Did you know that making your own dishwasher detergent is almost identical to making your own laundry detergent? Since I've been making my own laundry detergent for over a year now, I had almost all the ingredients on hand to give this a try. (Click here to see how to make your own laundry detergent.)
Head on over to this Hubpages website for the exact recipe.
Since I had everything on hand except the LemiShine, this was extremely inexpensive for me. But even if you are buying everything from scratch it will cost you about as much as a box of dishwasher tablets, and leave you with enough leftover ingredients to make quite a few batches. One recipe will complete 34 loads if you use 1 TBSP of the mix, or 17 loads if you use 2 TBSP. There is enough LemiShine in one bottle to do 6 batches, enough salt in a box to do 24 batches, enough borax in a box to do 9 batches and enough washing soda in a box to do 7 batches. So sorry for being all math-y, but when trying something like this out, it's nice to know how much money you could save. That means you could do 204 loads (at 1 TBSP) before having to buy anything else to supplement. You would run out of LemiShine first and it was only $3.50 at WalMart.
So despite saving lots of money, results are important. I ran a load of dishes with 1 TBSP, and one with 2 TBSP of mix. 2 TBSP worked wonderfully! My dishes felt just as clean as they did with the dishwasher tabs I had been using. Then I did a load with just 1 TBSP of the detergent and my results were the same. I am so excited that this worked because not only will it save me money, but no more gunk left behind from gel pacs or tabs that don't dissolve all the way.
Also, did you know that you can replace your JetDry with vinegar? Just google the dozens of ways to use vinegar around your house instead of your usual choices. BUT by all means, I am a huge proponent of not wasting money. If you have already spent money on detergent or jetdry, finish what you have first and then make the switch. No need for any of that stuff to end up in the garbage or in our landfills!
