Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Sparkly clean dishes for nothing!
Photo by africa



I found a recipe for dishwasher detergent!  It’s really super complicated, so get your pens ready, okay?  Here it comes:

Mix equal parts of Borax and washing soda.

That’s it.  Seriously.  It works just fine, comparable to the big name detergents.  In fact, it actually works better than the generic stuff from Fred Meyer (never again, that stuff was awful).  The dishes are totally clean, the glasses are sparkly, no streaks or residue or anything.  

I mixed the two ingredients (which I still have a ton of by the way, despite several batches of laundry detergent and household cleaner) and have them in a plastic container under the sink.  You use the same amount that your dishwasher requires for any powdered detergent, about 1/3 cup for our machine. 

Dishwasher detergent for less than a penny a load.  Gotta love it. 

4 comments:

  1. You should've asked me;). There can sometimes be an issue (usually after a bit) that I guess is related to water hardness (not a scientist here;)!!!). If things start looking like they're getting bit of a build-up or something, add in citric acid or lemon-flavored Kool Aid. I toss in a little lemon juice. Vinegar for the rinse agent instead of that expensive blue stuff:).

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    1. You know, I could have sworn I asked for a dishwasher detergent recipe! Maybe I'm nuts. Or I'm thinking of something else (both are certainly possible...). At any rate, it's working awesome. We don't have any issues with water hardness, but I'll keep those tips in mind in case we have problems. Thanks!!

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  2. Worse, maybe you asked and I didn't send it!! LOL So glad it's working great. I toss in lemon juice with mine and alternate it with store stuff--week on, week off kind of thing. Don't know if it's my machine or water or what, but it works great for a while and then heads downhill. I think maybe it just builds up, then the store stuff clears it out?? Great money saver, though!

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    1. Haha! I honestly can't remember! Oh well, either way, it's working great. And even if I have to run a cycle every other week to clear it out, it still saves a bunch of money. Thanks for the advice :D

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