Sunday, February 27, 2011

I Tried It! I Like It! - Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I have wanted to make my own laundry detergent, but I'm still working my way through a giant pail of no-name powdered stuff. But on a recent trip to Superstore, I bought the ingredients for laundry soap so I'd have it on hand when the time came.

I easily found these in the laundry detergent aisle of Superstore.
That evening I realized I was out of dishwasher detergent and I wondered, "Hey, can I make my own? Do I have the ingredients?"  A quick search on the google told me what I needed...yes, I had what I needed.  And the "how to" was so simple!

Mix equal amounts of:
Borax
Washing Soda
Use 2 tablespoons in per load.
If your water is hard and tends to spot you can use vinegar as a rinse agent.


I put the mix into a plastic pail with a tight fitting lid - perfect size, but  it wasn't very interesting looking.  I thought, "I should print out some sort of cute retro label..."  That got my girls & I into hysterical bouts of laughter as we googled images for "Retro Vintage Dishwashing Soap".  I ended up printing out a bunch and simply using packing tape to stick them on.  I don't own Modge Podge.  Can you make it from scratch?  ;-)  (A quick search on you know what shows of COURSE you can make your own...shoulda figured!)

Mixing the sacred with the mundane.

This woman is preforming the joyful dance of the tea towel.

It makes me smile every time I get soap.

Anyway, the verdict on the dishwasher soap?  So cheap.  Works great.  No fuss.  Less chemicals.  Less packaging.  I tried it - I like it!

2 comments:

  1. Great idea - but I think borax is illegal in the UK. We have to have 'borax substitute' instead

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