Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Revision#3: Leaving the mix on the counter in a bowl with no lid for a few days was the answer! It is back in a closed container, and has finally quit clumping! Yay!!!  

Revision #2: The clumping did not stop. I decided to put it in a big bowl, leave the lid off and stir it several times a day. I will do this for a few more days and then try containing it again. This has been frustrating. I hope this works!

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Those little dishwasher ‘pillows’ (as I call them) are SO EXPENSIVE! Since I make my own laundry soap, I decided to try making my own dishwasher detergent. I really can’t credit any one person for the recipe, as there are LOTS and LOTS of people who are making different forms of this recipe and posting it on their blogs. Go ahead, check it out. I’ll wait.

So here is what I ended up using.

I used:

1 Cup of Borax

1 Cup of Washing Soda

1/2 Cup Lemi Shine

I already had the borax and washing soda from my laundry soap recipe, so all I needed was the Lemi Shine. I mixed it all together, and when I used it, I put One Tablespoon in the main compartment, and 1/2 Tablespoon in the Pre-Wash compartment.

Other recipes I have seen use Kosher Salt. I did not use the salt, because I have soft water. I washed a load of dishes and I was very pleased with how the dishes came out.

A friend of mine made this recipe before me, and she used Kosher salt. 1/2 of a cup. She told me that she left it on the counter in a bowl and stirred it for about three days because she found the mixture wanted to clump. I checked mine a day later, and found that it did start to clump, so I decided to run it through my Mini Processor. I am guessing the Lemi Shine maybe is what is causing the clumping, as the Lemi Shine is kind of ‘crystally’. I could be mistaken, but it did need ‘de-clumped’. I’ll keep checking it to see if processing it helped.

Revision #1: The clumping did not stop, so I hopped around Google land and followed someone’s suggestion about adding 1/2 a cup of rice to the recipe to absorb the moisture from the Lemi Shine. I ran it through the processor a couple times to break up the rice into smaller chunks. The little bit of rice that goes into the dishwasher will not hurt a thing, and will wash right down the drain. (I’m hoping the rice stops the clumping.)

( If the Lemi Shine is what is causing the clumping, why doesn’t the Lemi Shine clump to itself?)

Anyway, I am very pleased to have found a replacement solution.  

Do you make your own cleaning supplies?