Less Rubbish - Homemade Dishwasher Powder

Here's a really easy way to save money and create less waste....make your own dishwasher powder! Commercial dishwasher powders are over packaged, expensive, and filled with nasty chemicals. Over time these chemicals build up on the surface of your plates, glasses and cutlery - so ultimately, you are digesting those nasties when you eat!!!!!!! For me, that alone is reason enough not to use store bought dishwasher powders.

 

What you need:

bi-carb of soda

table salt

citric acid

airtight container

This is such a SIMPLE recipe, and best of all the ingredients are easy to come by and can be bought in bulk (except for citric acid, I'm still searching for a bulk supplier).

Mix together 1 cup of bi-carb of soda, 1/4 cup of cheap table salt and 1/4 cup of citric acid. Store in an airtight container (this is very important, as citric acid becomes very hard and unmanageable when it takes in moisture). Use 1 tablespoon per load.  I also put cheap white vinegar in the rinse compartment of the dishwasher. Once in a blue moon, we run our dishwasher empty on the hottest cycle (with extra bi-carb and a bowl full of white vinegar) just to keep it clean and fresh smelling.

So does this powder actually work? Yes. I'm very happy with how this mixture performs. We run our dishwasher on the economy cycle, which means the water is slightly cooler than a normal setting and the cycle takes less time.  Given these conditions, our plates still come out squeaky clean. Sometimes our glasses are a little bit foggy, but in the big scheme of things, we don't mind.