Home Made Dishwasher Liquid

I have been making my own powdered dishwasher detergent for over a year. But this weekend I decided to try making liquid dishwasher detergent. You can stop buying expensive liquids and gel pacs. The results were fabulous!! Here is how to do it:

Just to test my recipe I only mixed up a 10oz bottle of detergent in an empty bottle of hand dishwashing liquid I had just used up. If you decide to do the same, do not rinse out the bottle. You can omit adding the first ingredient assuming you still have some liquid detergent left in the bottle. You know how you can never get it all out? In this case, that's a good thing! Nothing will go to waste.

1/4 teaspoon liquid hand dishwashing detergent
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup borax or washing soda (I used borax, but either one should work)
1/2 cup water
1 drop lemon essential oil per cup of detergent.

Mix the ingredients and store in an airtight container. Use 3 Tablespoons per load. I put 2 tablespoons in one dispenser and 1 tablespoon in the other. But go ahead and experiment. Maybe your dishwasher will only require 2 tablespoons to clean a load. Shake up the bottle before each use.

I simply used a funnel to pour the ingredients into the bottle, capped it, shook it, then squirted it into the dishwasher dispenser. The mixture will be gritty looking but don't let this bother you. The hot water in the dishwasher will dissolve the solution. My dishes are squeeky clean!!!

Go ahead and double or triple this recipe. The results will always be the same. Let me know how this works for you! :)