{Homemade Dishwasher Detergent}

A lot of people that we know have been asking me if I know a recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent. The answer is, yes! Yes I do! When I first began making our home cleaning products a couple of years ago, this was the first thing I tried to attempted. I tried LOTS of different recipes. Some of them left a film on the dishes, some of them didn't clean very well, and some of them just smelled funky. The one that we currently use, we have been using for quite some time now & love it. Here is the recipe if you are interested! I promise it's TOTALLY EASY!!!

You Will need:

* 1/2 C. Dr. Bronners Sal suds 

* 1/2 C. H2O

* 1 t. Lemon juice

* 3 drops Tea Tree essential oil

* 1/2 C. white vinegar

** If you would like to, you can add a few drops of another essential oil, ALONG WITH the tea tree oil to cover up the vinegar smell. Up to you! I would suggest a few drops of Lavender :)

Mix all in gredients together in a container with a lid that seals well. 

Give it a good shake, & you're done! See? I told you it was easy!

* Per Load, you will use 1T. Put it directly into the little compartment on your dishwasher where you normally put your dish soap. You will want to give it a good shake before you use it every time.

* Another thing we do: Instead of using Jet dry in the dishwasher, we just use white vinegar. Just pour the white vinegar in the little hole you usually pour jet dry! It works wonders. I promise :) 

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Here is a break down of all the ingredients, in case you were wondering what all those things do & how cost effective making your own dishwasher detergent is :) 

Dr. Bronners Sal Suds: {$11.48 for 32 oz. on Amazon} It is a Super concentrated, natural, all purpose cleaner that is gentle on the skin. It works well in hard & soft water. You could also use Dr. Bronners Castile Soap in any scent, instead of the sal suds if you like, but i feel like the sal suds works a little better for this specific use. 

Lemon Juice: {$1 for squeezy lemon thing, anywhere!}  Fights soap residue & cuts grease

Tea tree essential oil: {$5 at whole foods}  natural Anti viral & anti bacterial essential oil.

White vinegar: {$1 at Walmart} Rinse aid. Leaves you dishes sparkling & gets rid of residue.

How does it compare? 

Just looking at the Sal suds, with one bottle, you can make this recipe 8 times. Each time you make the recipe you get about 20-24 loads...So.. 24x8= 192. 192 loads of dirty dishes for about $18 {add all the ingredients prices up}. sound good? I think so :) 

Let's use Cascade Complete as an example of a store bought detergent, {That's what we used to use}. 

It is about $7 for 26 loads. 26 goes into 192  about 7 times... so.. 7x7= 49. 

$49 vs. $18 for 192 loads?? I think the homemade dishwasher detergent wins the price battle :) & It honestly works just as well! 

Enjoy!!

Hope you all had a wonderful week!! Happy Sunday :)