On Tuesday I mentioned a couple of DIY dishwasher detergent recipes that I had found in an article by Elizah Leigh. One was a powder recipe, and the other was liquid.
I elected to start with trying the powder detergent, because
a) It's cheaper.
b) It requires only basic motor skills.
I was a pretty good kindergarten student, so I figure I have the motor skills necessary to get this done.
Hey!
I know what you're thinking... you're thinking about how I tripped and smashed my head into a wall last month. There was ice on the trail at that time, however, so that was an exception, darn it!
Smarty pants...
Anyway, I got out the ingredients Elizah had listed,
As well as all necessary additional supplies,
And got to work.
The recipe is a simple one. To create this detergent, the baking soda and the borax need to be placed into your designated container in equal proportions. This was an experiment, so I started small:
- 1/4 cup of borax
- 1/4 cup of baking soda
That's it.
Nothing more.
End of ingredient list.
See? I told you it was simple! I used a large glass jar to hold it, because if I liked the recipe, I wanted to be able to fill it to the top. I also used a funnel, since I didn't want my clumsy hands to knock a bunch of powder onto the counter.
One everything is poured inside the container, there's only one thing left to do - mix it up. You can simply secure the lid and shake the jar to do this.
How did it turn out?
Well, I poured the powder into the detergent tray, and got ready to see the results. I use pre-wash, as well as the normal wash because I'm fanatical about the cleanliness of my dishes, so I ended up using about 1/4 cup of detergent in my machine.
That picture above is zeroing in on my problem area: the silverware and cooking utensils. I always end up with a crusty mess after washing dishes, especially on the potato masher on the far right side.
Gross.
I closed the dishwasher door, crossed my fingers, then pressed start. I proceeded to chew my nails as I waited. Thankfully, I don't use the 'dry' cycle, since flash drying (opening the dishwasher immediately after the cycle ends) works perfectly well, so I didn't have to wait too long for the results:
Check out that potato masher! Totally completely, amazingly CLEAN! Not a single spot of encrusted potato nastiness anywhere on it.
Notice also how shiny everything is! It really does work! I removed encrusted food nastiness from one plate.
One.
That's it.
The glasses were spotless. The few plastic dishes seemed brighter than usual.
And....
Scroll up and look at the pre-wash photo. Look at the color of the washing machine itself. Then scroll back to the picture of the completed cycle.
Holy crap!!!
The dishwasher is white!!!
It not only cleaned the dishes... it cleaned the entire machine.
::cue cheers and dancing::
That Elizah sure is smart, isn't she?
It'll be a while before I test out the next detergent recipe, mainly because I still have 1/4 cup of the powder remaining, and I don't run the dishwasher until it's completely full.
Well...
Unless I get into another experimental mood. I mean, it's powder. It's not going to go bad on me!
Now go make yourself some cheap, green dishwasher detergent that actually works!
Your Green Dishwasher Detergent Recipe Nice Blog. Thank your for sharing.
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