homemade dishwasher detergent

As I posted before, we have decided to make our own dishwasher detergent. Well, I did it! I found a recipe online that needed washing soda (different than baking soda, it is in with the laundry stuff by the borax), borax, kosher salt and citric acid. I couldn't find citric acid, so I used a package of Kool Aid Lemonade. *I read lots of recipes online to find the perfect one, many of them used a kool aid packet instead of citric acid. It is the first ingredient listed. Plus, at $.10/packet, the price point was perfect.

Price breakdown:
76 oz. Borax- $4.29
55 oz. Washing soda- $2.79
packet of Kool Aid- lemonade- $.10
kosher salt- already had it at home

I used 4 oz. of washing soda and borax in my mix. (I made a half batch to start.) I could make over 13 batches of dishwasher detergent with my ingredients. *I will have to find/buy citric acid or buy more lemonade, but I can handle it. :)

Oh yeah, that is about $.52 for dishwashing detergent. Green wins again!!

I know that people are wondering... does it really work as well? It really honestly does. We use 1 Tablespoon of mix per load and I filled my rinse reservoir with white vinegar. I am already telling everyone I know. It is sooooo simple and cheap! I don't know why anyone would pay $2+ for detergent when you could make your own in a couple minutes.

Up next is laundry detergent. My Borax and washing soda are used in that recipe as well.

going green-er

Rob and I have been trying to live a slightly greener life. Since we moved here last July, we have a recycle bin. Our trash output has gone done by almost 75%! I recently found out that MSU recycling center takes even more, and it isn't far so I am now saving the landfills from all our plastics & styrofoam. Psst... we are almost done with diaper here too. :) I really want to get into cloth diapering for the next one... whenever that may be. We have been using homemade cleaner (50/50 water and white vinegar) instead of chemical cleaners. The simple (and super cheap!) mix works better than your standard store bought cleaner. We will be trying our hand at making dishwasher detergent and laundry detergent. We are planning on a garden this summer... planting here in the mitten can't happen before Memorial Day, or we risk losing every thing. In order to give ourselves a little pat on the back for doing the fiscally responsible thing (as well as the best thing for the environment) we concocted a plan. We are opening a joint savings account, that requires 2 signatures with no debit/atm cards. Every time, over the next year, we would have bought detergent, dishwashing liquid, cleaners, produce (that is grown the garden), we are going to put the price of the store bought stuff in the account. Since we will have to purchase some products to make our own stuff, we will take that price right off the top. I can't wait to make our own products and let you all know how it goes. Who knows... maybe I will even end up doing my own how to post!