For about the last year, I’ve been making our own dishwashing detergent. It’s easy and quick to make and it saves us a bundle! I didn’t invent the recipe. In fact, it was one of my first finds on Pinterest. And the great news is that not only has it worked in our sometimes cranky dishwasher well {after some tweaking}, but it also has been a WONDERFUL scour too for sinks, toilets, tubs, and showers. I LOVE this stuff for a good scrub {in my kitchen and bathroom, not on me because ow}.
Without further ado, here’s what you need:
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1 Box of Borax {Found near Powdered Laundry Detergents Typically}
1 Box of Washing Soda {different from Baking Soda, found in Laundry Detergent Aisle}
3 Cups of Epsom Salts {I found them in a Pharmacy area}
24 Packets of Lemonade Drink Mix {Think Kool-Aid or an equivalent}
I know, the Kool-Aid has your brain going all crazy, right? But it totally works {and smells yummy too} because its active ingredient is Citric Acid which is one humdinger of a cleaner and apparently makes a drink delish, too.
The basic instructions for combination are a) dump everything into a large seal tight container and b) shake it real hard. Easy, no?
HOWEVER, I do have some tips and tricks to that I’ve discovered the hard way.
- This stuff will CLUMP. So be sure there is NOTHING wet in the vicinity of your ingredients. Be sure the container, the spoon, the lid, your hands, the counter, your children, and anything else you might be using is 100% dry. Seriously. Not even joking.
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- I typically layer the ingredients while making it. That way it’s not impossible to mix it thoroughly. You’re using a high volume of ingredients so I typically at least half everything but usually work in thirds or even smaller amounts to make sure that everything gets mixed throughout.
- Use an Air Tight reliable container not only to insure that you won’t dump it everywhere when you combine the ingredients and then shake it . . . sshhshhshake it . . . shake it like a Polaroid picture. You know what to do girl. But it also insures that no wetness will get into that magic powder once you actually begin using it on a regular basis. It doesn’t have to be expensive though. Ours is a free Cereal container that I’ve had for a few years.
- What’s that you say? Too late, yours already has a bad case of the clumps. DO NOT throw it away {or at least give it to me, for the love of Pete}. I had this happen to me and I did a couple of things. 1) I used a metal skewer and beat the crap out of it. Seriously, if you have extra aggression this is like sweet music to your soul. 2) I used “chunks” of the detergent as basically a scouring stone on the grout in our shower which is HORRIBLE to clean. And it worked fabulous.
- Tinker with the amount that you put in the detergent receptacle in your dishwasher. The originally recipe calls for 1 T/load {which is like NOTHING in comparison to traditional store bought cleaners} but I actually use about 1/2 that that because again our dishwasher is cranky and it really doesn’t take much to get our dishes clean.
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- FINAL and DEFINITE trick, use a product called Lemi Shine in the base of your dishwasher too. I simply give it a quick shake shake {my country system of measurement, like it?} in the bottom of the dishwasher before I put the detergent in and let that badboy loose. You won’t have to purchase rinse aid any more. I typically get a month to 6 weeks out of a bottle of Lemi Shine {priced under $4 in most stores and located next to Dishwasher Detergent}. It makes everything shiny! My glasses were in an “I’m so embarrassed I make everyone drink out of plastic cups” condition before Lemi Shine and they are totally rehabbed now. I’m completely a super fan now and they paid me NOTHING to give them props.
The cost of this will drop even lower if you buy plain ol citric acid. Ball, the canning company, sells a 7.5 oz bottle for around $7
Great tip!