I’m saving money people! A few months ago I made homemade laundry soap {You can find that recipe & review HERE} & now I have made my own DIY dish detergent & I’m in love! This recipe is even easier than the DIY laundry soap, I was even hesitant on writing a whole blog post because it’s that easy…
It’s as easy as…
Ingredients:
Borax- Found in laundry aisle {I used one box: 4lbs 12oz}
Super washing Soda- Not baking soda. Also found in laundry aisle
Lemi-shine- Found in dish detergent aisle {For hard water stains & build up}
Salt- You can use epsom salt. I used regular & it works great.
Mix all the ingredients together in a container. I used the entire container or borax, super washing soda, & lemi-shine. I then mixed in about 1 cup of salt. I got a one gallon mason jar from Target. It makes me smile & it looks great sitting out on our kitchen counter by the dishwasher. You can make this in smaller batches, but I didn’t want to do any measuring, so I literally just mixed everything together in the large mason jar. You can find other great containers at Walmart, Target, or even the dollar store. You only have to use 1 tbsp. per load, I have been using about 2 tbsp. per load, but you can play around with your own dishwasher to see what works for you.
The total cost of the ingredients was about $10 { I threw away the receipt, of course, so I do not have the exact total} You only need to use one tbsp. per load.. this stuff will last us for a year… that is saving some serious cash! Now imagine the money you will save if you make this & the DIY laundry detergent… Does that excite you as much as it excites me?! haha I may have an addiction to DIY household cleaners.
My dishes have been cleaner with significantly less annoying water spots that make your clean dishes look gross. I am so happy that I made this dish soap & discovered that you don’t have to spend a thousand dollars a year on dish detergent to get clean dishes. Have you made your own dish soap before? Was your recipe similar? I would love to hear your thoughts, tips, tricks, and any other thing you feel like sharing. Comment below or share it on the facebook page {here}. Have a great day! Ps. you can find those lovely painted spoons in my Etsy shop {here}.
Talk to you soon…
Liz Marie
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So, How much of each do you need to mix together to make this?
I used the entire box of borax, super washing soda, & lemi-shine. I mixed in 1 cup of salt & that was that.. no measuring because I had a big enough container.
I have seen tutorials/recipes for this sort of thing before but the $10 price tag is VERY convincing!!
Yes.. Very affordable. Especially when you get things on sale
Have fun making it!
I love the recipe. I think I will be using it from now on (: Thanks Liz!!
You are so very welcome Christine
We have some SERIOUS hard water issues here…. So I am certainly going to give this is a try. I hope I can find all the ingredients. I will have to let you know how it turns out… I actually have that same Big Mason Jar.. So you know what’s going to go inside of it..
Thank you for sharing,
Angelina
You are so welcome Angelina!! That is awesome that you have the same mason jar.. It’s great for this DIY Detergent. I hope this helps your hard water problems! I know how annoying it can be… this has worked great for me so far!
What is the purpose of the salt? I have the exact recipe minus the salt that I am waiting to try (literally, I have everything except my container for the detergant), so I’m wondering if I should add it or not. I have a bulk box of sea salt – does it need to be regular table salt? Sorry about all of the questions!
Hi Nicole! The salt is not absolutely necessary. The purpose of the salt is to help soften the hard water, minimizing water spots, and as a scrubbing agent for dirty dishes. It can be substituted with kosher salt or epsom salt. Hope this helps!! & enjoy your DIY dish detergent!!
I am so excited to try this!!!Thank u!
You are so welcome Allison.. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Is the Lemi-Shine non-toxic, sulphate free, etc? I couldn’t find it in my local Walmart but I want to make sure it’s not chemical-y before I go on a hunt for it other places. Thanks!
The Lemi-shine is basically concentrated citric acid. It doesn’t say it’s non-toxic, but it’s just made with fruit acids and fruit oils. It doesn’t have any scary warnings on the label, which is a good sign! I’ve been using it for a while and can’t wait to try it in this recipe.
Hi Laura!! Here is a quote from their website ” Lemi Shine Original is an all natural dishwasher detergent additive that is made of all natural fruit oils and acids. It contains no phosphates or harsh chemicals.” I hope that helps you! and here is the website for more info… http://www.lemishine.com/faq Great question! & on their website they also have a store locator so you can find one near you.
Love this! I think I’ll make a trip to the store to get ingredients for this, your DIY laundry soap, plus I found a DIY fabric softener recipe that cost .01 a load!
Thanks awesome Chelsi! I may have to make that too
Hi Liz! We have soft water in our house and it goes to the dishwasher as well. Does that mean that I can leave out the salt? I’ve never made a household cleaner before but I really want to try this!
Hi Ashlee! You can leave out the salt or keep it to just make everything extra clean It will not hurt you either way. The salt just adds an extra cleaning boost that can be used in soft or hard water. I hope this helps!
I am so excited to try this! Going out tonight to get the Ingredients!!! I have been using your Laundry Soap and LOVE IT!!!! Thank you so much for this!!
You are very Welcome Jennifer! Enjoy it!!
Thank you so much for this. I will be making these purchases payday.
I hope you enjoy it Regena!
I have a silly question. What did you use to mix the ingredients did you just shake the jar with the lid on?
I have a quick question….is this to be used in the dishwasher or can I use it in the sink with water?
I’ve Have been making my own laundry detergent and thinking about trying dish detergent next. Now I know I have to. I bookemarked your post thankyou so much.
Great idea. I would so do this but I don’t have a dishwasher. Thanks for sharing at the All Star Block Party!
I’m new to your blog as in…just found you 5 min. ago! I know this is about the dish soap…but I’m in love with those wooden spoons! Did you make them?
This is fabulous! I am going to make this for sure!!! You displayed it beautifully! Thanks for bringing your great dyi to TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS!
I have GOT to try this! I spend so much on this stuff. With a large family, we go through so much dish detergent. Thanks for sharing at Gettin’ Krafty!
I want to try this! Our water is incredibly hard, even with our water softener! I’m looking forward to seeing how much better my dishes come out AND how much money I can save.
I used this recipe but used upsom salt intead of table salt. It works great on the glass but leaves a film behind on the plastics. Any suggesitons for this? I’ve tried adding more lemishine to my wash and adding vinegar as a rinse agent. I’m all out of thoughts to try, any would be appreciated.
*Epsom Salt (lol my typo)
If you find any more…sorry
I’m having the same problem here too. I wonder if adding a cup of regular salt will help. I tried the extra lemishine and vinegar last night to no avail.
I tried your detergent soap and I am definitely going to try this one. Thank you so much for this. I love saving money:)
I hope you love it!!!
Do you have any tricks for keeping the mixture a powder? My hardens to a solid mass, even sealed in the mason jar. It still works, but I have to chop away at it to break it up. I saw on one site to add rice, but that didn’t work for me. Any ideas?
I read somewhere when you make it you should leave it unsealed for a few days to let the moisture dissipate.
Has anyone used this for awhile now to give a user update? I really want to try it, but am nervous. The last time I made a dishwasher concoction, NOT THIS recipe, everything got such a thick film I had to scrub each and every item by hand with a scrubby brush and dawn to get it off. Some items had to be done twice. I need to save some $$ and want to try again, just cautious.
Has there been any issues with clumping? Everywhere else I’ve read when involving citric acid clumping has been something to counter with other agents. Looking at doing this and my own laundry detergent soon.
Thank you for the great sight!
Is this safe for dishwashers with stainless steel on the inside? I’d also like to try this, but would like to know how it stands up over time. Are you still happy with it after a few months of use? BTW, I LOVE your blog. I found you a couple years ago now, and I find it absolutely delightful
Cool idea to save money. I’ve had it with paying for phosphate dishwasher detergent from the store
I’m pretty upset that I can not find the Washing Soda anywhere near me and Amazon wants over $10.00 for it.
Any suggestions?
Walmart should carry it. Its in the laundry detergent section…
Jackie on september 7th!! That happen to me also! Mine is hard as a rock;( i came on too see if anyone else was having the same problem!! What do i do??? Its hard in mason jar! And my left over is in a ziploc and hard too;(! I use laundry soap and love it! Help!!!
I use a similar mix. For a while I was using the gel-pack type cleaner but the melting plastic covers ruined my dishwasher. I kept the container though. Now I take a two gallon zippy bag, put in two cups of Borax, two cups of Super Washing Soda and one cup of baking soda. Shake it all up, put it in the plastic container that I saved from the gel packs and put a two tablespoon scoop in there. It is always dry and have very few problems with clumping. Super Washing Soda and Borax will absorb moisture and get hard in the box just sitting around so they contstantly have to be broken up anyway. So just be aware of that. If you add any moisture into it, I’m sure it will clump worse.
I LOVE epsom salts and have no problem with the idea of adding it in either! On a septic system I’d be leary of using regular salt.
Great recipes.. esp love the laundry one.. used it for a year now.
Also wanted to say.. I bought an off brand of ‘oxyClean’ at k-mart , bonus : it contains SIX pounds !
SO I use it sometimes as an addition to whites
just a little FYI .
Lisa
I was wondering we don’t have a dishwasher can you use that if you wash dishes by hand? Also we have an efficiency washer that you can only use laundry soap that is for high efficiency washers will that laundry soap work? If not any ideas on how I can make dish soap and laundry soap for my circumstances.
Tammy, I have a HE washing machine and have been using home made laundry soap for several months with no problem.
Great info! I keep my Borax and Washing Soda (boxes) that I use for laundry in 1 1/2 gal zip loc bags to keep them from clumping. One suggestion is use a wad of cotton. Just sit it in the top of the container to absorb moisture (think of an aspirin bottle). Or, you may want to start collecting those little moisture absorbers found in new shoe boxes for shipping and try one or two of those. Both Borax and Washing Soda absorb moisture so I would limit the exposure to air as much as possible. I will definitely try this mix! It sounds great and I have used Lemi Shine before. Clear white vinegar is a great exchange for a rinse aid too!
You know, Borax is toxic. I’d rather not ingest something that kills cockroaches.
Maybe don’t eat the borax then???? Just sayin’
I think you’re thinking of boric acid…it can contain borax but the borax itself is not a chemical…it’s a naturally occurring mineral.
I love you blog! Thanks for posting this!
I use the same recipe and LOVE it! I use equal parts borax & washing soda with a good bit of salt. I’m limited on space, so I mix them in a Mason jar but toss in a couple of the dry-gel packs that come in shoes, purses, etc. Keeps the mix from clumping. I also use vinegars in the jet-Dry reservoir. My dishes look & feel 10 times better than they did with expensive dishwasher detergent!
This website really has all the information and facts I needed about this
subject and didn’t know who to ask.
Hi,
I use these ingredients and I’m using what seemed to be an air tight container. Mine is turning hard, almost solid and it’s hard to get any out. Do you know why this is happening? What to do to prevent it?