Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Thank you to all of the precious girls who commented on my laundry detergent post. You have no idea how happy I am to know that someone is reading this and I'm glad you are finding my little adventures in frugalhood (no, that's not a real word) helpful. I was talking with a complete stranger at a wedding last Saturday about my new profession as a stay at home mom and she said that she was reading an article that said (and I paraphrase), "You will never remember the outfit you were able to buy because you were working, but you will always cherish the time you spent with your kids." I wish I had a copy of this entire article because that one sentence really says it all and if I need to find creative ways to save some money to make staying at home possible, that's fine by me.

Here's a little tutorial on how to make your own dishwasher detergent. Please note that this is to be used in the dishwasher not in the sink. You can make that kind of dishwashing liquid as well, but you can also get it for next to nothing or free on sale with a coupon so I'm not sure I'll be venturing to that one. This is one of the easiest things to make ever and it will probably take me longer to type the post than for you to actually make the stuff, but I'll continue anyway. Enjoy!

Step 1: Gather your materials.

You will need these...

If you made the laundry detergent, you already have these so it's already a great bargain!

You will also need a little help from this guy...

You'll need to get lemonade Kool-aid. (I'll explain why soon.)

Step 2: Combine your ingredients.

1 cup Baking Soda Washing Powder (Make sure you have Baking Soda WASHING POWDER not just regular baking soda.)

1 cup Borax

1 packet lemonade Kool-aid drink mix (Apparently some people have noticed a cloudy residue on their dishes when they didn't use some sort of acidic material. I searched for options and this was the most readily available and cost effective product I could find to prevent this from occurring. And it provides a light lemon scent during the wash! Some people haven't had this problem, but I used it just in case.)

I put my detergent in a food storage container with a locking lid so I can keep it under the sink and not worry about Lucy getting into it. You could also keep it in a decorative vase or jar or whatever you creative people can come up with. Just shake these 3 items together and use 1-2 tablespoons per load. I usually put 1 tbsp in the main washing compartment and 1/2-1 tbsp in the prewash compartment.

You can add vinegar or lemon juice to the rinse aid compartment. I suppose the lemon juice would help with the cloudy residue as well. That's what I used just because I was out of vinegar and I haven't noticed any issues.

I am pretty obsessive about cleaning my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher (I know, I know; this causes etching. I've done it for years and don't have etched glasses so my OCD will continue). I haven't noticed a difference between this and my old Electrolyte tabs except this cost me about $.40 for a triple batch.

I got this recipe off of a great website that you must visit if you are interested in more homemade recipes or just some good housekeeping tips. I've made the dryer sheets (the cutest ever!) from a recipe on this site, but haven't used them yet. I'll post those directions and the results soon.

Happy washing!!!