DIY Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe (2024)

If you can’t tell lately there is a theme with my DIY projects. I am finally getting around to making many of my own laundry supplies and cleaning supplies. I have made my own dryer sheets, dryer balls, and dishwashing detergent. Since I had done these easy DIY’s I figured I should tackle making my own laundry detergent. As with most of my projects, I don’t keep them to myself and I am going to share with you thisDIY homemade laundry detergent recipetutorial!

I love personalizing DIY’s based on the use and who it is for. You can use essential oil as the scent for the homemade laundry detergent. After a few different tries I found for my family we like lavender and lemon the best but we also have tried orange and grapefruit. I will be switching it up between the lavender and lemongrass oils to keep those clothes smelling fresh. A Jar of this DIY laundry detergent can make a great housewarming gift especially if you include a jar in the DIY dryer sheets, just give them a simple note with the Jars.

SUPPLIES FOR DIY HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT

• 1 ½ Cups Borax
• ½ Cups Washing Soda or Pure Baking Soda
• 1 Cup Bar Soap
• ⅓ Cup Epsom Salt
• 30 Drops Essential Oil – You can use any essential oil you prefer. I used lavender and lemongrass as I love their clean smell.
• Grater (I used a Boxed Grater)

Keep in mind as you make these homemade laundry detergents you don’t want scents that will overwhelm you and your family. So if you choose a scented bar soap make sure it adds to or blends well with the essential oil you choose. Most bar soaps will work however, go for Ivory soap, castile soap, or something similar for the best results. I chose to use an unscented bar soap so that way the essential oil scent was the primary scent of the laundry detergent recipe. Plus this way you can try out different essential oil scents and don’t have to worry if they will go with the scent of the bar soap. There are some homemade laundry detergent recipes that use other ingredients but this was a combination that works for me and my family.

DIY HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT RECIPE

One tip before we get started with the DIY laundry detergent recipe is that you make sure to get a good grater. You will be tempted to save a few bucks and get a small hand grater but I have found those holes are too small and the soap clogs them. I suggest you get a Box grater like this one that is built well. I suggest grating it using the bigger holes, but if you like your soap finer you can use the mid-size holes, but I would stay away from the small ones or using slices.

Using a cheese grater, grate a bar of soap until you’ve reached about 1 cup. I usually use Ivory soap but for this tutorial use castile soap as thats what I had on hand, either will work.

I like to add my essential oils to the soap as well as the other ingredients. So I do about 15 of the 30 drops over the grated soap. I have found this way the scent gets into the soap better as well as the other ingredients for the homemade laundry detergent.

The next step in the DIY homemade laundry detergent recipe is to mix all the other dry ingredients together. Mix in a bowl your 1 ½ cups Borax, ½ cups pure baking soda, and your ⅓ cup Epsom salt. I simply mix them together with a spoon, a few simple stirs should do.

Lastly combine all ingredients, including the soap shavings and the remaining 15 drops of your essential oil in a sealable jar or container and mix well. It all mixes fairly quickly and for me, I just mix them with a large spoon to make my homemade laundry detergent.

Now if you followed our DIY homemade laundry detergent recipe you now have your Laundry detergent to use. Use 1 tablespoon per small load, 2 tablespoons per medium load, and 3 tablespoons per large load. For HE machines, I would suggest you use 1 tablespoon, but if it is truly a large load you may need 2 tablespoons of homemade detergent. Depending on how much you use this homemade laundry detergent recipe makes enough 16 large loads or 48 small loads of laundry.

If you liked our DIY homemade laundry detergent recipe make sure to pin it to your favorite Pinterest board or share it with friends on social media. If you decide to make some take a picture afterward and tag us on social media as we love seeing when others make our DIY projects and make sure to tell us what oil scents you use.

MORE DIY HANDMADE PROJECTS

• DIY Homemade Dryer Sheets
• DIY Dishwasher Detergent
• DIY Lotion Bars
• DIY Reusable Bowl Covers
• Reusable Handmade Cloth Napkins
• DIY Reusable Tea Bags