Did you know you can make your own Homemade Fabric Softener Crystals like the ones Purex makes? All you need is 2 ingredients too – Epsom salts and your favorite essential oils.
If you have ever used those fabric softener crystals in the store you will know one little container of these will cost you upwards of $5.00-$6.00 depending on the size. My own homemade laundry recipe costs around $20 for a year of detergent and one of the ingredients I use is the Purex crytals. The Purex Crystals in the recipe is the most expensive ingredient, so I attempted to make my own fabric softener crystals recipe to save money. And I was able to save $4.12 off the recipe.
How to make Homemade Fabric Softener Crystals
First I turned over a container of Purex crystals to read what was inside of them.
Sodium Chloride, PEG Distearate, Bentonite, Sodium Silicate, Fragrance, Silica, Liquitint Red ST, Liquitint Blue HP.
Okay – so Sodium Chloride is salt. The rest of the ingredients are basically fragrance, colorants and thickeners. Stuff we don’t really NEED, right? The more natural the better I say, because I have a little girl who has very sensitive skin.
Epsom salts + essential oils for fragrance are all you really need!
Just take your Epsom salts, and pour them into a bowl. A 2 lb. box (a little over 4 cups) of Epsom salts only costs $0.88 at Walmart!
Then add about 40 drops of your favorite essential oils.
Order (my favorite brand) essential oils here.
My favorite scent for my homemade fabric softener crystals is a combination of 20 drops of Lavendar and 20 drops of Lime. The combination is heavenly. But you can really just add whatever scent you love the most. In fact you could probably have it be non-scented if you wanted to as well which would save even more money. The salts alone would soften your clothes.
After you add in the oils, mix it all up until thoroughly blended. It took less than 2 minutes of mixing to be totally incorporated.
And Voila!
You have homemade fabric softener crystals!
Store them in an air-tight container or just pour the whole 4 cups into your homemade laundry recipe. If you use store bought laundry detergent you can just add a small scoop (1-2 tablespoons) of these crystals to your wash to soften your clothes.
Oh and try not to sit and just sniff your jar all day long. I know it’s tempting…. I know.
While the smell is strong in the jar, it’s not as strong on my clothes coming out of the dryer. Purex crystals were stronger, but they also had a lot of strange fragrances, mine are pure essential oils that I know are good for me to be breathing in. My clothes do smell lovely still and they are so soft using this recipe.
The next time you make homemade laundry detergent make sure and also make this homemade fabric softener crystals recipe along with it to save you money. This takes the price of my detergent down to just around $16.89 vs. $20.21. Sweet!
Recipe for Homemade Fabric Softener Crystals
- 4 Cups Epsom Salts ($0.88 for 2 lb. box at Walmart)
- 40 drops Essential Oils (about $1.00)
- Mix them together and you are done.
Final price $1.88 for homemade vs. $6.00 for Purex Crystals at the store!
Homemade DIY Fabric Softener Crystals
Like Purex, but much less expensive.Print Pin RateServings: 4 cupsInstructions
Thoughts? Have you tried to make your own fabric softener before? Have any other great homemade recipes you would like to share?
Here are more DIY recipes you might be interested in:
- DIY Burt’s Bees Chapstick copy cat recipe
- DIY Homemade Greek yogurt
- DIY Making Homemade Mozzarella Cheese
- Making Homemade Butter
- Learn to Cut your little boys hair with my tutorial
- Using Coconut Oil as a Moisturizer
- DIY Homemade Soap making
- DIY Homemade Natural Deodorant
- Making your own Homemade Baby Food
Find more frugal living recipes and DIY ideas here.
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Debbie says
Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate and sodium chloride is table salt. Just FYI.
I don’t know if magnesium sulfate hardens or softens water but if you are wanting to copy the purex crystals just some coarse salt would be a better choice.
Katie says
Can I use my favorite perfume instead of essential oils, for the fragrance
Rebecca says
So Excited to see someone post about a liquid version. I’m going to try it out. I have heard the scent is washed out when the dry version is put in at the same time of your detergent. I use concentrated versions to save time making up batches. 4lb bag Epsom Salt + 8 cups H2O + 2tsp Now Pure Lavender Oil use 1/8 cup per load in dispenser or downy ball. 😉
tlg says
i have a dorm-size washing machine that uses 3 tbsp liquid detergent for a load. how much epsom salt would be the equivalent ratio downsized from a full load machine?
Happy.MoneySaver says
I am not sure exactly. I would try out 1 teaspoon and then go from there. Good luck!
Jessica says
I noticed in the original softener crystal ingredients, one was bentonite. I use bentonite clay in a lot of different recipes. Would you think about adding some to your recipe and blending the ingredients in a food processor or Vitamix? If so, maybe you could post another recipe? Or do you like us to post them in the comments?
Happy.MoneySaver says
I will have to look into betonite clay. Thanks!
FABIAN says
CAN I MAKE LAUNDRY LIQUID DETERGENT WITH FABRIC SOFTENER IN 1… I MEAN LIKE 2 IN 1?
Karrie says
I know you can make dry fels naptha laundry detergent homemade with crystals but not sure about adding them to the liquid recipe.
Patricia says
Do you think instead of oils could you use lemon juice?
Happy.MoneySaver says
I think for this recipe the essential oils would give off the wonderful smells where the lemon juice I think wouldn’t hold over time.
Kira says
Oh! I forgot OxiClean. And I looked, our recipes are basically the same. 🙂
Kira says
Hey there, I have one question about mixing these in with homemade laundry detergent. The laundry soap recipe I’m using (I’m not sure if yours is the same – zote, washing soda, borax, baking soda) makes a lot and needs to be stored in a tub. The issue I’m running into is that essential oils are not supposed to be stored in plastic because it could cause the chemicals to leech out into whatever you’ve made. So, what do you store your laundry soap/ softener mixture in?
Happy.MoneySaver says
I usually mix it up in the tub and then store it in the glass jar like this. It is easy access and stores it nicely. I also really love the jar!
Rebecca says
Interesting…when Purex Crystals first came out I read the ingredients and the first one listed was sugar…now you say (I believe you, just haven’t looked) that the main ingredient is salt. Wonder why?
Puddins says
When I make this recipe up I add it to 8 cups of water and boil until the salt is dissolved! It works great with the soft water . I only use about 1/4 of a cup, or what ever amount goes in to a downy ball.
Cathy says
So, I am intrigued and want to try this. I’ve been using vinegar in place of fabric softener, and while it helps with odor, sometimes the vinegar smell itself is overpowering.
My question is: How much of this do you use and when do you add it?
Happy.MoneySaver says
Use 1-2 tablespoons when you add your detergent in at the beginning of your wash!
Laurie V. says
I guess its still messing with my head……….. seems to if its meant to soften clothes & leave nice scent that it should go into the rinse cycle ????????????
Has anyone ever tried putting it into the rinse ?
Also I’m wondering if using baking soda (cheaper) would be less expensive (here in Ontario Canada Epsom salts are nowhere near that cheap ? Since baking soda also softens water & clothes
Shawna says
I had this same thought. I’ve seen these laundry softener crystal recipes all over pinterest and their all using epsom salt, but epsom is magnesium sulfate and magnesium and calcium are the main contributors to hard water. Im going to try it with rock salt or ice cream salt.
Pam says
How about using water softener salt–the kind that looks like rock salt? A 40 lb. bag is usually less than $6.00.
Shawna says
Regular salt (sodium chloride) is cheaper and should work better since it’s a water softener. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate which is actually a water hardener. Baking soda is a great laundry softener, I use a mixture of vinegar and baking soda in a downy ball. Just don’t add the vinegar to the baking soda to quickly cause it foams like crazy.
Frank G says
They neutralize each other. Produce carbon dioxide, water, and sodium acetate. So what’s the point of doing that?
Katherine says
Troll
Ashley says
In order to make the softener crystals, can I use scented Epsom salt with having to buy/add the essential oils?
Happy.MoneySaver says
Yes! In fact you could probably have it be non-scented if you wanted to as well which would save even more money. The salts alone would soften your clothes.
Ashley says
Oh wow! Thank you so much! I’m so excited to try this!
Lia says
Purex Crystals aren’t a fabric softener, they’re a fabric enhancer. Meaning they enhance the SMELL of the fabric.
Aibhlinn says
If you are using a homemade laundry soap or any washing product containing soap, not detergent, you do NOT want to use Epsom Salt as it will cause a scum to build up. Epsom Salt is Magnesium Sulfate, not the same as Sodium Chloride (salt) and they can NOT be used interchangeably. Magnesium Sulfate will react with the soap in a way that hardens your water and the resulting scum will build up over time and can cause major damage to your washing machine, pipes, and septic tank (if you have one). You’ll also start to notice the scum on your clothing as they will start to have an almost moldy smell to them. You can however use sea salt or regular table salt without risking a multitude of problems down the road.
Laurie V. says
Hello Aibhlinn
you’ve noted here that epsom salt is different than plain ordinary Sodium Chloride (salt). Would it be better to use plain ordinary salt instead or would this too cause a negative reaction ?
OR perhaps using Baking Soda instead ?
Meka says
I believe I bought the wrong thing. I seen at the top contains essential oils, didn’t realize until I got home it said warming oil. Wrong right?
Also, do you still use fabric softener or does this take the place of it?
Happy.MoneySaver says
Yes, you use essential oils and salt in this recipe. It does take the place of the softener! 🙂
Tameka says
I believe I bought the wrong thing. On top it says contains essential oils, but I didn’t see until I got home warming oil. This is wrong isn’t it?
rebecca says
It is fascinating that Epsom Salt works, since chemically you are making hard water and making soap less effective. The minerals that make water hard usually contain calcium and magnesium. you made water hard by adding epsom salt, which is magnesium sulfate. Calcium and magnesium in water interfere with the cleaning action of soap and detergent. They do this by combining with soap or detergent and forming a scum that does not dissolve in water. Because they react with soap and detergent, they remove the soap and detergent, thereby reducing the effectiveness of these cleaning agents. This could be overcome by adding more soap or detergent. However, the scum that is formed can adhere to what is being washed, making it appear dingy supposedly.
Frank G says
You are absolutely correct. These DIY recipes are promoted to housewives by people who do not understand chemistry. Blind leading the blind.
Helen says
Does the Epsom Salt ruin your water pipes?