What Can You Use Instead of Laundry Soap to Wash Clothes With?

Bar Soap

• Bar soap is milder than the chemicals in traditional laundry detergent, but it cleans clothes just as well as it cleans people. It's nontoxic, because it's already formulated to come into contact with your skin. A bar of shredded bar soap is enough for one batch. Use a white soap without fragrances for the most natural result. The soap can be melted in 2 cups of boiling water, then mixed with the other ingredients, or it can be left dry and added to the wash once the tub has filled with water.

Borax

• Borax cleans, deodorizes and disinfects. It's a powdered mineral rather than a chemical substance and is more gentle on clothes and skin. Check the detergent section of your grocery store or retail outlet, and you're sure to find plain borax, even if you've never noticed it before. You can combine 1/2 cup of borax with the bar soap and other ingredients to create a powdered detergent or add it to a batch of wet detergent once the bar soap has melted.

Washing Soda

• Washing soda removes stains and grease, disinfects, and softens hard water. It can be found in the laundry detergent aisle and may be labeled as "sodium carbonate." All you need is 1/2 cup for each batch of detergent.

Baking Soda

• It's common knowledge that baking soda can be used to deodorize appliances, as a scrubbing agent for stubborn tile or tub stains and even to brush your teeth. It's safe and effective, especially when mixed with a bit of bar soap, borax, and vinegar or lemon juice. You can add 1/2 cup to the batch and then pour 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into the washer once it has filled with water.

High-Efficiency Washing Machines

• You may be concerned that you can't use these alternative ingredients because your washing machine is a newer, high-efficiency model. In fact, the reason you need special detergent is due to the high suds created by regular detergents. The alternative ingredients in the detergent you make yourself are already low-suds, making them a natural fit for high-efficiency machines.