# Dish Washer Soap



## Elie May (Apr 24, 2008)

Does anyone make their own dishwasher soap? I was wondering if I could use the laundry soap I made in the dish washer?


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

In a plastic container with a firmly fitting lid, mix: 
1 cup borax (20-Mule-Team Borax, available in any supermarket) 
1 cup baking soda 
1/4 cup salt 
1/4 cup citric acid 
30 drops citrus essential oil--lemon, grapefruit, orange, tangerine, or a mixture 

Put all of it in the container, shake it up. 

To use, put a Tblsp. or so into each cup of your dishwasher.


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## Mysticdream44 (Dec 29, 2004)

This is interesting. How well does it work? I've used several major brands of dishwasher detergent and none of them seems to work that well. I willing to make my own if it really works. What about the essential oil? Is that optional? Thanks.


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## MilkTester (Sep 28, 2007)

ooooooooo....can't wait to give it a test drive!!!! has anyone else tried it yet???


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

It works fairly well, not as well as some of the expensive commercial brands, but then it doesn't contain phosphates either. I guess that the essential oils could be omitted, but lemon essential oil and orange essential oil have cleaning properties. I use white vinegar as a rinse aid.
It works as well as the Seventh Generation dishwasher stuff and is a lot cheaper.


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## happydog (May 7, 2008)

I ran low on my commercial dishwasher detergent so I used half detergent and half homemade laundry soap. It worked just fine. 

The next night I used all homemade laundry soap. It cleaned ok for the most part, but I had been canning chicken and the greasy plastic stuff had a film and the greasy glass jars didn't come out as clean as usual.

I'm either going to try Linn's recipe or use half commercial and half laundry soap. I have to price out citric acid. Well, first I have to figure out where to buy citric acid.


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## Elie May (Apr 24, 2008)

thanks, I will give it a try!


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## Mysticdream44 (Dec 29, 2004)

happydog said:


> I ran low on my commercial dishwasher detergent so I used half detergent and half homemade laundry soap. It worked just fine.
> 
> The next night I used all homemade laundry soap. It cleaned ok for the most part, but I had been canning chicken and the greasy plastic stuff had a film and the greasy glass jars didn't come out as clean as usual.
> 
> I'm either going to try Linn's recipe or use half commercial and half laundry soap. I have to price out citric acid. Well, first I have to figure out where to buy citric acid.



I think citric acid is Fruit Fresh which you should be able to find at Wal-Mart or any store that sells canning supplies. If I'm wrong I hope someone will speak up.


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## happydog (May 7, 2008)

Thanks, I will look for that.


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

I believe that Fruit Fresh is crystalline ascorbic acid, not citric acid. You can get citric acid from any cheese making supply store or from Chemistrystore.com


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## halfpint (Jan 24, 2005)

I've used the recipe that Linn posted, but found that with my soft water, I was getting salt left on some of the dishes, so it did better for me by leaving out the salt. The citrus essential oil helps break up the grease on your dishes. It works pretty well for me, but I also use vinegar as a rinse aid.

Dawn


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## 3ravens (Mar 16, 2006)

Most pharmacies have the citric acid, or the dairy supply places, or your local feed-n-seed.......


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## ChasingDreams (Apr 8, 2006)

I've also seen lemon flavored Kool-Aid used for the citric acid, if you are unable to locate it. I've not tried it, though. The citric acid is, to me, the key ingredient!


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## shining (Oct 30, 2004)

I tried using a homemade version and it didn't work quite well enough for me, so now I use:

1 1/2 cups of baking soda
1 1/2 cups of borax
1 cup of regular powdered dishwashing detergent (I use Seventh Generation)

Mix them all together and store in a quart jar. Use as you would regular powdered detergent.

This is a happy medium for me! You will probably have to experiment and see what works best for you and your water type.


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