Save money while you avoid the synthetic fragrances and other additives in commercial laundry detergents by learning how to make a DIY laundry detergent at home.
Over a year ago, I showed you how to make a homemade laundry “detergent” using soap. It was actually a guest post written by someone who works in a cleaning company. It is very simple to make and uses very natural ingredients like soap flakes and baking soda. Heck, I even showed you how to make a laundry soap with coconut oil, a super easy soap that is perfect for that sort of recipe (and for beginner soap makers!). I made and used her “detergent” recipe quite successfully for many months before I started dabbling in the world of working with surfactants.
The problem with soap-based laundry detergents
While my original recipe worked well for me for quite some time, it’s not the most ideal solution for cleaning your clothes, especially for those who have hard water. Soap is susceptible to forming what is known as soap scum. It’s a bit of a buildup that forms when the soap is added to hard water. Hard water has calcium and magnesium ions that react with the sodium salts in the soap. The reaction results in calcium and magnesium salts which are precipitated as soap scum.
Why is soap scum a problem?
Soap scum is a problem because it can build up on your clothes and can bind with it other undesirable substances like oils and dirt, but also possibly bacteria and/or other microbes.
Many people successfully use soap-based laundry detergents without noticing any problems. Others, though, notice that their clothes appear dingy after repeated use. Perhaps I was able to avoid the unpleasantness due to the fact that we have a water softener at home. We live in an area of Spain with very hard water, and most of the family was feeling itchy after showering. Plus, I constantly felt a buildup in my hair, even when I experimented with washing my hair with only water for a while. So, we finally installed a water softening system.
With softer water, soap scum isn’t as big of a problem because you won’t have as many calcium and magnesium salts precipitating out. Detergents also can save you from soap scum buildup.
“Stripping” your clothes
After repeated washings with soap, many people have decided to do what’s called “stripping,” basically a deep, thorough cleansing of the clothes with substances that help remove the mineral buildup in their clothes. You can read more about the problem with using soap-based laundry detergents, and about stripping your clothes here.
I actually tried doing it with a DIY mix of borax, washing soda, and Calgon, and while I did end up with somewhat yucky looking water, it didn’t look that much different than the water obtained from “stripping” my newer clothes that had only been washed in detergent based cleansers. That, again, could also be due to the fact that I have soft water so my clothes probably didn’t have as much of a soap scum buildup on them.
Why make your own Laundry detergent?
So, you’ve decided not to use a soap-based laundry detergent, but what should you use instead? Working with surfactants can sound a bit daunting, right? It just doesn’t feel as “natural” to use detergents or other surfactants that aren’t soap. (If you are interested in reading more about natural surfactants, I’d recommend checking out my beginner’s guide to working with natural surfactants.)
Once you get over the initial fear of working with new products, though, you’ll realize that it’s still a really great idea to make your own laundry detergent.
Making your own laundry detergent saves money!
Let’s start with one of the biggest advantages of making your own detergent: it’s a great way to save money!
Most “natural” laundry detergents are expensive. Heck, even the not-so-natural ones tend to be overpriced when you think about their composition. They are mostly water mixed with some surfactants and many of those surfactants are actually quite inexpensive!
This, of course, depends on where you are buying them and in what quantities. I bought 5 liters of SLS here in Spain for just over 20 Euros. That’s enough for me to make many bottles of detergent!
When you make your own laundry detergent, you have more control over the ingredients.
One of the main reasons I like to make my own detergent is that I try to avoid synthetic fragrances in most store-bought detergents, some of which are very strongly scented. I’m actually quite sensitive to many of those fragrances and find myself nauseous when I’m in the same room with somebody who uses strongly scented detergents and fabric softeners.
When making my own laundry detergent, I use essential oils to scent it, or, more often, I keep the detergent unscented. I find it more effective to add a few drops of lavender essential oil to my homemade wool dryer balls and throw them in the clothes dryer when drying my clothes. Doing that leaves my clothes with a more natural, less overbearing fragrance. (I have since been informed that there is a risk, albeit small, of EO’s igniting in the dryer when used in dryer balls. When used in such small amounts, it’s highly unlikely, but do so at your own risk! It may be better to scent your clothes with homemade lavender sachets in your closet instead!)
Making your own detergent also allows you to avoid any ingredients that are problematic for you!
Isn’t sodium lauryl sulfate bad/unnatural/to be avoided?
OK, I know what you’re thinking…
So, I’m talking about controlling the ingredients and using more natural ingredients, and then I go and use one of the most hated surfactants of all time, right?!?!?
Sodium lauryl sulfate, aka. SLS, is a detergent type surfactant that does a wonderful job of cutting grease. It makes lots of suds and it is very inexpensive. It’s also derived from coconut oil and is completely biodegradable, something that most green-minded people should appreciate.
But isn’t SLS bad and cancer causing?
Well, not really.
I haven’t found any studies that show SLS causes cancer and many of the sites that bash SLS repeat a lot of the same information that either doesn’t have a real scientific basis, or that does, but whose results have been interpreted wrong. One example is the claim that SLS can react with formaldehyde to produce “nitrosating agents.” But as neither have nitrogen atoms, that would be impossible. (You can read more about SLS myths and studies here.)
While it does find its origins in coconut oil, it also needs quite a bit of synthesizing to make it, so it’s not really a very “natural” product. That is enough to make some people want to avoid it, but sometimes “natural” isn’t always best. (I would choose a lab-made iron oxide colorant over a completely natural one for homemade cosmetics as the naturally foudn ones are usually contaminated with heavy metals.) What we are looking for is making products that are safe. While I prefer natural products, safety trumps natural for me any day!
SLS does have other disadvantages. It is a rather harsh surfactant, when compared to some of the others, that can irritate sensitive skin. It finds its way into a lot of personal care products where I don’t really think it should be used (like toothpaste, for example, which is why you may consider making your own toothpaste instead). I personally don’t and wouldn’t use SLS in my homemade body care products like homemade shampoos.
Why use SLS?
That said, laundry detergent isn’t a personal care type product. The superior cleansing ability of SLS really works to our advantage when we are trying to clean our clothes of dirt and grime. For me, it’s worth using here. I’ve combined it with gentler, more natural surfactants to help balance things out.
SLS isn’t essential in a detergent, of course, but it will make for a better cleaning detergent. I think even most “natural” detergents I’ve seen probably are using it without completely disclosing as they are afraid of the stigma associated with using it. (I often see the detergents with ingredients listed as “non-ionic surfactants,” the most famous of which, of course, is SLS.) You can read more about the categories of surfactants in my post about natural surfactants.
Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds is another product that unapologetically uses SLS in it. In fact, their formula was my inspiration for this laundry detergent. (I also use this mixture for all sorts of general cleaning around the house!) They also touched on why they feel it’s safe to use for general cleaning in the post on their website.
Customizing your homemade laundry detergent
As I mentioned earlier, you could experiment a bit with varying the different surfactants in this detergent recipe. This recipe, however, is thickened with salt, and not all surfactant combinations will thicken in the same way (or at all) when using salt.
Why add salt?
Certain surfactant mixes can easily be thickened by adding salt to them and it’s a wonderful way to thicken them because you don’t need to deal with gums or other thickeners. This recipe is one example where salt works perfectly for thickening up the detergent. Without it, the detergent will still be concentrated and potent, but it won’t really look that way. You’d end up with a very liquidy product. Most people equate thick, viscous soaps and detergents as being more concentrated, even when that isn’t always the case.
The salt in this recipe is around 2% of the recipe and I’ve found that it makes for a nice thickness. You may be able to thicken it even more with slightly more salt, but you have to be careful when experimenting with the amount of added salt. The thickening properties of the salt follow what is called a “salt curve.” The product will continue to thicken up until a certain point. After that, adding more salt will only thin out the product again!
Customizing the surfactants
I very much like this combination of surfactants, and have found it to make a nice looking product that is very effective. I’ve used around 15% SLS, 5% coco betaine, and 3% decyl glucoside. (You can read more about the last two surfactants here.)
If you are determined to make an SLS-free detergent, you’ll have to do some experimentation. You’ll likely want to use a higher total concentration of surfactants, too, as the more gentle, natural surfactants aren’t as effective at cleaning. My recipe uses around 23% surfactants, but when using gentler surfactants, you’ll want to find combinations of surfactants that complement each other, and will likely want to use somewhere around 30-40% or even more.
Another thing to keep in mind is that not all surfactant mixtures can be thickened with salt. When using other combinations, you may need to add a gum like xanthan gum to thicken your final product. (Or just use a more liquid product, knowing that the thickness isn’t what is making your detergent stronger and more concentrated.)
Adding essential oils or fragrances
I didn’t add any essential oils or fragrances to this recipe because I prefer to add a couple of drops of lavender essential oil to my homemade wool dryer balls when drying my clothes. I find it to be a more effective way of scenting them. (I have since been informed that there is a risk, albeit small, of EO’s igniting in the dryer when used in dryer balls. When used in such small amounts, it’s highly unlikely, but do so at your own risk! It may be better to scent your clothes with homemade lavender sachets in your closet instead!)
That said, you can use essential oils or fragrance oils to scent your homemade detergent (or you can just add a few drops of essential oils to your rinse water). I’d suggest using small amounts of EO’s because larger quantities may not be fully solubilized into the mixture, and you may end up with some separation. (These surfactants do have a certain amount of solubilizing ability, but that is limited without adding some sort of solubilizer.)
Do you need a preservative?
YES!
Any homemade product with water in it will need some sort of preservative to keep bacteria and mold away. The surfactants on their own are either self-preserved (by extreme pH’s) or have preservatives added to them to keep them free from microbial growth. Once you start adding more water to them, though, you’ll need to find a way to keep the microbes away.
Using pH as a “preservative”
There are certain ways to go about it. Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds have the following ingredients: Water, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Coco-Betaine, Decyl Glucoside, Abies Siberica (Siberian Fir) Needle Oil, Picea Glauca (Spruce) Leaf Oil, Citric Acid, Sodium Sulfate, Sodium Chloride, Potassium Hydroxide
Their recipe differs from mine in the use of sodium sulfate (normally used as a filler in powdered laundry detergents) and potassium hydroxide. I’m not quite sure why they chose to use sodium sulfate in a liquid detergent type product.
Potassium hydroxide is a strong base that I use when making liquid soap. I could be wrong here, but my suspicion is that they chose to add it to alkalinize the mixture which makes it inhospitable to microbes. If you can make a product with a pH higher than 9 or lower than 4, you don’t generally need a preservative. (Sal Suds have a pH of around 9-9.5 according to a friend of mine who tested with pH test strips.) This, of course, depends on what sorts of ingredients you are using. Organic type ingredients like milks, plant material, and clays are more difficult to preserve. Normally, though, it should keep your product safe for up to a year. This is also the main reason that you don’t need a preservative with liquid soaps.
Most preservatives don’t work very well at high extremes anyway. Without adding KOH to this recipe, my detergent falls has a pH of around 5.
I haven’t tried adding KOH to this mixture yet, but probably will the next time I have to mix some up. It is likely the most cost effective solution to preserving a detergent like this one, especially if you already like to make your own liquid soaps, so it’s really a great way to preserve the product. I’ll let you know my findings when I get around to it.
Using natural preservatives
There are a number of natural preservatives that you can use to preserve this product instead. I’ve been using one called Sharomix 705. It’s an Ecocert safe preservative that seems to be doing a pretty good job in my formula. (Sharomix can be used in products with a pH under 5.5, and should be used at a concentration of 0.6-1.2% of the recipe.) I had bought it inexpensively in large quantities, so I had plenty at home to use up and experiment with.
The important thing to keep in mind here is that you’ll want to make sure the pH of the detergent is adequate for the preservative you are using. Most suppliers will share the effective pH range for their particular preservative. They’ll also let you know an effective percentage to use.
In my recipe below, I’ve used the preservative at 1% of the recipe. That’s a general range that is the amount needed for many of the more popular natural preservatives. Some of them may need to be used in higher quantities, in which case you could reduce the water content to make up for the addition of more preservative.
I’ve been doing more research on a number of natural preservatives and hope to get a post about them to you soon!
Meanwhile…
Surfactant-based homemade liquid laundry detergent
DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent (Non-Soap)
Materials
- 740 g distilled water
- 150 g sodium lauryl sulfate
- 50 g coco betaine
- 30 g decyl glucoside
- 20 g salt
- 10 g preservative
Instructions
- Begin by adding the surfactants to your container. I cleaned out an old laundry detergent bottle from a natural laundry detergent that I had bought in the local eco-supermarket. The easiest way to add them is to tare the scale with your container on top to set the scale to zero. You can then add one of the surfactants before taring the scale again. Taring the scale between adding each ingredient is the easiest way to weigh out your ingredients.
- Once you've added the surfactants, add the distilled water. You can now gently stir or agitate the bottle to mix the surfactants with the water. Mix them gently so as not to form too much foam.
- You can now add the salt into your mixture, again gently stirring to incorporate it. The mixture will thicken up as the salt dissolves into the mixture. (You can also choose to separate out a small portion of the water and dissolve the salt in that water before adding it to the detergent mixture. This may help more efficiently combining all ingredients more easily.)
- Finally, add your preservative. I like to switch to a smaller, more precise scale for weighing out my preservative and other ingredients used in smaller quantities. (This scale is a good example.)
- You are now ready to use your homemade detergent just as you would a store bought one. (I'd suggest using around 2-3 Tbsp. per load.)
To help boost cleasning, you could consider adding some baking soda to your wash water too and/or use vinegar in your final rinse as a natural fabric softener.
Now that you’ve made your own laundry detergent, why not make your own natural fabric softener and wool dryer balls too?
Gunjan Chhabra
Hi, Tracy…Gunjan this side from India. Your recipes are amazing. I make Bio-enzymes a.k.a. Eco-enzymes or Garbage Enzymes to substitute the chemical cleaners. I also tried it as a laundry liquid by soaking soapnuts in it but it didn’t foam in my washing machine and also left some stains on my whites, could you please tell what could be the reason behind this ?
And can we substitute coco betaine with coco glucoside ?
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Coco betaine and coco glucoside are a bit different. Coco betaine can be thickened with salt, but the glucosides don’t have that property. So, while you could try it and it would probably still be effective in a similar capacity, you’d probably end up with a much thinner product.
As for the soap nuts. They clean without lathering. So, you won’t really see foam. They are a natural product with a color of their own, so I guess it makes sense that they could stain some clothing. I’ve tried them, but I haven’t used them in years. I never was really that impressed by them.
Tara
Thank you for such detailed information! I’ve been using a DIY laundry detergent powder.
110 oz OxiClean verastile Stain Remover (I’ve been using Tide Multi-Purpoe Oxi Stain Remover)
76 oz borax
55 oz washing soda
2 c baking soda
4 c Epsom salt (I don’t have hard water so I haven’t been adding it)
My question is…is this non-toxic? Is it effective? Will it wear out my clothes faster?
Do you have a laundry detergent powder recipe?
Tara
In case my Tide Oxi clean is a different formula than sold in Spain, “the ingredients include sodium carbonate, sodium percarbonate, and nonionic surfactant”
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Tara,
Interesting with the Tide Oxi- I’ve been using a similar formulation (homemade) to clean my dishes in the dishwasher lately and it has been working really well.
I think you’re fine there.
So, let’s look at the rest…
Borax is a bit controversial. I have a very difficult time finding it, or anything related like boric acid, here. I have to admit that I don’t know what I think about it. So many people say it’s safe, others say it isn’t.
Then, yes, some people say that if you use too many highly alkaline products together in the wash, it could start to wear away at the clothes. Again, I’m not sure how alkaline we are talking.
Your formulation has the sodium carbonate twice… (Washing soda is sodium carbonate, and you also have it in the Oxi clean.)
What is the OxiClean marketed as? Only a stain remover? Or also a “detergent”?
It seems to me that you could easily wash with just that (and make a homemade version with a powdered surfactant, washing soda, and sodium polycarbonate). I feel like most of the other ingredients are for either hard water or just there to “bulk up” the recipe. I see no need for baking soda when you already have washing soda which is probably more effective. I don’t know.
I do have an older post for a soap-based “detergent” that uses some of these ingredients- it may or may not need to be updated as it’s an older post. (I think I have updated at least once, but I’m constantly learning new things and forming new opinions, so I’m constantly updating these posts.)
Anyway, this is the post, for what it’s worth: soap based laundry detergent. I think there was a comment there from someone who was against that sort of recipe with some interesting information if I recall accurately. (I think he also mentioned the possible wear and tear on clothing.)
I now use this no-soap recipe all of the time, so… 😉
Charon R Bryson
I love your recipe. I bought the sls and I already have the other two. Quick question. I wanted to add SLES too so I can use it up. Can that be added with no issues. Thank you and I appreciate the details and explanation of the surfactants.
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Charon,
I’d probably use the SLeS instead of the SLS- or use a combination of the two in the amount specified for the SLS.
Adding more would make it a lot more concentrated. You could add it, but I’d save it for future batches as I think this concentration already works well. 😉
Denise
I made this exactly as directed and ended up with a huge bottle of foam. :o(
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Let me try to help you. How did you mix it together? Did the foam settle?
It’s normal for foam to form if you mix it quickly. You have to be gentle as you combine the ingredients.
Lila
This is a great idea, but I’m afraid the salt will corrode the aluminum spider arm on the back of the drum on high efficiency washers.
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Lila,
The amount of salt in each batch is negligible.
Most store-bought detergents have also been thickened with salt.
Lila
Thank you, Tracy. I just made my first batch. It turned out a bit lumpy and it seems to foam quite a bit. I mixed it with a staph mixer to get the lumps out, and hope it doesn’t suds too much in our new washing machine. I also used Cocoglucoside, rather than decyl glucoside, and read that these two ingredients are interchangeable. As a preservative I used HexaCon 91. They didn’t have the preservative you used, but the percentage is the same. I ordered from a site for people to make their own cosmetics, shampoo, etc. The prices in NL are quite significantly higher than in Spain, but I think I will still end up saving money. We’ll see how it cleans our clothes! I was using the soap-based recipe, and it wasn’t working out. Thank you for posting this recipe. It took me a few hours to finally find your website, after searching the ingredients in Sal Suds, Sonett, Seventh Generation, and other brands.
Janet
Hi! I was a bit overwhelmed by all of your explanations about preservatives and sulfates and ph levels. Amazon is currently out of the items on the list but I guess I can look for them somewhere else. I wish you could have the info on the scientific stuff separate from the recipe so it is an “option “ to read or bypass. I am usually in a hurry and also not very good at chemistry or science.
Currently I make my own “powder” laundry soap and like it very much. I received a new He washer for Xmas. Because of the low water level my soap sometimes leaves marks on the clothes. I use cold water to wash clothes and when the spots show up I re wash the items in warm/hot water. I am going to read your blog. You are so knowledgeable! I like to save money and being eco conscious is a plus. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and hard work!
sarah
Hi Tracy, I love your blog and your recipes, thank you very much …
I would like to ask you, in my country I only find coconut betaine, can I put the 80 grams of coco betaine only?
Mara
G’day from Australia.
I’ve been working my way through your blog and love it!
I do have a question with this laundry detergent though. What is the pH before you start increasing alkalinity with the NaOH?
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Mara,
Thank you!
I have to admit that I don’t remember what the original pH was. I need to make more relatively soon, so I can make a point to check. (I wanted to calculate out the amount of NaOH needed anyway!)
Courtney Hall
Dear Tracy,
I was hoping for some guidance. Your recipe is fabulous. However, recently I have been given access to a laundry detergent with the below ingredients. Is there anything in this that i soap based? Or is this a Surfactant based laundry detergent that could be acceptable for ease of use if unable to locate the chemicals to make my own at this time. Would this be comparable in any way to the homemade version? Thank you so much for your time and consideration.
Ingredient List:
Water
Laureth-6 (plant-derived cleaning agent)
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (plant-derived cleaning agent)
Sodium Citrate (plant-derived water softener)
Glycerin (plant-derived enzyme stabilizer)
Sodium Chloride (mineral-based viscosity modifier)
Sodium Oleate (plant-derived anti-foaming agent)
Protease enzyme blend (plant-derived enzyme blend soil remover)
Calcium Chloride (mineral-based enzyme stabilizer)
Amylase (enzyme blend plant-derived enzyme blend soil remover)
Mannanase (enzyme blend plant-derived enzyme blend soil remover)
Citric Acid (plant-derived pH adjuster)
Methylisothiazolinone (synthetic preservative)
Octylisothiazolinone (synthetic preservative)
Sincerely,
Courtney
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Courtney,
Thank you!
Yes, this is surfactant-based, and I don’t see why you can’t use it. It appears to have 2 main surfactants, and it also uses salt to thicken it. Then they added some enzymes which probably are used to help remove stains. I don’t have anything like that to add to my homemade detergents, so I usually do a separate stain remover.
There is absolutely no reason to have to make everything yourself! I enjoy making detergent because it saves me a lot of money and allows me to make something without added fragrances. I hate synthetic perfumes in store-bought. Everybody has their reasons to make or not to make- and we all have different tolerances to different ingredients.
All that to say…
Find what works for you! 🙂
Always!
Ruth
Dear Tracy,
first of all, thank you very much for your elaborate explanations and the recipe – I live in Germany, have tried out home made soap-derergent and am facing the problem of soap scum in my machine now. So as I was reading up on using surfactants, I had been looking for a recipe that uses them instead of soap for a while. Now, what I am wondering: If – as you say – the added water in the recipe is the thing that requires a preservative to be used, coudn‘t I then make the recipe WITHOUT any water – as a kind of super-concentrate, so to speak – and then only add a small amount directly in the washing machine OR add some water when filling the detergent into the machine..? I thought that would maybe work without a preservative then. What do you think?! Cheers, Ruth
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Ruth,
Well, yes, theoretically you could do that, I guess. The surfactants already have water, but they have been preserved for the amount of water they already have.
You would need to use a VERY small amount because they are very concentrated. I think it would be difficult to get used to using such a small amount (as we are used to assuming that larger amounts are needed.)
I made my last batch without a preservative by using NaOH (lye) to bring the pH up above 9. So, if it’s only because you don’t want to use a preservative, that’s another option. (More about ways to preserve something in my post on preservatives.)
I tried to calculate how much to use to share it on the blog as an option, but I used a bit too much and ended up having to make a larger batch to bring the pH down slightly. Maybe I’ll try to calculate it on my next batch.