If you are tired to use the kind of polluting detergents of most commercial brands, follow these easy steps to make your own natural dishwasher tablets
The premade detergents are certainly not eco-friendly and traces of soap eventually left on the dishes may be dangerous for your health. And if you consider the economic side, preparing your own tabs will make you save a lot of money as well!
So if you are keen on making DIY projects try this fairly easy recipe!
Commercial tablets are expensive and not really eco-friendly
You need ingredients easy to find in any drugstore or supermarket, like sodium carbonate or baking soda (beware, not caustic soda which is a different thing) which is a great product, used for many house cleanings; you need also borax, a disinfectant natural cleaner sold in any drugstore.
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Epson salt (a mineral called epsomite you can easily find over the internet) is necessary to counteract water hardness, while vinegar facilitates the blending of the ingredients; finally lemon juice has cleaning, antibacterial and perfuming properties.
Keep in mind that the amount of a cup of any powder is 150gr.
DIY dishwasher tablets – ingredients and doses:
- 2 cups sodium carbonate
- 1 cup borax
- 1/2 cup Epsom Salt, Kosher salt or cooking salt
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup lemon juice or 20 drops lemon essential oil
DIY dishwasher tablets – step by step instructions:
Mix all the ingredients; don’t bother if the vinegar, helping to create the mixture, triggers effervescence, or if the compound tends to clump, it is all quite normal. Once you have achieved a doughy consistency it’s time to shape the tablet; ice cube trays are perfect to create tablets of the right dimension: just place the mixture into the trays (not too much or they won’t fit the detergent container of your dishwasher!) and press to get it compacted.
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Once you have filled the ice cube trays let them dry (possibly in a sunny spot) for 24 hours. When the tabs are hardened and dried, take them out of the trays and store them in tight-lidded containers. Ready for use!
One more tip to get shiny dishes: before starting the dishwasher cycle just pour 1 or 2 cups of vinegar straight into the machine. Vinegar contrasts water hardness, which causes dishes to become unpleasantly opaque.
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