Sunday, January 7, 2018

Washing Dishes...

So, I thought I'd post a quick post about the dishwashing detergent I've been using. I got the recipe on Pinterest. There are about a million of them on there. Some more labor intensive than others. I knew that I needed something that I could just mix together. I wasn't going to have time to be pressing them into ice cube trays, straining out lemon pulp, or cooking it on the stove.

So, in a quart size mason jar I mixed 1 cup of baking soda, 1 cup of borax, 1/2 cup citrus acid granules, and 20 drops of lemon essential oil (or maybe 30, I can't remember). I put a lit on it. Shook it up really good, and voila. I was done. I pour it into both of the little slots in my dishwasher (main wash and pre-wash), and hit go.

We also have really hard water, and I usually use a rinse aid to prevent hard water stains. I wanted to try to find something more economical and with less waste, so I had heard of using vinegar. I have a lot of that around lately, so I thought I'd give it a try. Some will say to put it into your rinse aid dispenser. I heard from others that the acidity of the vinegar will eat up the rubber in the dispenser and ruin it, so I decided not to test that. I just put a tiny glass of vinegar in my dishwasher on the top shelf when I start the cycle, which is what I read recommended on another blog.

So far, I'll be honest. The vinegar is not as good as the rinse aid. But it's not so bad that I'm going to abandon it just yet. The detergent, however, seems to be working just as well as any other dishwashing detergent that I've used.

I'll count that as a win. And way cheaper than the tabs. And no plastic waste. Win-win :)