Make Your Own Dish Washer Soap

Why this is a good idea:

1. Cost Effective - In fact, if you have all the stuff from Making Your Own Laundry Detergent, then you only have to buy table salt, white vinegar, and lemon juice! (About $1.00 each, but you should have them already, because they are staples.)

2. Health Conscious - Think of all the dish soap you've consumed over the years. Companies fill soaps and detergents with supposed filler "inert ingredients" that doctors and scientists are constantly finding cause cancer and crap like that. With this recipe, the only ingredients you are accidentally ingesting are salts, vinegar, and lemon juice. 

3. Really Works! - It does. Basically, you make two mixtures: a powder one and a liquid one. 

Let's get started.

The Powder - Use equal parts Borax, Baking Soda, and Table Salt. You also need a small container to mix them in. I use a little fruit snack cup I got from Chick-fila one time.

(Some people on other websites combine all the ingredients and store them like that, but I have read a bunch of accounts that these ingredients harden together when left to their own devices. 

Mixing them each time isn't hard, so I do it. Do as the Spirit leads.)

**UPDATE** Since posting this, I have been using this detergent for a few months now, and have combined all three ingredients into one storage box. I haven't had them congeal yet, and I'm not sure why people have ever had this problem. Anyways, combining them is way easier than making this mixture every time.

The Liquid - Some bloggers claim that the powder mixture is enough to clean their dishes, but most sites have commentators freaking out because of this film all over their dishes. To alleviate the film issue, you need only two more ingredients: white vinegar and citric acid. Pour them in equal amounts into the rinse well of your machine. (One lady on one website used lemonade packets for the citric acid, but many readers complained that the lemonade turned everything yellow. 

Just use lemon juice, people!!!)

You can store these two liquids in one bottle and keep that bottle under the sink.

Your two mixtures go into your machine as follows:

The end. Your dishes come out like this:

I don't rinse my dishes particularly well or anything and have had just as much success, if not more, as I used to with Cascade. 

So there, "The Man"!!!

Costs of Things and Where to Buy Them:

1. Borax - $4.00 - Dollar General

2. Baking Soda - $0.50 - Aldi or Dollar General

3. Table Salt - $1.00ish - Aldi

4. White Vinegar - $1.00ish - Aldi

5. Lemon Juice - $1.00ish - Aldi

6. Small Container - Free - Chick-fila

Total: $7.50ish for months of detergent. 

Not swallowing harmful chemicals: Priceless.

Make Bug-Repelling Laundry Detergent!

Let's make our own laundry detergent and stick it to the man!

**UPDATE**(for an even faster and easier recipe, scroll to the bottom!)

Things that you already have:

1. Baking Soda

2. Bar Soap

3. 1/2 cup measure

4. Plastic Bottles/Containers (enough to hold 6 quarts).

5. Cheese grate

Things you might not have (but should):

1. Stainless steel stock pot (at least 12 quarts) with a lid.

2. Essential (or Skin So Soft) oil of your choice.

3. Box of Borax 

Directions:

Step 1: Grate 1/2 cup of bar soap.

Step 2: Pour 1 quart of hot tap water into your pot and heat on stove.

Step 3: Pour in the bar soap shavings and stir till they dissolve.

Step 4: Remove pot from heat.

Step 5: Pour 5 more quarts of hot tap water into the pot.

Step 6: Pour in 1/2 cup of Baking Soda and 1/2 cup of Borax.

Step 7: Drop in several drops of oil and stir.

(I used 2 capfuls of Skin So Soft to keep bugs from biting me!!!)

Step 8: Let it stand overnight.

The End.

It took about 10 minutes total (not counting the night part).

Costs of Things and Where To Buy Them:

1. Baking Soda - $0.50 - Aldi or Dollar General

2. Bar Soap - . . .I HOPE you already have this. . .

3. 1/2 cup measure - Free - Stolen from your mom's house.

4. Plastic containers - Free - If you use old detergent bottles.

(Mine, in the picture below, are from Dollar Tree.)

5. 12-quart Stock Pot - $9.00 - Walmart.com 

(Probably cheaper at Big Lots)

6. (Optional) Essential Oil - Varies in price 

(You don't need anything over $10.00. . .

no matter what the person at Whole Foods told you.)

7. (Optional) Skin So Soft - $16 (I got mine on sale for $10)

- Your neighborhood Avon Lady

8. Borax - $4.00 - Dollar General

Total Price: $13.50 - $41.50 for literally tens of gallons of detergent!

Me, I already had everything but the Borax, so I'm out $4.00!

Feel free to play around with the measurements. My concoction is a bit potent compared to others' online, but that's 'cause I wanted to use the cap from an old bottle of detergent to measure.
**NOTE: The liquid turns almost Jello-like after a few hours, but a simple shake before pouring alleviates this problem.**


**UPDATE** The above recipe is super easy and only takes about 10 to 15 minutes to make, but letting it stand overnight is kind of a pain. Since posting this blog, I've figured out an even simpler, faster, more immediate recipe! Double this recipe to make 6 quarts of detergent in under 5 minutes!

To make 3 quarts of detergent:
1. Pour 1/4c of borax, 1/4c of baking soda, and 1/4c of table salt into a 3 quart container.
2. Pour hot tap water over the mixture leaving a little space at the top.
3. Stir until the powders dissolve.
4. Stir in 1/4c of Dr. Bronner's castile soap ($12 for 32oz. at Food Lion) and scented oil.
(Don't shake!)

Whenever you are ready to use it, simply tip it upside down and back upright to get all the sediment to disperse and then pour the same amount into your washer as before. Don't shake it, because that wastes the lather. This mixture is far more liquid than the other mixture.

**Another note: Neither of these recipes give a very lasting fragrance to laundry, so don't waste too much scented oil. Also, you will get better results if you pour your laundry soap into the washer, turn the washer on, wait for the water to rise a bit, and then add your clothes.