Homemade Dishwasher Detergent for $.06 a Load {Picture Tutorial}

Marji here with another homemade cleaner recipe. I’ve been meaning to try this recipe for a while. Cathy asked if I had tried homemade dishwasher detergent I decided I needed to make it and try it and share it with all you Fabulessly Frugal Readers. There are lots of recipes out there. This is the one that was pretty consistently listed as one that worked really well. One disclaimer though if you have hard water you might have to make some adjustments a little more, like adding more salt or using 2 TBSP instead of 1.

Here are the ingredients for homemade dishwasher detergent:

I had everything on hand but the unsweetened lemonade mix. I got the generic brand for 10 cents a package.

• 2 cups Borax
• 2 cups Washing Soda
• 1 Cup Kosher salt
• 10 packages unsweetened lemonade (citric acid)
• A container to store it in

I just added everything to the container I was going to store it in.

I stirred it and broke up some clumps

Then I shook it to get it good and mixed up.

I had to cut some vinyl to label my container. I put the 1 TBSP on so my husband will know how much to put in when he does the dishes. I put a tablespoon in the container for easy dispensing.

If you have a prewash compartment on your washer, put a little of the 1 tbsp. in there, I put about a third of the tablespoon in the smaller compartment.

Another important thing to do to prevent cloudy glasses is to add white vinegar to the rinse aid dispenser.  People with really hard water used Lemi Shine instead of the lemonade or citric acid. Since we don’t have hard water I didn’t try this out.

I read a few things online that people were concerned about using borax to wash the dishes with, I didn’t see anything that I was concerned about. One site did say it can clog up your system so use a store bought detergent once a month to keep it clear.  (Borax isn’t good if it is ingested, but that is true for any dishwasher detergent.  You want keep it and all cleaning products away from kids.)

I have used it a few times and my dishes look great, no cloudy glasses and shiny silverware. The price for the batch (which will do about 80 loads if you use 1 tbsp.) is around $4.50. I figure it is worth it to try it for a month, it is a savings from what I was spending on the generic brand.

You might also like to learn how to make your own:

Homemade Fabric Softener

Homemade Laundry Detergent

By Marji - 39 comments
Filed Under: DIY, Frugal Living
Tags:Cleaning Recipes, DIY, Homemade Dishwasher Detergent, Household Cleaner Recipes