Money Saving Monday: DIY homemade dishwasher detergent

As you probably know, I have been making my own laundry detergent for just over 3 years and have never looked back. It was one of my first posts on my blog and I love it. Well, I also have been making homemade dishwasher detergent as well. 

Before I post the recipe, you should know that we basically run the dishwasher once a day (sometimes twice if I get backed up or lazy and let the dishes pile up on the cabinet). We rinse off every dish after each meal so that by the end of the day, we simply load the rinsed dishes into the dishwasher. I originally found this recipe on pinterest (big surprise, I know) but ended up modifying it after I found that it wasn't cleaning the dishes as well as I'd hoped it would. The glasses were cloudy and some of the dishes still had dried food on them. Using my new and improved recipe, the dishes are clean and it saves money-win win. I only use 3 ingredients and it is a powdered solution.

Amelia's Modified Dishwasher Detergent

Supplies: 

1. Baking Soda 
2. Borax
3. Store bought powdered dishwasher detergent (We use Great Value brand)
   

Directions:  

1. Mix equal parts of baking soda and borax. I like to do 1 cup of each.
2. Add the total of combined baking soda and borax of the store bought powdered dishwasher detergent. For example, if you used 1 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of borax, you'd add 2 cups of store bought dishwasher detergent. 
3. Mix all 3 ingredients together and you're finished!
4. 2 Tablespoons per load is what the original recipe says, but I usually only use 1 and it works just the same. Easy Peasy.

So, I realize that this isn't technically a true DIY since we're using store bought detergent in the ingredients. But, it basically stretches out the store bought detergent for twice as long as it was before; I have to buy store bought detergent half as often, ,therefore, saving money. 

Happy Monday, ya'll!