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I’ve been making my own DIY laundry detergent recipes for over a decade now. I’ve learned a few things along the way and what I’m mixing together now looks a little different than the batches I made back in the early days. And beginning a couple years ago, I started using an HE (high efficiency) washing machine too. So finally, after years of of writing about homemade laundry soap and being asked many, many times if the DIY versions and HE washers can be used together, I can at last share some personal experience with HE machines, along with my favorite homemade laundry powder for HE washers too.

Why This DIY Laundry Recipe Works for HE Washers

The homemade laundry detergent recipe I’ve settled on, and the only one I’ve used for the last two years in my HE washer, is a powdered recipe that has no grated bar soap, no borax, and is low sudsing.

No grated soap so it rinses away well: Grated soap (especially Fels Naptha) is a popular ingredient in many DIY laundry mixtures and I used to use it a lot too. But the grated soaps don’t always dissolve well in washing machines and they don’t always rinse away well either. This can be a problem for HE washers that already use less water. And because of that rinsing problem, I believe that the grated soap had been making my whites dingy too. Plus grating bar soap is a time-consuming and boring chore, so I was ready to be done with that ingredient.

Low (or no) Sudsing: Another thing that HE washing machines need are detergents that are low sudsing. Once again, this is because HE washers use much less water. If there’s too much soapy suds action, it won’t get rinsed away well in HE washing machines. My homemade laundry powder has no sudsy or soapy ingredients so it meets this criteria.

Not HE related, but no Borax either: And finally, this mixture has no borax which is more of a laundry preference for me now and not an HE washer concern. I felt that sometimes the borax in my mixtures was fading my brights so I’m OK with leaving that ingredient out now too.

How I Make My Homemade Laundry Powder

Here’s a quick look at the homemade laundry detergent recipe I use now. This is a double size version of my Copycat Molly Suds recipe. Here are the ingredients I use:

• 3 cups Washing Soda
• 3 cups Baking Soda
• 1 cup Epsom Salt
• 1 cup Oxi-Clean
• 20 drops essential oil (optional)

These are all ingredients that are quick and easy to measure out because you can use the same one-cup measure for all four powdered ingredients. I like to use a wooden spoon to mix things together because then I can smash down any lumps too.

You can also add an essential oil to your homemade laundry powder but I’ve left that as an optional ingredient. I usually use either peppermint or lavender and add about 20 drops just because it makes the mixture smell so nice and friendly.

Using Homemade Laundry Powder in an HE Washer

Here’s what I do to use this homemade mixture for a load of laundry in my HE (high efficiency) washing machine:

1 – I put the clothing in the washing machine.

2 – Next I sprinkle my homemade laundry powder around on the clothing. I don’t use the automatic dispenser. My homemade mixture would not completely dissolve out of the dispenser, but it works fine if I sprinkle it directly on the clothing.

3 – I use 2 tablespoons per load. I have a few 1/8 cup scoops (which are equal to 2 Tbl) that work perfectly. You can often find this size sold as coffee scoops too. My favorite scoop is this little white one and I always keep it right in my container of laundry powder.

4 – I use the Deep Fill setting to be sure there’s enough water to get my homemade laundry powder swishing around. Even though this setting is called “Deep Fill”, I can tell it is still much less water than my old fashioned washing machine.

Using this recipe and washing method has worked great for us. I will note though, that we’re empty nesters and most loads of our laundry have no heavy dirt or stains on them. Nevertheless, this laundry mixture has always cleaned and freshened our lightly soiled clothing very nicely and I’m happy to keep using it.

Is This Homemade Laundry Powder Frugal?

Finally, many people like to make homemade laundry detergents as a way to save money. Is this recipe a money saver? Yes, I think it is. My calculations are that you should stay under 10¢ per load with this mixture. My calculations for various store bought laundry detergents were between 15¢ to 25¢ per load.

Adding the Oxi-Clean to this recipe brings the price up a little bit, but I usually buy the store brand Oxy and try to get it on sale. Without any grated soap in this recipe, I like some Oxi-Clean in the mix for the helpful cleaning boost. However that can be an optional ingredient and just using the washing soda, baking soda, and epsom salts is a very close copycat version of the natural Molly Suds product.

You should be able to do about 64 loads of laundry with this recipe (using 2 Tbl) per load. A batch lasts about 3 months in my household, so I only have to make my homemade laundry powder four times a year.

So my experience has been that making this homemade laundry powder is indeed a money saver, it’s worked worked well in my HE washer, and requires very little effort on my part. That’s the kind of results you like to see when you Make Your Own!