Monday, April 18, 2011

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.

2 comments:

Jessica Kerbawy said...

That's amazing! This is going to be happening in my house this week. Question: does this mix (or maybe the vinegar rinse) do a good job of removing water spots? The current dishwasher soap we use ALWAYS leaves water spots.

Kimm said...

The vinegar works super well with eliminating water spots. :) I don't have a single complaint about the mix.