Homemade Washing Powder

Why make your own eco-friendly washing powder when you can buy it quite easily in the shops? Well for me it’s about saving a bit of money but also knowing what I’m using. Not all eco-friendly washing powders are as ‘green’ as you might think, although some of them are. I’ve used Ecover for years, but like many eco-friendly products it’s a bit pricier than the non-environmentally friendly alternative. It also has quite a long list of ingredients (which seem harmless enough) but it’s not completely obvious what all of them are or how they are created. Scroll further down the page to find eco-friendly washing powders or liquids you can buy.

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This homemade washing powder uses just 3 or 4 ingredients:

You can also buy bicarbonate of soda (non food grade) in refillable glass bottles. Fill 500g Bicarbonate of Soda.

But what do these ingredients actually do and why do most homemade washing powder recipes contain borax?

What is Borax?

For those of us in the EU (possibly not the UK soon) Borax was reclassified in 2010 as potentially hazardous to health, so you can’t actually buy Borax here but you can buy a Borax substitute. Many US blogs will include Borax as a cleaning agent with many different applications, but people using it in ways it was not intended have caused it to be banned.

Borax has been used as a cleaning agent and for various other things (like killing ants) for many years, but it’s not a necessary ingredient so you’re not really missing much. Read more about Borax and if it’s safe to use here: Is Borax Safe?.

Eco-Friendly Washing Powder Ingredients

Washing Soda – The main soapiness for your wash will come from the washing soda.

Baking Soda – Baking soda is one thing I always have in the cupboard. It’s great for cleaning all over the house! Read this and you’ll see that it’s one of my main cleaning ingredients when cleaning the bathroom: Eco-Friendly Way To Clean The Bathroom

Coarse Sea Salt – Sea salt helps to brighten colours, especially removing any yellow stains. Not necessary to include.

Castile Soap – Castile soap is good for cleaning but can add a nice smell depending on what fragrance you go for.

I used to include half a cup of citric acid in this washing powder recipe, however several people let me know that their mixture started fizzing when it was added. It also made the ‘powder’ quite wet. It doesn’t really matter if the powder is a bit wet, just make sure you wash your clothes inside out to prevent any visible washing powder sticking to your clothes.

How to Make Eco-Friendly Washing Powder

• 1 bar of castile soap
• 1 cup of washing soda (soda crystals)
• Half a cup baking soda
• Quarter of a cup coarse sea salt if you choose to include it

1. Finely grate the bar of soap and put the flakes into a bowl
2. Add all the other ingredients! (Just give it a good mix if it gets a bit clumpy)
3. Use an airtight container for storage.

There you have it, 3 or 4 ingredients and a very simple method for homemade washing powder!

Just use 1 tablespoon per load.

Eco-Friendly Washing Powders & Liquids To Buy

Buying washing powder in a cardboard box is one of the easiest things to do. If you prefer liquids then you can buy laundry detergents in glass bottles, although most do come in plastic. Ecover is the obvious choice for powder, although some people might have an issue with the ethics of Ecover these days.

Here are few eco-friendly washing powders and detergents to check out, although I’ve gone into a lot more detail here about each product and about how to have a completely eco-friendly laundry routine (including stain removers, fabric conditioners and even irons).

There are constant improvements to the products we can buy and more eco-friendly washing powders and liquids are appearing in the shops all the time. In fact you can have an entirely plastic free and zero waste eco-friendly laundry routine; from washing powders, to washing machines and even reducing the amount of micro plastics you release when you wash your clothes.

Want to make your own washing up liquid as well? Check out this homemade washing up liquid.

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