As the cost of commercial cleaning products continues to rise, more and more people are looking for a better way to save money and while saving the environment. One recent trend is making homemade soaps and cleaners like their grandparents did back in the old days [source: Soap Making Essentials].
In this article, we present two recipes for making your own dishwasher powder.
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Recipe One
You'll need the following ingredients:
- 1 cup baking soda
- 1 cup Borax
- ¼ cup citric acid or two packets unsweetened lemon Kool-Aid
- Essential fragrance oil
- 1-quart (946-milliliter) air-tight container
- ¼ cup table salt
- Vinegar (for the rinse cycle) [source: Do it Yourself]
Let's make the dishwasher powder:
- Put all the dry ingredients in a container or stainless steel bowl and stir or shake them until thoroughly mixed.
- Add up to 30 drops of essential oil for fragrance and stir or shake until mixed.
- Transfer the powder to the container if you used a bowl to mix it.
- Scrape any food pieces form the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.
- Put 1 tablespoon of dishwasher powder in the soap dispenser and fill the rinse dispenser with vinegar (if you have hard water). Run the dishwasher as usual [source: Do it Yourself].
Recipe Two
You'll need the following ingredients:
- One part borax
- One part Arm and Hammer washing soda [source: Soap Making Essentials]
Let's make the dishwasher powder:
- Mix the ingredients well and store in an airtight container
- Fill the soap dispenser of the dishwasher with the powder and add vinegar to the rinse dispenser. Run the dishwasher as usual [source: Soap Making Essentials].
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