Laundry, cost per wash
Cost per wash: laundry detergent by price per dose
Detergent is sold in bottles, boxes, tubs and sheets, priced per pack, and almost never per wash. Converted to a dose, the range across an ordinary supermarket aisle is about four to one, and the dearest option is the one most people reach for because it is the easiest to use.
Some links on this page are affiliate links, which earn us a commission if you buy. It costs you nothing extra, and it never changes which option comes out cheapest here, because the ranking is arithmetic. How this works.
The ranking
Per dose the spread is 10p to 40p. Once the wash itself is added, the electricity and the water, the gap between the cheapest and dearest wash is 30.8p, and across 260 washes a year that is £80.
| Option | Running | Cost per wash | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own brand powder£5.50 for 60 washes | 46.5p | 46.5p | |
| Own brand liquid£3.50 for 35 washes | 47.4p | 47.4p | |
| Eco laundry sheets£12 for 60 washes | 57.4p | 57.4p | |
| Branded liquid£8 for 38 washes | 58.4p | 58.4p | |
| Capsules or pods£12 for 30 washes | 77.4p | 77.4p |
Notice how much of every row is the wash rather than the detergent. A 40 degree cycle costs about 14p of electricity and 23p of water before any detergent goes in, so even the dearest capsule is only just over half the total. That is the useful thing to know here, and it works against the way detergent is marketed.
Why capsules cost four times what powder costs
You are paying for the dose to be measured for you and wrapped in a film that dissolves. That is genuinely worth something to people who overpour, and overpouring is common enough that a capsule user may well use less detergent than a liquid user who fills the cap to the top every time.
Most people use more detergent than the dose on the pack, particularly with liquids where the cap is larger than the correct measure. Using the stated dose rather than a full cap can cut detergent spend by a third on its own, which is a bigger saving than switching brand and costs nothing at all.
The temperature is worth more than the brand
Almost all the electricity in a wash goes on heating the water. A 60 degree wash uses roughly 1.2 kWh against about 0.4 kWh at 30, a difference of around 21p a wash. That is most of what you would save by switching from capsules to own brand powder, and you can do both. Modern detergents are formulated to work at 30, and for everyday clothes that are not actually soiled it makes very little difference to the result.
Where the cheap option genuinely loses
Powder contains bleaching agents that liquids generally do not, so it does better on whites and on stains at higher temperatures. Liquids are gentler on colours and dissolve properly in a cold wash where powder can leave residue. Buying both, and using each for what it is good at, costs less than buying capsules for everything.
The verdict
Buy own brand powder for whites and own brand liquid for colours, measure the dose properly instead of filling the cap, and wash at 30 unless something is actually dirty. Those three changes together save more than any switch between brands, and the last one saves more than the detergent costs.
Put your own numbers in
Prefilled with a 40 degree wash. The consumable field is the detergent dose, so put your own in.
Cost per meal
Set the purchase price to zero for the running cost alone.
Questions
What is the cheapest laundry detergent per wash?
Supermarket own brand powder, at about 9p a dose. Branded capsules are more than four times that at around 40p.
How much does one load of washing cost in the UK?
Between 46.5p and 77.4p including electricity, water and detergent, for a 40 degree cycle on an A rated machine at the current price cap.
Are laundry capsules worth the money?
They cost about four times what powder does per wash. What you get is a measured dose, which is worth something if you would otherwise overpour, and nothing at all if you would not.
Do eco laundry sheets save money?
No. At around 20p a dose they cost twice what own brand powder costs. Their case is packaging and shipping weight rather than price.
Does washing at 30 degrees really save money?
Yes. Nearly all the electricity in a wash goes on heating water, so going from 60 degrees to 30 saves around 21p a wash. Switching from capsules to own brand powder saves a little more, and the two savings add up rather than overlapping.
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More laundry costs, or read how we work these out.
Prices used on this page
- Electricity, 26.11p per kWh. Ofgem price cap, direct debit, average of England, Scotland and Wales, including 5% VAT.. Ofgem energy price cap unit rates and standing charges. Checked 22 August 2026.
- Water and sewerage, £4.60 per cubic metre. Combined volumetric water and wastewater charge, metered. Mean of three large suppliers for 2026/27: Thames Water £4.02, United Utilities £4.75, Anglian Water £5.03 per cubic metre.. Published 2026/27 household charges, Thames Water, United Utilities and Anglian Water. Checked 22 August 2026.