I was waiting to run out of my beloved Seventh Generation dishwashing detergent to begin experimenting with some more cost efficient solutions. Seventh Generation is my favorite natural dishwashing detergent I have used but gets pretty pricey at around $8 a bottle. For quite a while I was using Palmolive because it is pretty inexpensive and says "Eco" and "Phoslate Free" and "Better for lakes and streams" right there on the bottle so I figured it must be semi-natural, plus it is conveniently sold at Target. Then I found out not only is it owned by Colgate and has chlorine in it but a host of other dangerous ingredients. The EWG (Environmental Working Group) gives it an "F".
I went back to using Seventh Generation but my pocket book was hurting. So, I decided to start experimenting and making my own. I am still not sure where I stand with using Borax, so opted to leave it out for now. Lindsay over at Passionate Homemaking (one of my favorite blogs, I have been following it for years) had a recipe for homemade dishwashing detergent I decided to try.
Very simple.
1/2 cup of Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds
1/2 cup of water
1 tsp lemon juice
3 drops of tea tree oil
1/2 cup of white vinegar
I added a 1/2 cup of baking soda (I wanted my dishes clean!)
***Update: I have been using this for the last two weeks. It definitely does not get my dishes as clean as Seventh Generation but it is soooo much cheaper to make! I am not sure exactly how much I am saving though since I do have to lightly wash my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher to make sure they are really getting clean. I would be interested in exploring that more. I miss the smell of Seventh Generation's dishwashing detergent, so lemony and light. The white vinegar smell is not at all pleasant. Overall, I am pretty satisfied with this recipe but am going to keep experimenting..
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