Homemade Natural Dishwasher Detergent (Easy, Effective, Healthy and Only .05 Per Load)
Prep time
Total time
Author: Cassie
Ingredients
- 1 cup of Borax
- 1 cup of washing soda
- 1 packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid (generic is a lot cheaper)
- ¼ cup of coarse salt
- 10 drops of lemon essential oil (or other citrus essential oil. I have been making mine orange scented, but lemon is nice too!)
Instructions
- Add all of the dry ingredients and mix until well blended. The borax has a tendency to be lumpy from the box, I use a fork to mix as it breaks up the lumps nicely!
- Add your 10 drops of lemon or other citrus oil and the mix thoroughly.
- Pour into your container. I have a supply of very affordable BPA-free plastic containers from IKEA.
- Label and provide instructions on use. Your dishwasher could be different, but I add 1 TBSP to the closed compartment and ½ TBSP to the open compartment. You may need to adjust these measurements accordingly. This is about a three-weeks worth of detergent for us, exactly 23 loads!
Notes
Here’s the cost breakdown:
• Borax with the cost of $3.38 (for a 78 oz. box which is nearly 10 cups) = $0.35 per 1-cup for each laundry batch
• Super Washing Soda with the cost per box of $3.24 (for a 55 oz. box which is nearly 7 cups) = $0.47 per 1-cup for each batch
• Generic Kool-Aid packet at .12 = .12
• Coarse Kosher Salt $1.68 for 48 oz. (this will make 24 batches) = .07
• Lavender Essential Oil around $6 a bottle  which will last for a LONG time (ours has lasted forever) so we will estimate around $0.25 to be conservative?
<strong>TOTAL per batch = $1.26 23 load batch or .05 per load! AND it is natural too!</strong>See more homemade, natural and frugal cleaning products at <strong>TheThriftyCouple.com/SpringCleaning</strong>
• Borax with the cost of $3.38 (for a 78 oz. box which is nearly 10 cups) = $0.35 per 1-cup for each laundry batch
• Super Washing Soda with the cost per box of $3.24 (for a 55 oz. box which is nearly 7 cups) = $0.47 per 1-cup for each batch
• Generic Kool-Aid packet at .12 = .12
• Coarse Kosher Salt $1.68 for 48 oz. (this will make 24 batches) = .07
• Lavender Essential Oil around $6 a bottle&amp;amp;nbsp; which will last for a LONG time (ours has lasted forever) so we will estimate around $0.25 to be conservative?
<strong>TOTAL per batch = $1.26 23 load batch or .05 per load! AND it is natural too!</strong>See more homemade, natural and frugal cleaning products at <strong>TheThriftyCouple.com/SpringCleaning</strong>
Recipe by The Thrifty Couple at https://thethriftycouple.com/homemade-natural-dishwasher-detergent-easy-effective-healthy-and-only-05-per-load/