Squeaky Clean Dishes

Hubby and I have had an ongoing discussion over the past months about my 'all natural' implementations- what should be implemented and what should be "left alone".  We've agreed on most everything and had no outbursts over borax and honey...just my olive oil eye makeup remover..."You smell like a salad!":)

So as we neared the end of our massive Costco container of Finish dishwasher tablets, I decided to try my hand at making my own!  I found my inspiration here and have been using the following recipe for the past 3+ weeks and love it!  Even "Ricky" has no complaints, so that makes this is a real winner:)

Here's what I mixed up in my now empty Finish container:

2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda
1 cup Kosher or Sea Salt (I used Kosher as that's what I had on hand)

3 Tbsp Citric Acid (I discovered it in bulk at Sprouts and just filled up a little baggie of it- easy!)
30-50 drops of Lemon Essential Oil (I went a little crazy...less is more!)

One heaping Tbsp + white vinegar in the rinse port =

Squeaky clean dishes!!!

And yes, I'm recycling a formula scoop- it's perfect!

A few things to remember when going natural:

I generally scrub debris from my dishes before loading the dishwasher- this alleviates baked crusties:)  I've noticed the natural mix is more gentle but still cleans as well as the Finish tablets and way better than the expensive Cascade Complete Packs:)  I tested the mix by leaving some egg, cheese etc... on some dishes before running the dishwasher...when unloading I saw that the dishes weren't totally spotless...they weren't when using the Finish/Cascade tabs either...moral of the story = rinse your dishes!

If  I have an extra big load of dishes to run or they're especially grimy, then I add a wee bit more powder and the dishes come out great.

Thus far, I haven't discovered a perfect dishwasher cleaner so there may be some occasional spots on your food processor, a glass etc...  but for me, I'm happy to wipe a few water marks and know that Livy & Jonah won't be harmed, if by some chance they decided to munch on this stuff vs the conventional detergents that are poisonous!  I can handle a potentially upset tummy vs death!

Now don't you feel motivated to make your own dishwasher detergent?:)  Live smarter, save money and have peace of mind while your dishes get squeaky clean:)

Thanks for stopping by & let me know if you have any questions...I've done quite a bit of reading on this:)

Tiffany