Another Recipe

I have also started making my own dishwasher detergent.  Some of these items I already had on hand, so the cost is very minimal.  It took me about 2 minutes to make this, and it is immediately ready to use, so my time cost is nothing.  I spend longer making a pitcher of iced tea.  I keep a 1 cup measure in my laundry soap making bucket along with my cleaning supply recipes.  Again, no one removes these things from my spot under penality of death!!!!

1 C Borax
1 C washing soda
1/2 C kosher salt
5 pkts unsweetened lemonade (make sure to use the unsweetened packets of YELLOW lemonade)

The borax and washing soda do clump in the box a little while they are stored in the pantry, so I use the bottom of my measuring cup to crush the large lumps and then mix it all together.

Use 1 level tablespoon per load - Yields about 45 loads.  Put 1/3 of the Tbl in the little detergent compartment and the rest in the large one, if your dishwasher has them.  We run the dishwasher AT LEAST one time per day for a family of 6, sometimes 2-3 times when school is out, so this is a real money saver for my family.  This batch will last my family about 1 month. The smell of the powder is slightly of lemonade, but there is no smell when the dishwasher is done.  Also no staining inside the dishwasher.

Mix all the ingredients and store in a tightly sealed container - I use a Rubbermaid bowl with a lid that snaps on.   You're only storing about 2 1/2 cups of powdered cleaner, so you don't need a real big container.  A mason jar would probably work just as well, but with my clumsy children, I wanted to avoid a glass container,  I also wrote on the lid of the container so everyone knows they only use 1 level Tbl per load, and then I store a Tbl in the container so no one can say they didn't measure because they couldn't find one.  After all, with my teenagers, if it's not easy, they won't do it.  I have caught one boy putting liquid Dawn into the dishwasher because it was on the counter and he did not want to bend over to pull a detergent tablet from right next to him under the sink...... GGRRRRR.  I always wondered how we seem to go through so much Dawn when we run our dishwasher so often...... that may be the next recipe I look for, hmmmmm.

I had the Borax and washing soda, from making laundry soap, so I bought the salt for about $2 for a container.  The salt is an abrasive to clean the food particles off the dishes (kosher because they are bigger crystals), and the lemonade is for the citric acid, also helping with the cleaning.  I have enough salt to make several batches.  The lemonade I also bought.  I used the generic Wal-Mart brand instead of Kool-Aid, for 12 cents per packet, and it works just as well.  I will now start watching for the Kool-Aid sales again where they sell 10 for a dollar instead of the regular 5 for a dollar.  And if I can find a coupon too, well bonus!! And honestly, the borax and washing soda have lasted me so long that I don't have a clue what I paid for them, but for as little as is used, it's a great value.

The Borax and Washing Soda are in the laundry aisle.  Usually on a bottom shelf at my store.  Kosher salt in the baking aisle, and lemonade in the drink mix aisle.

I have seen this recipe also using straight citric acid or Lemi-shine, but in the side by side comparisons I found on several sites, the lemonade seems to clean the best.  Plus at only 12 cents per envelope for the generic, its cheaper than the acid or Lemi-shine.  The lady who's recipe I used estimates the cost at 2 cents per load, which is probably pretty close, so for 45 loads, it is less than a dollar.  This seems to clean just as well as the Finish tablets or gel packets that I was using.

Here is what the packaging looks like if you are looking for them in the store.  Be sure to use WASHING soda, not baking soda..... they are NOT the same thing.