Can you wash clothes in borax and washing soda or is it mandatory to use some sort of soap?

I want to dry to make my own laundry soap, however I have noticed most say that you need some soap. I don't know if the soap is mandatory or if it is used just to add smell. I have tried the homemade route before and used zote, but because we have hard water it didn't work so well. The ingredient I left out was the washing soda, bc i thought borax was suffficient. Can I just use borax and washing soda or is soap mandatory to clean my clothes. I thought the borax and washing soda did that. Thanks