Well, my homemade laundry soap was so popular that I thought I’d let y’all in on my homemade dishwasher powder.
It’s actually even easier to make than the laundry powder. And that’s sayin something! 🙂
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own dishwasher powder:
- 1 cup Borax (find it here
) - 1 cup Washing Soda (find it here)
- ¼ cup Citric Acid (find it here)
- Essential oil for fragrance, optional
- Sea salt, optional if you have hard water
)
(find it 
)Measure it out. Mix it all up. Put it in a air tight container, like, oh I don’t know, maybe a canning jar… 🙂
Use 1 tablespoon for each load.
If you wash a lot of plastic, there can sometimes be a white residue on it. Which is kinda yucky.
But putting white vinegar in the rinse aid thingy should cut that. If it still leaves a residue, add ¼ cup of sea salt.
The kind of water you have determines whether or not you need to add salt. The harder the water, the more you need salt.
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Just as an aside, the phrase “hard water” always makes me giggle just a little. 🙂
If you want to add a smell good component to it, which I usually do, add it after the other ingredients are well mixed by sprinkling essential oils over the top and mixing well.
I really like eucalyptus, but I know a lot of y’all like the citrus oils.
Start with 10-12 drops and add more a drop at a time until it smells the way you want it to.
I haven’t figured out the math on this one yet, but I know it’s cheaper than the stuff I used to buy at the store and it’s better for the environment.
So that’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned!
What essential oil would you use to smell up your dishwasher powder?
Blessings!
Pam R says
Any idea how this works on real silver silverware? I have an every day set that goes through the washer. Also, does this NOT turn aluminum ware black?
Cery says
Pam, I am really sorry, but I don’t know the answer to that. 🙁 I don’t have any real silver that I put in the dishwasher. I also don’t have aluminum cookware, but I’m guessing that the salt and/or vinegar might cause it to oxidize. Hopefully someone else will have the answers for you.
Michelle Hedgcock says
I have a knife that has an aluminum handle. I do not run it thru the dishwasher because it reacts to the chemicals in my homemade dishwasher tablets (which is something similar to this recipe). Sorry I don’t know the answer to your other question as I don’t have any real silver utensils.
Cery says
Thanks for letting us know, Michelle! 🙂
Pam R says
Yes, thank you for replying. It’s helpful to know this.
Teresa says
I can’t wait to try this. We are trying to go to less commercial products and I’ve been looking for this recipe. Thank you.
Cery says
Hi Teresa!
I’m glad you found us! There’s also a laundry powder post if you’re interested. You can find it here: https://www.backtoourroots.net/homemade-laundry-soap/
Cery