Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I've made laundry detergent and fabric softener, so I decided it was time to make dishwasher detergent. 

It's something else that's really easy to make. Only 3 ingredients!

2 cups borax, 2 cups baking soda, 4 packets unsweetened lemon kool-aid

Mix it all together well. Use 2 tbsp. per load.
I put 1 tbsp. in the closed section of the dishwasher and the other 1 tbsp. spread on the door.

My dishwasher detergent has 25% less sugar! lol.
My endless collection of empty containers has really come in handy lately.

I only made a half batch, because I wasn't sure how I'd like it, but it turned out really well, and I'll definitely make a regular sized batch next time. 

Nearly everything in the dishwasher came out completely clean. A couple of things still had some stuck on food, but that happens even with the expensive store bought detergent. I'm pretty sure my dishwasher just sucks. All the clean dishes were great though.
I also put vinegar in the rinse aid compartment, and I think that's what's worked better than anything. Vinegar seems to work better than any rinse aids I've ever bought.


I used the recipe I found from this pin:

Source: Light & Spoon via Victoria on Pinterest

I'm also interested in the DIY Dishwasher Soap Packets that Stephanie from Lady with the Red Rocker made:

Source: Lady with the Red Rocker via Victoria on Pinterest

Homemade Fabric Softener

So a couple of weeks ago I made some laundry detergent (you can see that post here), and I wanted to make fabric softener at the same time, but needed vinegar. I finally remembered to pick some up at the store, and immediately had to make the fabric softener.

I found this pin:

Source: A "REAL" Housewife and Mommy via Victoria on Pinterest

Her post actually also has a liquid laundry detergent and an OxiClean recipe in it. I may try the OxiClean at some point too, but for this I was just interested in the fabric softener. 

I've mentioned it before, but anything with just a few ingredients automatically is great in my book. This only takes white vinegar, conditioner, and water. 

I used Pantene, but that's just because it's what I had on hand. Most others I've seen making this have just used whatever scent of Suave they prefer.

 All you do to make this is stir 1 part vinegar and 1 part conditioner into 2 parts hot water. 

EASY PEASY! 

I couldn't get my conditioner to dissolve completely, so my mixture looks lumpy, but it looks pretty uniform, so I'm not too worried about it.

I was excited to try it out, so I immediately gathered a load of laundry and put it in. I used 2 tbsp in my washer's liquid fabric softener section.

Results: My clothes were soft. There wasn't really any scent left on them, which I'm still okay with. They smelled even cleaner than when I used only the homemade detergent, so I'm happy with that. They were fluffy when I pulled them out of the dryer, and felt like I'd used a commercial softener. I do use dryer sheets as well, but I got better results with this than with dryer sheets alone.

Speaking of dryer sheets, I recently saw a pin that recommended cutting dryer sheets in half to make the box last twice as long.

Source: TheFrugalGirls.com via Victoria on Pinterest

Let me tell you, this works great! I feel like I've just been throwing money away for so long. I've seen where people have dipped a rag in fabric softener to make a reusable dryer sheet, but honestly, I'm not even going to go to all that trouble now that dryer sheets essentially cost me half as much as before.

Overall I'm very satisfied with my homemade laundry pursuits. I may get some Unstopables at some point, because I love the smell of those, but I'm really not worried about adding extra scents to my stuff for now. I love the fresh, clean scent my clothes have without all the extra chemicals.


I'm linking up to:

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I first made homemade laundry detergent 3 years ago. I liked the idea of it, and the process wasn't so bad. I made 2 or 3 batches of it overall, and then I got lazy. I've been using store-bought for the past year and a half. I decided I was tired of paying so much for something I know I can do on my own, so I dug up the stuff I still had and found another recipe.

I've always made liquid, but it bothers me, because the detergent seems too gloppy (technical word, i know) and I feel like it can't be an even mixture in every load because of that. So this time I looked at a recipe for dry laundry. It's the same recipe other than the water added in the liquid version.

Ingredients

Soap: Most laundry detergent recipes call for Fels Naptha, but I've found that any bar I've used has worked fine. The one this time is actually some lavender scented bar from Ross. I use whatever I have on hand. 

Borax: There seems to be a lot of back and forth about whether or not borax is toxic. According to 20 Mule Team, borax is safe to use in laundry. It is NOT the same as boric acid. As with any cleaning product keep it away from children and pets, but it is safe to use.

Washing Soda: Make sure you get WASHING soda. This is NOT the same as baking soda. They have different pH levels. If you're having trouble finding washing soda nearby, Arm & Hammer's website has a store finder. Most people have seemed to have luck finding it at Walmart. Make sure to check the top and bottom shelves in the laundry section. It always seems to be in an out of the way place.

Grating your soap is going to be the longest part of this process. I played a game of Monopoly on my phone while I did it. After about halfway through the bar I was tired of it, and handed it off to my boyfriend to finish.

I measured out the borax and washing soda and mixed them in with the soap really well. Then I transferred it to a container and shook it for a while to make sure it was definitely mixed enough. 

I stir it each time and use 2 TBSP per load. 

Results: My clothes come out completely clean. There's no scent to them, but I'm planning on making some fabric softener soon which will change that. I like the plain clean smell though. I haven't tried this on anything with stains, but any odors have been washed out completely. 

Here's the original pin I got the recipe I used from:

Source: Totally Ovar It via Victoria on Pinterest