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Update 11/20/14: I have found that how well this homemade dishwasher detergent works totally depends on the quality of your water. However, I have tried a few different recipes, and I always come back to this one. It is super simple, extremely frugal, and it works well, especially when combined with Lemon essential oil and vinegar in the rinse aid compartment.

As I continued to search the internet for tips on living healthy, eco-friendly lives, I came across this blog. While many of the posts don’t apply to me because I don’t have kids, a large plot of land, or storage space, I find it inspiring and it has many good recipes. The only one I’ve tried so far is for homemade dishwasher detergent.

This was very easy to make. Coarse salt are easy to find, just make sure the salt does not have iodine. Washing soda is easily made from baking soda: Place the baking soda in a thin layer in a casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. I purchase citric acid from Amazon, but you should also be able to find it at your local coop as well. I added lemon essential oil because it is AMAZING for gettingAs far as storage, we currently keep it in an old marinara sauce jar with “coffee scoop” (1 tbsp) we found at the grocery store, but a mason jar or something similar would be preferable to prevent clumping.

We’ve been using vinegar in the rinse aid for awhile, and that helps with our hard water stains. Then we started using the detergent and our dishes were noticeably cleaner than normal. I’m definitely never going back to normal detergent! My family removes the majority of food from the plates, but there is often still a layer that this homemade dishwasher detergent gets off with no problem. It even passed the ultimate test: getting a thick layer of cheese off a pot I made homemade mac and cheese in. Yay!

Get more DIY cleaning recipes here.

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