Another Homemade Recipe

Today I decided to post our recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent. We've only been using it a week and I'm convinced it does the same job as the Cascade packs we were using. Keep in mind that when you try a recipe like this in your dishwasher, there are a lot of factors involved: hard water, soft water, dishwasher. We have soft water and a fairly new dishwasher and this recipe works fine for us. So here it is:

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

1 cup washing soda
1 cup Borax
1 squirt Dawn dish soap
White Vinegar

Mix the washing soda and Borax. Use 2 tablespoons of mix and one squirt of Dawn (it fights grease!). Use the white vinegar as a rinse agent (like Jet Dry). I just put the vinegar in my rinse agent compartment and fill it when needed. Some people may prefer to put a teaspoon or two in every time they run their dishwasher, depending on how well the dishwasher drys the dishes.

The first time I used this recipe we put too much Dawn in and the plastic dishes came out with some spots....not dirt, just water spots. Since then I've decreased the amount of Dawn and they've been looking pretty good. Let me know if you try this and how it works for you. Also, if you have your own recipe, please feel free to share:)

Oh, and in case you haven't noticed, these are some of the same ingredients used in the laundry detergent. They're very versatile and this means more money saved! I originally purchased a box of Borax, a box of Baking soda, and a box of washing soda. I've made two recipes of laundry soap and one of dishwashing detergent and I still have some left....and my cupboard is no longer stuffed with every cleaning supply known to man!

Happy Cleaning!