Cleansol Guide · Laundry
How much detergent per kg of clothes? Dose chart for every washing machine
Most people pour detergent by guesswork – usually too much. Too much powder does not clean better: it leaves residue, needs extra rinsing and wastes money. Here is how to dose by the weight of your clothes, for home machines, hand wash and commercial laundries.
10–15 g
per kg of dry clothes
70–105 g
for a full 7 kg load
½ load
= ½ the powder
30 min
wash at 40–60 °C
Quick answer: Use 10 g of detergent powder per kg of dry clothes for light dirt and soft water, and up to 15 g per kg for heavy dirt or hard water. A full 7 kg machine needs about 70–105 g. Always weigh – or estimate – the clothes, not the machine size: a half load needs half the powder. (Doses are for Cleansol Ultra enzyme detergent; always check the dose on your own pack.)
In this guide
Detergent dose chart
| Load of dry clothes | Light dirt · soft water | Heavy dirt · hard water |
| 1 kg | 10 g | 15 g |
| 3 kg (half load) | 30 g | 45 g |
| 6–7 kg home machine | 60–70 g | 90–105 g |
| 8–10 kg home machine | 80–100 g | 120–150 g |
| 25 kg commercial washer | 250 g | 375 g |
| 50 kg commercial washer | 500 g | 750 g |
Doses for Cleansol Ultra enzyme detergent powder. A level tablespoon of detergent powder is roughly 12–15 g.
Why dose by weight, not by machine size
A "7 kg" machine means it can wash up to 7 kg of dry clothes. Most daily loads are only 3–5 kg. If you always add the full-load dose, you use up to twice the detergent you need. The extra powder does not remove more dirt – it stays in the fabric, makes clothes feel stiff, can irritate skin and leaves white marks.
THE RULE
Weigh the clothes
Dose = kg of dry clothes × 10–15 g.
QUICK CHECK
Drum ¾ full?
Loosely filled to ¾ is a full load. Half full is about half a load.
How much do clothes weigh?
No scale? Use these approximate dry weights to estimate your load:
| Item | Approx. dry weight | Item | Approx. dry weight |
| T-shirt | 150–200 g | Bath towel | 400–600 g |
| Shirt / kurta | 200–300 g | Single bedsheet | 400–500 g |
| Jeans | 600–800 g | Double bedsheet | 700–900 g |
| Saree (cotton) | 400–600 g | Pillow cover | 100–150 g |
Example: 4 shirts + 2 jeans + 2 towels + 1 double bedsheet ≈ 1 + 1.4 + 1 + 0.8 = about 4.2 kg → 42 g of detergent for light dirt, about 60 g for heavy dirt.
Hard water and dirt level change the dose
Hard water – common with borewell and tanker water across much of India – contains calcium and magnesium that use up part of the detergent before it can clean. Signs of hard water: white scale on taps and buckets, soap that does not lather easily, and clothes that turn stiff or greyish.
- Soft water + light dirt (office wear, daily clothes): 10 g per kg.
- Hard water or heavy dirt (kids' clothes, sports wear, kitchen cloths): 15 g per kg.
- Very oily loads (uniforms, mechanics' wear, restaurant linen): add a laundry booster instead of more detergent.
Hard water also builds scale inside the machine itself. Descale it every 1–3 months – see our washing machine descaling guide.
Too much or too little detergent? Check the signs
Too much detergent
- White streaks or powder marks on dark clothes
- Stiff, rough towels
- Lots of foam left after the rinse
- Musty smell and slime in the drum or drawer
Too little detergent
- Collars and cuffs stay dirty
- Whites turn grey over time
- Clothes still smell after washing
- Grease spots remain
Front load, top load, semi-automatic and hand wash
🌀 Front load
Put the powder in the detergent drawer. Front loaders use less water, so stay at the lower end unless the water is hard.
🧺 Top load
Let the drum fill, dissolve the powder in the water, then add clothes. Never pour powder directly on clothes.
🪣 Semi-automatic
Dissolve in the wash tub first. Reuse the same water for a second, less dirty load only if it is still clean.
🤲 Hand wash
Same rule: about 10–15 g per kg of clothes. Dissolve fully in the bucket and soak 15–20 minutes before scrubbing.
For hotels, hospitals and commercial laundries
In a commercial laundry, every gram counts. A 25 kg washer running 6 loads a day at 15 g/kg uses about 2.25 kg of detergent daily – so overdosing by even 20% costs a lot over a month.
- Weigh linen by trolley or bag – do not go by machine capacity.
- Sort by soil level: guest linen, towels, kitchen and restaurant linen, and heavily soiled items.
- Use the right partner product instead of more detergent: booster for oil, oxygen bleach for whiteness, fabric sour in the last rinse.
🧺 Get exact doses for your machine: our free laundry dosing calculator works out detergent, booster, bleach, sour and softener for any load.
Frequently asked questions
Cleansol Ultra Laundry Detergent Powder
Enzyme-based · 10–15 g per kg · Top & front load · 1 kg jar, 5 kg bharni, 25 kg bag.
Shop Ultra Detergent → Laundry dose calculator →Related: Oxygen bleach for clothes – how to use · How to descale your washing machine · How to remove rust stains from clothes
Clothes weights are approximate. Always follow the dose on your detergent pack and the care label on your garments.