Back in the day, when I was first learning about all the harmful chemicals hiding in my home, I would buy Cascade (or the generic form) dish detergent. I had already started making my own laundry soap and decided to take a look at what EWG had to say about my dish soap.
I went to EWG.org and found that it scored an F! Cleaning products are rated on an A-F scale, so Cascade seriously flunked lol! I don’t know about y’all but it is seriously disheartening to see about how many harmful chemicals my family was exposed to daily. I am so glad that I am not using this detergent anymore.
I went on the hunt for a DIY dish detergent I could make myself. Thank goodness for Pinterest! I found many recipes and combined a few that I found to come up with the one below.
Now in fairness, Borax has also received some bad reviews and some people are hesitant to use it. I use it, but have plans to try going without it in my next round of soap. I’ll get back to you on how it turns out. I have added a suggestion below in the recipe for those who would like to take the Borax out.
DIY Dish Detergent
- 2 Cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
- 2 Cups Borax**
- 1 Cup Kosher Salt
- 2 Cup Citric Acid or 2 cups of Lemi Shine*
- 10 drops each Lemon & Wild Orange essential oil
- Mix all the ingredients together in a rubbermaid container. You can store them in Ball Mason Jars or a nice glass jar. Use 1T per load.
- Make sure to break all the clumps of Borax and washing soda up. I also leave mine open for a few days, stirring a few times throughout the day to make sure that it doesn’t dry into a giant brick. This happens because of the citric acid. Many people who just close theirs up end up having their detergent dry up and have a REALLY fun time getting it out! If you experience spots and need a rinse aid, put a glass cup in the top rack with a little vinegar in it. I just leave a cup in there and refill it each time.
- *If you have soft water, reduce to 1 cup. This recipe is for those of us with hard water.
- **If you don’t like the idea of using Borax in your dish detergent, you can omit it and add one cup of baking soda instead.
Click here to purchase the items you need to get started making your own diy dish detergent! Click here to get the essential oils to add to your diy dish detergent!
Health and Blessings,
Amanda