I don't have a working dishwasher. Long story. Frustrating situation. I won't go into right now. But my mother-in-law does, and she lives next to a lake. Their "gray water" is piped out of the house and then allowed to roll down the hill into the lake! She was looking for a green recipe for her dishwasher and I thought that I would post what I found for everyone!
Green Dishwasher Detergent!
What you'll need:
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
20 Mule Team Borax
Distilled White Vinegar
Here's what you do (read slowly because there are only two steps):
* Step 1: Add one tablespoon of Super Washing Soda to the dishwasher dispenser
* Step 2: Add one tablespoon of 20 Mule Team Borax to the dishwasher dispenser
You're done. That's the recipe for homemade dishwashing detergent. Now the recipe for removing the water spots that so frequently occur with automatic dishwashers:
* Pour distilled white vinegar into the dispenser for the clear rinse gel.
Once you've run your dishwasher, be sure to hold your glasses up to the light and inspect them thoroughly. You'll find that the homemade detergent cleans as well if not better than the store bought detergent.
Cost Comparison:
Depending on how much you pay for your dishwashing detergent and how much you pour into the dispenser will determine how much you are paying per wash for your detergent and spot removing gel.
The cost for this recipe is less than 4 cents per load.
Calculation as follows:
Cost of Borax: $2.50 for 76 ounces = .03/oz or .015 for ½ oz
Cost for Washing Soda: $2.50 for 55 ounces= 4/oz or .02 for ½oz
Recipe calls for ½ ounce of each so the cost per wash is 3.5 cents. How much does your detergent cost (this week)? Next week the price may probably go up.
*****I don't promise that this works, but if my mil uses it and she likes it, I'll pass on the info.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also, I have stopped mopping. Not for a green reason -- no, this comes down to time. By the time I have a child-free moment to mop and let the floor dry without getting baby prints all over it, I'm too tired to walk across the house, much less to mop. So I've been Swiffering on a daily basis. First of all, I'd like to point out that this is EXPENSIVE! I go through 5+ Swiffer Wipes a day. When a 24 count box of wipes cost me almost $9 a time, then that's way too much to spend a payday on it.
Also, the last time I bought a box, all the liquid leaked out of the sealed top! I wasn't going to waste the wipes. I added vinegar to them and called them good. But it got me thinking. Why couldn't I just cut up an old towel or one of my "Magic Cloths" and use that? I could put the cut up ones in the old wipe box, and soak them in a water, vinegar, and dishsoap mixture.
1 comment:
Microfibre towels! We use them for everything... and the ones we have are the perfect size lol. I still have swiffer sheets, but I've tried out the towel w/ vinegar & works just as well... so when we're out I'm switching to that too.
My question about your MIL's lake situation... are there fish in there? Because the borax will kill them (and anything else that drinks it) We have done the vinegar in rinse, but we went to running everything through 2 water saver cycles, once w/ detergent & once w/ vinegar... partly because it runs out of the dispenser too soon & mostly because our dishwasher is... (how to put nicely) bad and this seems to work best for us.
Post a Comment