Rather than post a long list of similar recipes, I thought posted a basic recipe and list optional ingredients separately. The recipes I found all included Borax and washing soda, usually in a 1:1 ratio.
Basic Recipe
- 1 cup Borax
- 1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda.
Optional ingredients:
- 1/3 cup Epsom Salts
- 1 package powdered lemonade
Dish Soap: NOT recommended.
- Essential Oil
Rinse Aids:
- Fill dispenser with white vinegar, or pour a cup in the bottom of the dishwasher. This helps with hard water residue.
- Lemi-Shine: mostly citric acid, but it worked wonders removing hard water residue on my cups when vinegar just couldn't do the job.
Directions: use one tablespoon per load, two if you have hard water.
Notes:
To sum up: My water is so hard I figured I'd add the salt and lemonade, just to give the homemade powder a fighting chance. I didn't figure in the cost of using Lemi-shine since I have to use it either way, though I should note that I need to use it now every wash, instead of once a week. Surprisingly, the cost per ounce was slightly higher to make my own powder than it was to buy an expensive brand. It was somewhat effective in cleaning, it leaves a film on some dishes, especially plastics, and doesn't seem to remove food as well as the commercial powder I usually use.- Film on Dishes: Many people complain of a film on their dishes after switching to homemade powder. This film is caused by minerals from hard water being deposited onto the dishes and dishwasher, and is not leftover detergent. I have VERY hard water, and had this issue while using commercial dish-washing powder. Using a bit more detergent helped, as did adding vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher, but I still ended up having to wash many of my glasses and plastic-ware with vinegar to get the deposit off after a while. My sister suggested Lemi-shine, and using this to replace some of the detergent about once or twice a week has made a huge difference in how much film is on my dishes. I expect to need to use Lemi-shine. I'm not trying to advertise a particular product, but so far I haven't seen a generic brand works for me.
- Want a higher yield recipe? 4 lbs borax (equals about 11 cups), 2 3lb 7oz box washing soda (one 3lb 7 oz box is about 5.5 cups), 3 cups Epsom Salt, 24 (yes, the recipe I saw said 24, I'm not sure you need that much, see what works for you) packs of lemonade powder.
- Where can I get the ingredients? I found both borax and washing soda in the laundry aisle at my supermarket and at Walmart.
- Clumping? Homemade dishwasher detergent tends to settle into clumps. Stirring or shaking the container each time you use it is supposed to help, as does storing it in an airtight container. I noticed clumping beginning after a few days, and I live in a very dry environment.
- Is Borax Safe to use on dishes? According to the product's website, using borax in the dishwasher is one of the intended uses. I wouldn't eat it, but I figure it will be rinsed off enough to not cause problems. Yes, you can kill ants with it-a little borax mixed with honey has solved a lot of kitchen ant problems for me, but the logic that borax kills ants, therefore it is a pesticide, therefore it is toxic to humans, makes some assumptions that I couldn't find scientific basis for.
Will I make it again? No. The reason I was interested in making homemade dishwasher detergent was to save money. Unless I can find the ingredients for a significantly lower price than I did, I will go back to using commercial powder.
Price Comparison:
Homemade Dishwashing Detergent
|
Cost
|
Ounces
|
Cups
|
Tablespoons (Loads)
|
1 - 4 lb
12 oz box Borax
|
$2.98
|
76
|
11
|
110
|
2 - 3 lb
7 oz boxes Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
|
$6.48
|
110
|
11
|
110
|
3 Cups
Epsom Salts
|
$2.22
|
33
|
3
|
30
|
24 - 0.23
oz packets of powdered lemonade
|
$4.00
|
5.52
|
0.25
|
2.5
|
Total
Cost
|
$15.68
|
|||
Cost per
Ounce
|
$0.07
|
|||
Cost per
Load (double for hard water)
|
$0.06
|
|||
4 lb box Cascade Complete 4 in 1
|
Total
Cost
|
$6.97
|
||
Cost per
Ounce
|
$0.06
|
|||
Cost per
Load
|
$0.06
|
|||
Effectiveness:
I am having a problem with the film others complained of. It seems worst on plasticware. I tried a few loads without Lemi-shine to see how it would go, and I had to re-wash a lot of the plastic as the film built up over time. Using Lemi-shine and adding vinegar to the rinse dispenser helped, but not well enough to satisfy me.
Update: After several weeks of using this recipe, I am increasingly dissapointed by how ineffective it is. The slight film builds up over multiple washes even using Lemi-Shine and vinegar unless hand washed with soap...and that to me is a dealbreaker. I'd ignore it but the film tends to build up on my baby's dishes the most. I've also noticed more food is left behind than when I used commercial powder, and I don't think I can blame hard water for that. I've gradually increased the amount of powder until I put three tablespoons per load hoping that would help, I'm using vinegar as a rinse, and I'm using two or three tablespoons of Lemi-shine a load (which is a lot more than I used to use, and that stuff isn't exactly cheap). I'd really hoped to give you a glowing report about how well it cleaned and how much cheaper it was, but now I'm wishing I hadn't made so much of the stuff. I think my only solution is to use the homemade powder for the pre-wash, and use commercial powder for the main wash until it is gone. Hopefully if you make it you have better results. I'm including a few pictures of the film.
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