Make Dishwashing Detergent
Apr 1, 2011 by Breanna 
Yesterday I showed you how to make your own laundry detergent. Today, I’ll show you how to use those very same ingredients to make your own dishwashing detergent. The cost break down goes like this: Costco brand dishwashing detergent costs 16 cents a load. This stuff costs 4 cents a load. PLUS, you’ll already have everything you need left over from the laundry detergent!
The dishwashing detergent is even easier than the laundry detergent was! Mix 1 cup of Borax with 1 cup of Washing Soda. VOILA!
For each load of dishes, use 2 tablespoons of the mixture. Add just a drop of a liquid dish soap (or a drop of the laundry detergent even!) to the powder before running the dishwasher. If you find that your dishes are coming out a bit cloudy, add some vinegar to the prewash cup in the dishwasher. Be sure to clearly label the container in which you store this soap!
Gettin’ Tipsy: If you’ve got hard water, try adding some kosher salt to the mix (about half a cup to this recipe) and see if that helps with the cloudiness. If you’re still bothered by cloudiness (which is only a visual issue, not indicative of your dishes being insufficiently cleaned) you can look into using citric acid, though this is pretty expensive and makes the price difference between homemade and store bought a bit less impressive! Strangely, you can substitute two small packages of lemon kool-aid (the kind without any sugar) if you’d like to keep this recipe super cheap but still have most of the shiny benefits of citric acid.
You can use essential oils if you’d like, perhaps lemon? I prefer to leave mine unscented.
Linked:
- TidyMom’s I’m Loving It
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We have to use citric acid in our dishwasher. I buy it online at a wholesale bath & body supplier like Brambleberry (because they are close to where I live): http://www.brambleberry.com/Citric-Acid-P3753.aspx
It’s less than $5/lb and it is magic for hard water with calcium and/or rust stains. I use it everywhere we get water stains in my house, including in the laundry (you can’t use bleach in rusty water!)
You can also get Citric Acid really cheap at your local wine or beer making shop, and you can get a smaller quantity, like 8 oz.
I just used the last of my first batch of this homemade dishwasher detergent. I think I’m going to have to try the kosher salt in the mix, because even with the drop of detergent AND the vinegar, I’m still seeing some cloudiness. We do have very hard water in our area. I’m using my second batch of the laundry soap. I love saving money on this stuff, it adds up fast!
just nade half a batch!
I’ve read that vinegar in your rinse aid compartment, it helps with the cloudiness
Sorry…it says right in your article to use vinegar in the pre-wash…that’s a preggo brain for ya! lol
my kiddo is 3.5 and i STILL feel preggo brain!!
Anyone know how to get rid of the yellow stains that I keep getting on my white shirts from my washing machine? TY
sounds to me like your washing machine needs a good cleaning itself! here’s a simple and effective tutorial on doing that: http://www.ehow.com/how_2193051_wash-washing-machine.html
This will work fine if you want regular detergent, but if you want the nuclear powered dissolve food off stuff, add about half a teaspoon of Tri-Sodium Phosphate, sold as TSP at any hardware store.
I agree with you Peter. TSP is a product that has been around for years. It’s inexpensive and works really well for getting things clean. It’s also great for washing walls and floors, cleaning bathrooms, and more. Highly recommeded product!
I made this, with the kosher salt and Kool-aid also included, and it left a very bad cloudy film on my classes and some dishes that is very hard to remove. I also tried it with vinegar in the rinse aid compartment, same result. I also tried it mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with Cascade (trying to use it up at least) and it is doing the same thing. Maybe my water is just too hard (it scores 119) but this did not work for me…
I had the same problem-used kool-aid as well and added vinegar to rinse aid holder. Feel like I wasted money and now have a huge batch of the homemade disherwasher detergent to figure out some other use for.
Maybe you could use it as toilet cleaner! -heather
I have a friend who has been making her own laundry detergent for ages. She uses it for laundry, dishwasher/dishwashing and for her floors!
Very cool idea! I’d seen the laundry detergent before, but never dishwashing detergent. Thanks!
Love this! I’m off to go get my supplies! Thanks so much for sharing.
Andee
P.S. Visiting from tidy mom