Homemade Dishwasher Soap

I tried something new today and I am really happy with how it worked.  I'm trying to do more than just pin ideas and actually try some of them.  ha ha   I made the dishwasher soap and used it today and my dishes look great. I also put vinegar in the rinse agent spot like it said and I plan on continuing to do that, too.  I'll put the recipe below and also the website that I got it from.


Home Made Dishwasher Detergent

• 2 c borax
• 2 c Arm & Hammer washing soda
• 2 c lemi shine*
• 1 c kosher salt

 The borax, washing soda and lemi shine should be in the laundry and dishsoap section  Kosher salt should be with the baking items.  

  

 

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until mixed.
2. The citric acid in the lemi shine will make everything get a bit hard.   The lady suggested letting this mixture sit out in a bowl for a couple of days, stirring often so that's what I'm doing. You will still get a few little "balls" of detergent, but that is just fine!  You just don't want it all in one big piece!  
3. The lemi shine suggests running an empty dishwasher cycle with just that in order to clean your dishwasher.  
4. Fill your rinse aid spot with white vinegar.  I did this and the dishes looked great!
5. Use 1 tbs of detergent per load of dishes.  I do about a 30/70 split with 30% in the pre-wash spot and 70% in the wash spot.  If you don't have a prewash spot, you can put it all in the wash spot. My first time using it I did use 1 - 1/2 TBSP

*You can experiment with the lemi shine amount.  The original recipe that the lady on the website found  called for only 1 cup but said to add more if you have hard water.
http://simplydesigning.blogspot.com/2011/05/hard-water-stains-dishwasher-detergent.html

Homemade Cleaning Supplies

There are so many different recipes for homemade detergent and using the Fels Naptha bar soap is my favorite. The above pic is what the soap looks like grated. You can double or triple the recipe. This batch I used the whole bar of soap.

Homemade Laundry Soap

1 whole bar Fels Naptha (can use other types but I prefer this one) Found in the detergent isle

1½ cup washing soda

1½ cup borax powder

~You will also need a bucket, about 6 gallon size~

Grate the soap and put it in a pan. Add 1 gallon and 2 cups water and heat until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 13 quarts hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 4 gallons plus 2 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load. I stirred it several times while it was cooling. My daughter also liked playing in it. lol http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm (Link where I got the recipe)

The pic below is how it looks while it's cooking and it basically looks the same when it's done.

I just poured this into laundry detergent containers that I had kept. Oh, I put some essential oil in this last batch. I think it was orange. :-)

Now for the scouring powder. My sister makes this and I think it's all she uses now except for straight baking soda. :-)

Ingredients

http://wellnessmama.com/1348/all-natural-homemade-scouring/ One of the links that has more info than I do. :-)

2 parts baking soda

1 part salt

1 part borax powder

Pour ingredients into jar or bowl. (or a styrofoam plate or whatever you have handy lol) Mix or stir until well mixed. I made a shaker out of an empty icing container. I poked holes in the top with an antique ice pick. :-)

Lightly wet surface with water or undiluted white vinegar. Sprinkle powder on and let sit 5 minutes . Scrub with a brush or just a rag like I do, until clean Rinse with water and I read that you can rinse with vinegar for really bad messes.

A pic of the container I used and what it looks like sprinkled on my daughter's school work. ;-)

And you can't forget the puppy who is hoping that you're fixing something to eat. lol