Since my eldest daughter was born, I have been trying to find recipes and use natural homemade cleaners in our household. Before she was born, I was a preschool teacher and we used lots of bleach in the classroom. When I became pregnant with her, the smell of bleach was atrocious. It also was hard for me to breathe around the stuff, so I decided that my child should not breathe it in either. This "quest" led me to an awesome all purpose "safe" cleaner (which I will share in a later post), but also led me to countless recipes for various homemade naturally green cleaners for the home. My latest search brought me to this recipe, which I found on Pinterest. The recipe comes from the blog Homestead Wannabes (http://homesteadwannabes.blogspot.com) and in my opinion is a great alternative to many "green" dishwasher detergent recipes, since most complaints are that "green" natural dishwasher detergents leave behind a "foggy" residue. This is especially true for recipes that do not contain citric acid. Citric acid can be expensive and can be hard to find (you can only find this at certain health food stores). By using this recipe, you will gain the effects of citric acid because the Cascade Complete contains this ingredient. As most people are now doing, I am trying to live on a budget. Yes, I want to live "greener," but most importantly, I must count every penny I spend. So I was happy to find this simple "almost natural" recipe. While it is not "green," it will make less of an impact on the planet because you are not using as much Cascade over time. Here is the recipe from the Homestead Wannabes blog site:
1 part Borax (located in the laundry aisle)
1 part Washing soda (located in the laundry aisle)
1 part Cascade Complete Powder
Mix well, and store in an air tight container. Use 1 Tablespoon per load.
Now, I did not follow this recipe exactly. Frankly, I was too lazy and did not want to measure it out. Being pregnant can do that to you! I mixed together a 4 lbs. 12 oz. box of Borax, a 3 lbs. 7 oz. box of Washing soda, and a 4.68lbs. of Great Value Dishwasher detergent (compared to Cascade Complete with Dawn) in a large mop bucket. I then put the detergent into two Tupperware containers (each container is 4.6 quarts in size). This made SO much dishwasher detergent. When I calculated the amount of loads for this mixture, I was shocked. This will produce enough detergent for 412 loads!!! That is well over a year's worth for us, and I run a full load every day. I did add vinegar to my rinse agent compartment because I like having a rinse aid, but I truly don't believe you need to do so. I just like using vinegar as a rinse agent. Total cost of this detergent: $9.84 plus tax! WOW! That is a huge savings for our family! I have now been using this detergent for two weeks and LOVE it! It rinses completely off all sippy cup parts (my brand name detergent did not do this), and does not leave any sort of residue on my dishes. I am one happy money saving momma!
Yea! Your first comment! LOL.
ReplyDeleteMy residue problem only occurs when a bowl or cup get flipped over and filled with water during the wash. Have you had any experience with this while using this new mixture??
Amy, no I have not. I have had cups flip over (especially kids cups) in the wash, but no residue or any powdery detergent has been in the cups just water. I empty the cup and rinse it out (mainly habit), and let it air dry on a flour sack towel.
ReplyDeleteBTW Amy...I did not realize I had my first comment. :) Sorry it took me so long to respond back.
ReplyDeleteAs I said above, no residue or powdery left on my dishes. This is why I LOVE this detergent; I was tiring of the powder being left on the girls' sippy cups. I gave away a huge box of brand name detergent tabs to my mother-in-law over Easter for that very reason!