Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

This one is a cautionary tale. I learned a lot in 24 hours about citric acid/lemi-shine and what happens when you combine it with borax, washing soda and salt. FYI - you get a rock. A coarse, very hard, not very useful rock. So attempt #1 really never got off the ground. Should you prefer dry dishwasher detergent mix 2 cups of borax, 2 cups of washing soda, and 1 cup of salt. Store the lemi-shine separately and then just add 1T of the mix to a heaping teaspoon of lemi-shine to the dispenser.

Or...you can be like me, give up, and just make a liquid instead. Sorry, 2 containers is just too complicated for me.

I used this recipe from Choosing Simplicity. I also use her household cleaner with tea tree oil. Moving on...

(Pictures to come...if I remember...)

The Ingredients:
16 cups water, divided
1 1/2 cups washing soda
1 cup borax
1/2 cup Dr. Brenner's Pure Liquid Castile Soap (I have lavender...and no, I haven't read all that's printed around the bottle but I'm guessing it's odd.)

Directions:
Boil 8 cups of water, then add the washing soda, borax and castile soap, stirring until everything has dissolved. Stir in remaining 8 cups and allow to cool; then pour it into the container(s) of your choice. It turns to a gel of sorts after about 24 hours.

To use it just shake it a bit, then fill your closed soap dispenser about 3/4 of the way full. (Though you may need more or less depending on hard/soft water, age of dishwasher, etc.) Don't forget to fill your rinse aid dispenser with some white vinegar. It helps with spots and no, your dishes don't smell like pickles.

My next homemade home cleaning project? These sanitizing wipes using recipe #2.

Enjoy!