Borax contains chemicals that are harmful. It in banned in Britain.
washing soda makes the water very alkaline and aids in dissolving grease. If you have your balance right you won't have to worry about soap scum, as the soda will remove it>

However likely you won't be able to find enzymes that will remove stains, nor optical dyes that add to whiteness.
However Grandma had a beautiful white wash by boiling her whites with lye soap and hanging them on the line in the sunshine. I am sure you could find a wash boiler on line that would fit over two burners of your stove if you want to go that route, and I can tell you how to make lye soap.

I agree with what was mentioned above.

However, I think both are necessary. I would actually add STPP and Biz powder to fortify your recipe. A ratio of borax:washing soda:STPP:Biz powder in a 1:1:2:3 ratio. This would add enzymes, water softening agents, mild oxidizing agents, and some more modern surfactants. As you can see, it probably wouldn't be worth it.

Thank you all for the input! I appreciate your thoughts. After reading these comments, I don't think I will pursue it. Thank you again for your insight.

the health ranger makes a great powder laundry soap...

only takes 1 small scoop

health ranger store

"Borax contains chemicals that are harmful. It in banned in Britain."

More correct to say it IS a chemical. It's sodium borate.

And EU regulators will ban things on the flimsiest of scientific evidence. With absolute deference to anything that makes Europe 'special'. Borates are almost exclusively mined in the US so it was an import only item. Trust me, the average Scotch Whiskey presents 100X the cancer or endocrine disruption risk to typical end users than borates in laundry ever did. (borates shouldn't be used food additives, and have long been banned by the FDA in the US) Both because of the alcohol, and all the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that make it whiskey. So American soccer moms needn't worry over using sodium borate in their laundry, if it really helps. Does it...stay tuned!

Didn't people use borax to wash diapers? If borax and washing soda are so bad, why is it still being sold?

elbits, is one better than the other or does it depends on the situation?

I have read where the soda is harsher. I use the Arm & Hammer washing soda in my pool. It is cheaper than what the pool stores sell and it's the same thing.

OK here's an interesting followup.

One annoyance I've always had about laundering is basically: I have a good nose. A lot of people don't realize that standard, scented LD makes the formulation chemist's job a little easier because it will mask that last of the scents that don't wash out. My rich brother has a top of the line FL, he's had a couple actually I think current is a Bosch, and I'm sure uses the best scented Tide PODs or whatever rich people are doing their laundry with. But I've spotted a load of his family laundry after washing one day at his house, looking around to see that nobody was watching and smelled it, and I can pick up the 'base notes' of human odors under the gross faux floral or whatever top notes.

Since I've always used fragrance free, I'm used to 2 annoying issues: armpits and socks. Apparently just too many odor molecules get concentrated in those areas, it's hard to get them completely out. With armpits, for my dress shirts back in the olden days when I actually had to go to an office for my IT consulting job 😃 - I would pre-spray with diluted household ammonia, 1/3 mixed with 1/3 IPA and water. This mix seemed to help the detergents attack the under arm odor molecules. (One thing going on I think is that deodorant/antiperspirant actually helps fix the odor to the fabric. So a base and an alcohol helps loosen it. This odor is actually a mix of raw nasty underarm + whatever scent is in the deodorant bar...for me arm & hammer's citrus one) For the socks, I just accepted they would have a slight footy odor even after laundering. If you make the water really alkaline with A LOT of added soda ash or ammonia...like 2 cups of the latter or 2/3 cup of the former, it probably got rid of *more* of it...but that much base is probably bad for the clothes in addition to a bit wasteful.

So I spotted Mule Team borax last time I was at my local grocery store and thought, "what the heck...to thumb my nose at the EU, I'm just going to buy this." (LOL, JK...I'm not a brexiter, or a trumper - all my electric power come from solar...but I do hate stupid laws based on pseudoscience) I tried just a small amount in my "test" load...about a tablespoon. I'd already established that Tide Free and Gentle...although it already contains a bit of sodium borate and seems well formulated - still left a bit of sock odor. And <= a tablespoon is not an amount of soda ash/washing soda that would fix my sock odor problem. Well...holy mackerel...lo and behold...cor blimey...I could not believe it...sock odor almost completely resolved!!! I'm sold! I don't know what about the chemistry of borax would be different from other bases but it seems there is. Can't find much in the interwebs specifically answering why it would have this effect other than generally being antifungal in a way washing soda would not be. it does say right on the label "neutralizes odors" har har har...I guess they aren't lying.

I started using Borax when I first got my front loader.

Before that I never used it.

I don't even remember why, maybe MamaP or this fourm was an influence.

I've never had smell issues (even when I used to wash my dad's clothes from the nursing home that included accidents).

I've been using it for over three years now for every load.