DIY Laundry Powder and Fabric Softener Crystals

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In my efforts to be more zero waste I decided to make my own laundry powder and fabric softener crystals. I tried a couple of versions and finally settled on one that I thought really cleaned my clothes and helped keep them static free and smelling really good.
Making your own laundry powder and fabric softener crystals take almost no time, money or effort to make. You most likely have the ingredients already! All you do is mix and you are good to go. No more running to the store and spending almost $10 on something that is full of chemicals.
Laundry Powder (original recipe from here)
1 C. Borax
1C. Washing Soda
1 Bar of Soap
Essential Oils (optional)


Grate the bar of soap and mix the borax and washing soda and viola! You are done. Use about 1-2 tablespoons per load. If the load needs some extra stain fighting I will use 2 tablespoons. If it is just a simple load of towels or lightly soiled clothing then I just use 1 tablespoon.


I use Fels Neptha soap most of the time. I like the extra stain fighting power from the soap. Sometimes I will use Kirk’s Castille bar soap if I am out of Fels Neptha. Either one is good and makes the cloths super clean. I was really impressed.
You can add essential oils to both the powder and fabric softener crystals for bonus scent. It won’t be super noticeable and I think the scent doesn’t last as long as traditional laundry detergent but it is nice. I usually do a combination of lavender and lemon essential oil but I also love to throw in rosemary oil as well.
Fabric Softener Crystals (original recipe from here)
4 Cups Epsom Salt
40 Drops Essential Oils
This is the easiest thing in the world. Just mix the ingredients and you are good to go! You typically use about ¼ cup per load and you add it to your load when you add your laundry powder. When the clothes, towels, whatever comes out of the dryer they will be static free and super soft. I love it! Dryer sheets are not good for the environment or your dryer so this is a great alternative. Again, use whatever essential oils you want. For this batch I used 30 lavender and 10 rosemary. Rosemary tends to be a little more fragrant than other oils.

This is the easiest change to becoming zero waste in my opinion. You control what goes into what you use, you customize the scent and you reuse the container. It’s so easy to create your own versions of the things you use everyday!

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