and cuts through grease because it can cut the surface tension and encourage the two to mix with water.
The grated soap in this instance is the cleaner of the laundry detergent.
Washing Soda
I include washing soda in my recipes because it boosts the cleaning power of the detergent.
As a water softener, it works to raise the pH level and break down grease, supporting the surfactants in the recipe.
Washing soda (sodium carbonate) is not to be confused with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Although both are included in this recipe.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is another great detergent booster. But what’s more, it neutralizes odors. I love including baking soda to tackle musty towels and sweaty socks.
This is also a great solution for a natural fabric softener.
Baking soda is a bit of a controversial ingredient to include in laundry detergent because it’s abrasive. There is some controversy over washing with baking soda for the sake of preserving your washing machine. Although I’ll leave that up to you to understand your appliances and the care they require.
I find that it doesn’t do any damage to my machine, and with the dirt and grime my family gets into, I welcome the added cleaning power.
Again, if you are a part of the high-efficiency washing machines family, I encourage you to look into what these ingredients will do to your washing machines.
Sea Salt
I love a natural cleaner that keeps my home bright and sparkling. Sea salt does that for laundry!
I add sea salt to my laundry to brighten whites and prevent colors from fading and bleeding.
Enzyme Laundry Booster
This is a new product for me, and I have become fascinated with it.
I include a cup of enzyme laundry booster per batch of laundry detergent. I decided to include it because I noticed enzymes are an ingredient found in natural products. The enzyme booster linked in this blog post is a popular one on Amazon, and I have been happy with it.
Enzyme laundry booster packs a big punch when it comes to DIY laundry detergent. It lifts stains and odors with ease, can remove films from fabrics so they shine, and it works really well in cold water.
This particular product is a great way to include natural ingredients into your lifestyle. Most enzymes are plant-based and target specific stains.
Epsom Salt
Epsom salt is a cost-effective way to add a scent booster to your laundry routine. It works very well when paired with essential oils!
Epsom salt is another one of those all-around great ingredients to include in laundry detergent. It softens fabric, removes stains, and reduces odors.
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Price Breakdown
*These prices were collected March 2026 from online sources. Remember that prices may vary for you based on where you are located and when you are purchasing products.
As much as I love the convenience of Amazon, there are a few products I was able to find cheaper at my local grocery store. When I compared prices, I found that I would spend about $18.98 per batch of laundry detergent when I purchased all the ingredients from Amazon.
However, when I priced out ingredients from my local Walmart, I found that I would spend $16.11 per batch of laundry detergent. Because I am buying the ingredients in bulk, I bought enough to make three batches of laundry detergent.
In my home, I average three loads of laundry a day, and each batch of laundry detergent lasts me about three weeks. From this, I determined each batch of laundry detergent yields 63 loads.
That means that when I purchase my ingredients from Amazon, each load costs about 30 cents. When I purchase my ingredients from Walmart, each load costs about 26 cents.
I know that making your own products and food sometimes doesn’t actually beat out commercial competitors financially. So I calculated the price per load from the leading detergents as well.
When I buy commercial laundry detergent, I always lean toward Free and Clear Tide Pods. I can find 102 packs for $24.94 in my area, which comes out to about 24 cents per load. It’s two cents cheaper per load and will last me another week or two longer than my homemade laundry detergent.
Tide powder detergent was even cheaper. I can find a powder detergent for the same price that boasts it can tackle 113 loads. That makes each load cost 22 cents.
Obviously, my homemade detergent doesn’t beat out commercially produced detergents. I personally believe this is because of the enzyme laundry booster. It’s my “secret weapon” to tackle stains and odors that I think commercial detergents can’t tackle without a stain remover.
If I were to remove the enzyme laundry booster, my costs would come to between 17 and 21 cents per load. Now I am really beating commercially produced detergent!
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