I was motivated by a friend’s trial of homemade dishwasher detergent to do some research for a recipe.
After doing a little searching, several comments I read indicated that homemade versions can cause a dull film residue to be left on your dishes. Some claims were made that by adding citric acid to the recipe it helped to eliminate the issue. While looking through several sites, I came across this recipe that includes citric acid.
I made my first batch of dishwasher detergent last night and have now run two loads using it. It works great!
Dishwasher Powder
1 cup Borax
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup citric acid
I used the recipe as written with a few exceptions. I didn't add the essential oils to the mixture. I use 1 Tablespoon in each of the two dispensers my dishwasher has. In the first dispenser, I add a few drops of tea tree essential oil for its disinfecting properties. In the second dispenser, I add a citrus essential oil. I also use ¼ cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle to help eliminate water spots.
I have now placed the powdered detergent into a plastic bag for storage. The citric acid, when mixed with the other ingredients, tends to clump or harden. By putting it in a plastic bag it is easier to break up and mix before use.
You can design the recipe to fit your needs and wants. I like the way the dishes came clean. They weren't left with a greasy or cloudy residue. The ingredients needed were easily obtained. The amount of money the home made version will save, versus the name brand dishwasher detergents, is going to be immense. I am not sure I will ever have to buy dishwasher detergent again!
The citric acid may be hard to find in local stores. You may be able to find it in the vitamin isle if you look. I know Now Foods sells it as a supplement. I purchase mine in bulk from Frontier Coop. I get a 1 pound package for just over $5 with tax. A little goes a long way. It can also be used as "fruit fresh" to keep your fruit from turning brown when you dehydrate it.
I use essential oils in many aspects of cleaning and every day well being. When purchasing essential oils, be sure to do your research. Some are not true oils. I like Aura Cacia the best. I purchase them from Frontiercoop.com. You can easily shop online. If you purchase quite a bit, it is worth the $10 to become a wholesale member. You get to purchase items at wholesale cost. If your order is $250, shipping is free. I join together each month with a few others to place an order so we can get free shipping. By placing an order each month we can also take advantage of the monthly sales.
I have now used almost a complete batch of homemade laundry soap. I have learned to get over my "no suds" phobia. It helps that I really like the smell of the fels-naptha soap. It smells so fresh. I also put the soap bars in my towel drawer to make my towels smell good. That is a something my grandmother used to do. You could count on her hand towels, wash rags, and bath towels always smelling good.
I have been using the homemade soap more often, and saving my more expensive soap for heavily soiled loads. I still don't think the homemade version cleans as well, however, my family tends to create some tough stains to get out.
Since it is time to make another batch of soap, I decided to try using my food processor to grate the bar instead of doing it by hand. It worked wonderfully. I was able to grate 3 bars in less than 30 seconds. When grating the bar by hand it took me about 20 minutes for one bar. It actually took longer to measure the ingredients, than it did to grate the soap. I did have to crush the soap a little with my hands to make the pieces smaller. In case some of you did not see the recipe in the previous post here it is again if you would like to try it.
Powdered Laundry Soap
1-Bar Fels-Naptha Soap (Finely grated)
1-1/2 cups baking soda
1-1/2 cups washing soda
1-1/2 cups borax
I have an extra large capacity washing machine so I use 1/4 cup per load. You can adjust the amount according to your washing machine's capacity. I also use vinegar in place of fabric softener for most of my loads.
Because I like the smell of the fels-naptha soap so well, my next project is going to be making liquid soap from a bar. I just need to locate some glycerin to try the recipe I found. Of course I will add essential oils for their antibacterial properties. I am excited to see how it turns out.
Since then, I have made my own laundry soap. I made it in liquid form and didn't particularly care for it. I like to see suds in the washing machine. I know, it's ingrained in our brains. Seeing something suds means it's cleaning. After all, remember the scrubbing bubbles commercial? "We work hard so you don't have to".
It took me awhile to get over that issue when using the homemade laundry soap. The recipe I used made a 5 gallon bucket full. You had to boil the grated soap with water on the stove, mix it in a bucket with the other ingredients and add water to fill the bucket. The bucket took up quite a bit of space sitting near the washing machine, and after time I stopped using it. I think there is still a couple inches in it. I will eventually get it used up.
Here is what I didn't like about it:
There were NO suds
You had to add a bluing agent to white clothes, or over time they became dingy.
It didn't do well on heavily soiled items, even when pre-treated.
Yes, making your own laundry soap is less expensive and better for the environment. However, I had a friend tell me she didn't purchase the more expensive soaps in the first place and felt she really didn't save any money when you consider the time in making it. The homemade version can be used on less soiled items if you can get over the fact it does not suds. This would be great for front load washing machines. It is also less fragrant. I used Ivory soap, so the only smell was that of the Ivory soap. You can always add essential oils such as lavender, lemon, grapefruit, peppermint, and so on. The choices are endless for creating your own fragrance. I often add eucalyptus to the rinse cycle.
I am a big fan of Tide. I always have been. Over the past several months I still used Tide for heavier soiled items and used the homemade when I felt I could. Because of the increase in cost, and decrease in size of brand name detergents, I opted to try the powder form versus the liquid I had always purchased. I found the powdered Tide did better at getting out the grease, grass, and mud stains than it's liquid counter part. I will no longer be purchasing the liquid form for that reason.
Today I decided to give making homemade soap another try. I opted for a powdered version which is a little different ratio from the liquid I previously made.
The recipe called for 2 cups of grated soap. Castile, fels-naptha, or your choice of bar soap. I used
fels- naptha. Grating the bar measured 2 1/2 cups.
I added 1- 1/2 cups each baking soda, borax, and washing soda. All of these items can generally be found at your local grocery store.
Mix the dry ingredients together with the grated soap.
Shake to mix before each use.
Use 1/8 cup per load.
I currently have heavily soiled jeans soaking in the homemade version and to give it a fair try, will continue to soak the same amount of time I do with powdered Tide. I have already noticed the water is very blue. This means the homemade soap is taking the dye out of the clothing. Something soaking in Tide does not do. I will keep you updated on how well it does.
How many of you have ventured into making your own cleaning products? If you haven’t tried it yet, I challenge you to do so. They are not only more economical to use, cleaners you make yourself do not have the toxic smell or leave behind a residue. They actually clean better than the expensive cleaning products you buy too!
I have been making my own cleaning products, with the exception of laundry soap, for several years. I have contemplated making my own laundry soap for awhile now, but haven’t taken the leap. I hope to make some later this week after I locate all of the ingredients. My niece gave me a recipe I hope to share after I have been able to make and test on my own laundry.
I first started making my own cleaners because my husband kept complaining of the fumes from the cleaners I was using. He felt they were creating more problems for us allergy wise by simply breathing the fumes from them. I had to agree. I was almost to the point of wearing a mask each time I used them.
Since I started making my own cleaners, I now realize how much money I was spending on various products in the past. I don’t have to worry about trying to find a coupon to get a product cheaper, or buying several products because they are only used for a specific job. The products I buy are inexpensive, last a long time, and are versatile.
You can do a variety of cleaning tasks with basic items on hand.
The main items I use and keep on hand are:
Vinegar
Baking Soda
Borax
Tea Tree Oil
Liquid Peppermint Castile Soap
Rubbing Alcohol (90%)
Bleach
Vinegar is a main staple in my home. I purchase it by the gallon getting several at a time when I shop at Sam’s Club. I use vinegar for many things around my home.
*I add it to my rinse cycle as a fabric softener. It also helps cut any soap residue that may be in the rinse cycle.
*You can add it to your dishwasher in the rinse cycle to eliminate water spots in addition to cleaning your dishwasher.
*I make a solution of vinegar with rubbing alcohol (90%) to sanitize electric toothbrushes, clean mirrors or glasses.
*I also use it to clean any lime residue off of faucets.
*I pour vinegar with baking soda down my drains to clean them of the gunk that can accumulate in the pipes. I sprinkle about ½ a cup of baking soda into the sink and pour vinegar down the drain. It’s also like a science experiment the kids will love to watch! The combination of baking soda and vinegar will create a mini volcano. It’s a great way to entice children into helping clean. ;)
Baking soda can be used in place of soft scrub to clean your sinks and shower. To scour and sanitize my kitchen sink I sprinkle it with baking soda and spray a mixture of bleach diluted with water and scrub. This takes the place of soft scrub with bleach. For my shower I omit the bleach and just use baking soda and water.
Borax can be added to your laundry as a booster. You can also soak clothes in borax to remove stains. I add borax to my toilet bowl and let it sit for several hours before scrubbing. It helps remove stains as well as hard water deposits that may be left behind. I also use borax in my all purpose cleaner.
Tea Tree Oil has many uses. I found a great list of the uses from this site:
1. Use a dab to treat acne.
2. An anti-fungal for treating Athlete’s Foot, eczema, various yeast infections, etc.
3. An antiseptic to be used on cuts and burns.
4. An anti-viral: it may lessen the symptoms of colds and flu. Try using a few drops in the bath.
5. Add to a vaporizer to loosen chest congestion.
6. Add a small amount to shampoo todestroy head lice.
7. A small amount added to your bath can help with persistent body odor.
8.Treating sinus infection.
9.For dandruff and dry scalp.
10. In the form ofaromatherapy, tea tree oil is used to treat colds, persistent coughs, acne, toothaches, and sunburn.
For Cleaning
11. To create an all-purpose cleaner, combine 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil in 2 cups of water in a spray bottle.
12.Another versionwould be 14 ounces of water with 1 ounce of Murphy’s oil soap and 10 drops of tea tree oil.
13. Mix the above solution with kosher salt to scrub bathtub and bathroom tiles.
14. Add a few drops to dishwasher dispenser, then fill with agreen dishwashing soap.
15. A few drops added to each load of laundry leave your clothes smelling cleaner.
16. Control mold with a tea tree oil/water spray.
17.Remove mustinesswith that same tea tree oil/water spray.
18. To keep germs at bay, spray it on high chairs, car seats, and other high traffic spots.
19. 15 drops in a quart of water can be an effective insect repellent.
20. Be sure to take some with you whenhiking and campingto put directly on insect bites or blisters.
Liquid Castile Soap
My two favorite uses for liquid castile soap are cleaning hardwood floors and as an insect repellant for garden vegetables.
For my hard wood floors I use an old windex spray bottle with ¼ cup liquid castile soap and fill the remainder of the spray bottle with hot water. I use a dampened microfiber cleaning rag to wipe the floors after I have lightly sprayed them with the solution. I also place a dampened microfiber cleaning rag onto my swifer and use it in the same way for larger areas.
To keep insects off of cabbage, lettuce and tomatoes I use the same formula but in a two gallon sprayer versus the smaller one. It’s much easier when spraying several plants rather than tiring my hand out from using the windex spray bottle.
Rubbing alcohol can be used to sanitize metal instruments such as tweezers and nail clippers. It can be used to clean mirrors and glass.
You can use it to wipe down your telephone to remove germs.
Rubbing alcohol will also remove sticky adhesive residue left behind when you remove labels or tags.
Bleach is used to whiten clothes, kill germs, disinfect, and sanitize water. If you have a septic tank, do not use bleach as it will kill the helpful bacteria in the system.
The recipe I use for an all purpose cleaner is a combination of other recipes I have found. This is my favorite all purpose cleaning recipe.There are only four ingredients needed to make it. You can find them easily, or may already have them in your home.
I use this cleaner on my floors, counter tops, shower, sinks and toilets. Basically everywhere except for my hard wood floors. It really cuts through hair spray, grease and grime, as well as leaving your bathroom fixtures sparkling. I mix a gallon at a time so I don’t have to make it as often.
The following recipe will make one gallon
8 teaspoons borax
1 1/2 cups vinegar
40 drops tea tree oil
16 cups hot water
You can also make a smaller batch that will fit into a spray bottle
1 teaspoon borax
3 Tablespoons vinegar
5 drops tea tree oil
2 cups hot water
