Sunday, October 14, 2012

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I've been wanting to try making my own dishwasher detergent for a while now but I just never got around to it. We thought we could save money by getting the detergent from the dollar tree, it did NOT work.  The dishes were "clean" but they were not sparkly at all, and just had a dull filmy look.  So last week when we ran out of that awful detergent I told D not to buy any new stuff until he let me try my recipe.  I found it over at Simply Designing and it works wonders! Here it is:

Dishwasher Detergent:

- 2 cups of borax
- 2 cups of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
- 2 cups of Lemi Shine
- 1 cup of Kosher Salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until mixed. (I don't have any mixing bowls yet, they are on my registry though, so I used my stock pot)
2. Let the open bowl sit out for 2 days stirring periodically to break up all chunks. (The citric acid of the Lemi Shine causes a reaction that makes the ingredients clump together. All you have to do is leave the mixture out in open air and break up the clumps every once in a while for about 2 days and then you can put it into a sealed container.)
3. Use 1 tbs of detergent per cycle, I put 70 percent of the tablespoon in the detergent part of the dishwasher and 30 percent of the tablespoon in the pre-wash section of the dishwasher.

(I forgot to include some ingredients so I just photoshopped them in lol)

The borax and the washing soda were found in the laundry supplies section of Walmart, the lemi shine was found in the dish soap section of Walmart and the kosher salt was found in the spices section of Walmart. All of these ingredients cost about $10.00 and there is enough to make at least 4 (maybe 5) batches of dishwasher detergent (with the exception of the lemi shine which was all used in this first batch because of the size I bought).  I predict this one batch has enough detergent to last 70+ loads, but I haven't measured it out.

Another fun tip is to put a small container (about 1/4 of a cup) of white vinegar on the top rack of the dishwasher while it's running, this works as a great (CHEAP) rinse aid!

Let me know if this works for you! Or if you have any other great money saving tips when it comes to cleaning supplies!

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