Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap Recipe (Safe for HE washers!)

This homemade liquid laundry soap recipe is safe for HE washing machines and uses natural ingredients! You won’t be left with any soap residue when you use this homemade laundry soap. It has ingredients that naturally soften clothing and are one hundred percent natural and eco-friendly!

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If I could advise on the first thing to switch to a natural product, it is always laundry products or bath products. These products contain some seriously harmful and environmentally damaging ingredients.

In the process of switching to natural products, I tried a lot of brands that did not work whether it was due to having hard water or not being strong enough to clean our clothing (hello baby stains). 

After extensive research and trial and error, I finally came up with the perfect homemade liquid laundry detergent that cleans, works in hard water, and is safe for washing machines. Better yet, it doesn’t contain any oil soaps, which can ruin your clothing! There’s no borax, bar soap, or a need for a box grater with this recipe. It is super simple. 

Why Should I make my own laundry detergent?

Aside from ingredient control, making your own laundry detergent is more cost-effective than buying your own. It is also convenient because I don’t have to worry about running out of detergent as long as I have the ingredients in my home. The ingredients are easily found on Amazon or other stores online so ordering the ingredients is super convenient!

Is this laundry detergent safe for high-efficiency washing machines?

I’m delighted to say my natural laundry soap recipe is safe for your HE washer. The reason you’ll find articles written online that you should not use homemade laundry detergent is that they do not contain surfactants. No worries here though, this recipe does!

​Does homemade laundry soap work?

A quick Google search will have lots of articles telling us why homemade detergent isn’t good to use. There is a popular article here that tells us why we shouldn’t use our own homemade laundry detergent. While the article states valid claims, we put them all to rest because this laundry detergent is made with ingredients that clean. Here are some common concerns below:

1) The ingredients don’t clean your clothing, they are just laundry boosters

I couldn’t agree with this more. However, this recipe contains a surfactant, which cleans your clothing and doesn’t require us to put soap in our laundry

The thing is when you use ingredients like a fels-naptha soap bar or castile soap, you are putting soaps into your laundry and eventually, they do more harm than good

2) Homemade laundry detergents ruin your washing machine

This is a valid point IF your laundry detergent contains soaps like liquid castile soap or a Fels Naptha soap bar. This is because they are what they say they are, Soap. Using products like these will eventually lead to soap scum and buildup if you are not careful. It can also lead to mold and mildew growth in your washing machine. 

3) Homemade laundry detergent can ruin your clothing

 This all goes back to the soap scum problem. Another problem is when laundry detergent has only ingredients like baking soda and washing soda, they typically aren’t meant for cleaning, instead, they are meant to act as boosters as I mentioned previously. This will eventually lead to a buildup of dirt and other things on your clothing because they aren’t getting properly washed which was my experience previously with homemade laundry detergents. 

​I may be biased when I say this, but that’s why I think my recipe is the best homemade laundry detergent. There is real ingredients that clean your clothing and won’t cause any of these issues. 

Is this homemade liquid laundry soap recipe safe for sensitive skin?

There is nothing in this laundry soap such as artificial fragrance that would cause issues with the skin. All the ingredients are natural, plant-based cleaners that are gentle on the skin. You can also feel safe using this on young children and babies because there are no skin-damaging ingredients in this recipe.

Safe for the whole family. It’s great, isn’t it?

What is in this homemade detergent recipe?

Finally, we can get to the good stuff!

This laundry detergent only has FOUR ingredients.

I know that sounds too good to be true, but I assure you, it is all you need.

Coco Glucoside:

This is our plant-based surfactant. This is the most important ingredient because it is the main ingredient in our detergent. Surfactants are in commercial detergents as well as natural detergents from companies like Branch Basics. Surfactants clean your clothing as well as reduce surface tension. When surface tension is decreased it allows the dirt and build-up to break down easier and lift from fabric, which helps to clean our clothing. 

I use this ingredient in almost all my major cleaning products in my home like my homemade dish soap, dishwasher detergent, and bubble bath! It is an inexpensive, small investment and it will soon become a staple in your home for homemade products!

If you are a science junky like me you can read this article to find out more info. 

Distilled Water:

This is needed for dilution. Distilled water is important because using any other type of water can cause mold and your detergent to go bad.

Vegetable Glycerin:

Vegetable Glycerin aids in reducing surface tension and removing grease and dirt buildup. 

Baking Soda:

Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda) increases the pH level in water. The heightened pH levels enhance the ability to remove dirt and odors, which leaves our laundry fresher, cleaner, and brighter.

Essential oils (optional):

If you prefer unscented liquid detergent, you don’t need to ass essential oils. However, I like the added scent and love experimenting with essential oils in my products!

My favorite essential oils to use are lavender essential oil, bergamot essential oil, lemon essential oil, mint essential oil, or citrus essential oils

​Some of the best blends are:

If you want to experiment with your blends and you are having trouble with your scents “sticking” to your clothing, the best way to make that happen is “layering” your essential oil scents. When scents are created for perfumes they use notes and this is determined by scents that last the longest. You can do more research on perfume notes to figure out how to layer your essential oils!

Other Materials You Will Need:

  • Amber glass bottle
  • Measuring Cups
Shop Links In this Post:

Other ways to boost the scent and clean clothing naturally:

There are so many ways to naturally boost the scent and clean your clothing. You can add homemade fabric softener, laundry booster, and scented wool dryer balls to your washer or dryer to help with scent.

  • ​Homemade laundry booster aids in cleaning your clothing as well.
  • You can use homemade laundry stain remover, which works like a champ at getting out that extra tough stain.
  • Another good option is adding a cup of white vinegar to your washing machine to help with scent and cleaning. 

How to Make this Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap Recipe:

1) Dissolve- 2 tablespoons baking soda in 3/4 cups of water.

2) Measure- 1/2 cup of coco glucoside and add in your essential oil of choice. I add about 35-40 drops of essential oil to one batch of this recipe. Add 1/4 cup of vegetable glycerin.

3) Combine- all your ingredients together and pour into your amber glass bottle

It is so easy to make that you might feel like it won’t work, but I assure you this DIY laundry soap recipe works. 

How to Store your detergent:

I store my detergent in an amber glass bottle in my laundry room. It should keep up to one year, although I doubt it will ever last that long!

How much detergent do I need to use?

This can depend on the size of your laundry load. I use about 1 teaspoon or 1 pump (if you have one on your bottle) of detergent for a small load of laundry and up to three teaspoons or pumps for a larger load of laundry.

​How Many Loads are in one bottle of this homemade liquid laundry soap recipe?

Depending on how much detergent you use, this can last 65-75 loads of laundry!

Want Ideas for other natural cleaners?

Homemade dish soap that’s better than Dawn

Homemade Laundry Stain Remover

Homemade Laundry Scent Booster

Homemade dryer sheets

Homemade Bubble Bath

Final Thoughts:

This homemade liquid laundry soap recipe has been a game-changer in our home! It is a cheaper alternative to natural laundry soaps you can buy and is way better for you than conventional laundry detergent!

If you try this, I’d love to know so leave a comment below!

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

This homemade liquid laundry soap recipe is safe for HE washing machines and uses natural ingredients! You won't be left with any soap residue when you use this homemade laundry soap. It has ingredients that naturally soften clothing and are one hundred percent natural and eco-friendly!

Equipment

  • 1 amber glass bottle

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoons Baking Soda
  • 3/4 cup distilled water
  • 1/2 cup coco glucoside
  • 1/4 cup vegetable glycerin
  • 35-40 drops essential oils optional

Instructions
 

  • Dissolve- 2 tablespoons baking soda in 3/4 cups of water.
  • Measure- 1/2 cup of coco glucoside and add in your essential oil of choice. I add about 35-40 drops of essential oil to one batch of this recipe. Add 1/4 cup of vegetable glycerin.
  • Combine- all your ingredients together and pour into your amber glass bottle

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