Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

My dishes are happy...

Ok. So I heard you could make your own dishwasher detergent and have a greener cleaner for pennies on the dollar of store bought detergent.

Hmmm.

So I looked up the recipes on SEVERAL different sites, did some research on some controversy that popped up, and made my very own batch.

Here is my recipe:


Equal Parts Borax and Baking Soda.
(I started with a small batch but then made a great big one since it worked so well and I had the stuff.)
Two cups of each will make a several month supply.

I then added 1/2 as much Kosher Salt.
(in the two cup recipe that would be ONE cup.)





Lastly I added several drops of grapefruit essential oil just to give it a fresh, clean smell.
(You can leave this out or substitute citric acid, 1/2 a cup in this recipe)


I mixed it all up and stored it in a pretty container using an antique soup ladle as the scoop.

You want to use only two teaspoons worth of powder each time in your dishwasher's powdered soap compartment. 


I also added plain white vinegar in my automatic spot rinse and this recipe left no spots or residue on my sparkly clean dishes.


The best part is everything I needed only cost about eight dollars and I have dishwasher detergent for A YEAR!!
(remember I went ahead and made a big batch.)


Thrifty and A.S.A.P.
(As Southern As Possible)
Mae


I am linking this up to the Handmade Hogs linky party which you can join {Here}






(This like many household cleaners is HARMFUL if ingested. Store away from pets and children. )


If you have concerns about the Borax (although I found it is safe to use on dishes as long as it's rinsed with water, which hopefully your dishwasher does!) Here is a link to a Borax free version. (It is a liquid version.)