At a recent church service, we discussed ways we could lower our impact on our environment. We noticed that by making our own laundry detergent, we can reduce the amount of plastic we waste. We decided to make this known to more people.

Making powdered detergent is simple, and all the ingredients come in boxes or paper. The basic detergent requires three ingredients: borax, washing soda, and bar soap, such as castile or Ivory. With the ingredients on hand, it takes only a few minutes. You’ll need a box grater or equivalent or a food processor. Having a kitchen scale helps.

Basic Recipe for Powdered Laundry Detergent

• 14 oz. Borax (or 1 cup)
• 14 oz. Washing Soda (or 1 cup)
• 5 oz. Bar Soap.

Steps:

1. Using the fine holes of a grater, grate the bar soap. Alternatively, chop the soap in the food processor.
2. Add the borax and the washing soda
3. Mix well

Use one to two tablespoons per load. This works for high efficiency washers, too.

Some things to note

This is the simplest one of many recipes. Some recipes also include baking soda. Though I usually add four ounces, some recipes call for up to 14 ounces. This recipe is unscented. If you want some fragrance, add a few drops of essential oil, such as lavender.

If you have a bar of soap that is not five ounces, you can adjust the amount of powder. (This is where the kitchen scale helps a lot.) Determine the amount of powder by using this formula:

Then:

Cross multiply: 5 x weight of powder to use and then 14 x weight of the soap bar

They will be equal, except you will not have the weight of the powder you want to use. That’s OK.

Divide the number derived from multiplying 14 x the weight of the soap bar by 5. The answer is the weight of the powder to use.