Easy 3-Ingredient Laundry Powder
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Update: I now prefer not to use Borax in my homemade laundry powders. You can find my favorite current recipe here: Make Your Own Laundry Powder. But if you prefer the cleaning boost of borax for certain loads, you can check out the recipe below.
If you’d like to make a homemade laundry cleaner but don’t want to use grated bars of soap in your mixture, then this 3 ingredient homemade laundry soap might be a good one to try. It mixes together quickly and you can make it in any size batch.
To make this mixture you’ll simply stir together equal amounts of washing soda, borax, and Oxi-Clean. For my current batch pictured here I used 2 cups of each of those ingredients. But of course you can make more or less as needed because all you do is measure out the same amounts for each of the three ingredients.
And as you can also see in the photo below, I don’t keep my washing soda or borax in their original boxes anymore and instead transfer to them to containers with good-fitting lids. You can read more about that here: What to do about clumpy washing soda and borax.
You’ll only need 2 tablespoons of this mixture in a load of laundry. This is equal to 1/8 cup and sometimes you can find this smallest size in a set of measuring cups. It’s also the size often sold as coffee scoops and they are very handy to keep in your container of homemade laundry powder.
If you use 2 cups of each ingredient as the recipe given below uses, and you use 2 tablespoons per load, you’ll have enough to do 48 loads of laundry. Not bad for only a few minutes spent mixing this laundry powder together!
Easy 3-Ingredient Laundry Powder
Materials:
- 2 cups washing soda
- 2 cups borax
- 2 cups Oxi-Clean
Instructions:
- Mix the three ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
- Transfer to a container with a lid.
- Use 2 tablespoons per load of laundry.
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The big problem with this is there is no detergent in it. It will not get your clothes clean.
Perhaps this would be true if the clothing being washed was very heavily soiled. However for most ordinary laundry these ingredients will still work well to clean and freshen a load of laundry.
I just use an old serrated steak knife and cut the block into shavings. I make sure it’s mostly even then add it to my mix. I’ve grated too many knuckles in the past.
Easy there Heather. She’s repurposed her plastic! You want her to throw away the plastic and buy a glass Mason jar and a stainless steel scoop? Maybe when her plastic stuff wears out she can replace the plastic. It seems like your post is part shaming.. Not cool Heather!
Bev, I like your recipe, but not all the use of plastic. In our effort to economize we should also be trying to llve more lightly on the planet and plastic is definitely not good for the earth! A wide mouth canning jar should work fine for the homemade laundry detergent, and keeping the Borax and washing soda in their boxes keeps more non -biodegradable plastic out of the landfills and oceans. Get a stainless steel scoop, not plastic for measuring. If the Borax and washing soda gets lumpy in the box put the lumps in a couple paper bags and run your rolling pin over them.
Is the three tablespoons per load for top loader or front loader? I have a front loader. Thank you.
This is the amount I use in my top loader, so you may want to use a little less if you have a front loader.
Does the Borax fade dark clothes since it’s a bleaching agent?
I’ve never had an issue and have used various versions of this receipe for years. My boyfriend uses commercial detergent and his shirts (that we bought together around the same time) are faded and mine aren’t.
Can you use hydrogen peroxide with your liquid down laundry detergent? I thought it would help as a stain remover.
I’m not going shopping for a few days but will buy some Dawn and want to try this out. Thanks so much.
Yes Jackie, you can definitely use hydrogen peroxide with the homemade Dawn laundry soap. In fact the combo of hydrogen peroxide and Dawn makes my favorite Homemade Stain Remover
Oxy-clean is powdered hydrogen peroxide. Adding 3% liquid peroxide is redundant and thus wasteful. The research I found about borax is that it’s only effective in VERY hot water. I use it alone to pre wash towels and rugs dirtied by our very old, incontinent dog.
Thanks for this great post! I love having the alternative, and what a great idea about storing the washing soda and borax!
Hi,
Wondering…does 20 Mule Team Borax, Washing Soda, or OxiClean powders “expire and lose their efficiency”? I have a few boxes that are at least a few years old. (good intentions, but you know how that goes!) Do you think I can use those with good effects or should I start with some fresh products?
Also, do you have a post telling about how to get rid of the clumps in these easily? Thanks if you could include the link.
Blessings and thanks for all you do!
As far as I know, borax and washing soda do not expire or lose their efficiency. However as you know they do have a tendency to clump up if they absorb too much moisture from the air. They only way I know to un-clump them is to just remove the clump from the box and then start chopping away at it! I’ve used a wooden spoon to do this, and readers have told me they use potato mashers and meat grinders! (here’s the link to that article with some reader suggestions in the comments: https://www.themakeyourownzone.com/2014/01/clumpy-hard-borax-washing-soda.html)
I now use this mixture and I love it!
I buy Zote already grated at Wal Mart.
I didn’t know that was an option! I will have to check my local Wal Mart and see if they carry it.
What is ZOTE?
ZOTE is a laundry soap in bar form that can be used in DIY laundry soap recipes. I find it in Family Dollar store and Walmart…but Wal-Mart has it in pregratec form also.
I grate my soap this way..first warm in microwave till it is a bit soft…cut bar in half I use my pampered chef hand grater &works great.