Home Made Dishwashing Detergent

My Pastor’s wife said she’d tried my home made laundry detergent but was also looking for an inexpensive home made dishwasher detergent.  I knew I had some recipes somewhere, so I promised her I’d root them out for her.  There are three in particular that are very effective and all of them are less than .10 per load (YAY!!!):

Liquid Version:

Ingredients:

•    2 cups water
•    2 cups baking soda
•    2 cups borax
•    5 drops of any kind of citrus essential oil (orange, lemon, grapefruit)
•    Half gallon plastic milk jug or similar container, clean and with a tight lid
•    Funnel

Method:

Using the funnel, add all ingredients to your container and shake well to mix.  Use 1-2 tablespoons per load. (if there is a film on your dishes, which shouldn’t be the case, cut down on detergent)

Note:

Always add two tablespoons of distilled white vinegar to your rinse aid compartment for sparkling dishes.

Dry Version:

Ingredients:

•    3 cups Coarse Kosher Salt
•    3 ½ cups Washing Soda (found in laundry aisle usually)
•    4 cups Borax (also in the laundry aisle)
•    1 oz food-grade Citric Acid
•    Container with tight lid

Method:

Mix all ingredients well and store in container with a tight seal.  Use 2 Tablespoons per load and, of course, use 2 tablespoons of vinegar as a rinse aid.

NOTE:  If you can’t find food grade Citric Acid, you can use unsweetened lemon Kool-Aid!!  Use 6 packets in place of the ounce of Citric Acid.

There’s a mild debate over whether Borax is safe to use in the dishwasher.  You find it everywhere. . .lotions, laundry detergents, and, of course, dish washing detergents.  Here’s a great bit of info on the subject if you are of two minds about using it: http://www.crunchybetty.com/getting-to-the-bottom-of-borax-is-it-safe-or-not

If, after you’ve done your research, you’ve made the personal determination that you don’t want to use Borax in your cleaning regimen, here’s the dish washing detergent for you!

Borax-free Recipe:

Ingredients:

•    2 cups Washing Soda OR Baking Soda
•    ½ cups of coarse Kosher Salt
•    ½ cups food grade Citric Acid
•    10 drops of citrus essential oil (Orange, lemon, or grapefruit) Not only are citrus essential oils fabulous for cleaning, but they also have wonderful antibacterial properties! And they smell terrific, too!

Method:

Mix first 3 ingredients well in an air tight container. Add essential oil.  Mix again.

Use ½ tablespoon of detergent for average loads.
Use 1 tablespoon of detergent for particularly dirty/greasy/heavy loads.

And, of course, don’t forget to use the 2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar as a rinse aid.

So that’s it!  Easy-peasy!

Happy Dish-Doing!!