Homemade Dish Soap

I recently ran out of dish soap for hand washing my dishes. Since I have been trying to use all natural cleaning products and have fallen in love with using essential oils, I figured it was time to make my own dish soap. I found the recipe here

1 3/4 cup boiling water
1 tbsp. borax (go to the website to see their research on the safety of using borax)
1 tbsp. grated bar soap (I have been using a natural bar that contains rosemary and lavender)
15-20 drops essential oils (I use around 10 drops of lemon essential oil as my soap already has rosemary and lavender in it. The lemon smells so nice and helps clean the dishes!)

Heat water to boiling.
Combine borax and grated bar soap in a medium bowl. Pour hot water over the mixture. Whisk until the grated soap is completely melted.
Allow mixture to cool on the countertop for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally. Dish soap will gel upon standing. (Although mine doesn't really gel)
Transfer to a squirt bottle, and add essential oils (if using). Shake well to combine.
Now you’re ready to use your liquid dish soap just as you would use any commercial brand!

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

After much researching and compiling of recipes I finally decided to try making my own dishwasher detergent. I have avoided this in the past since our water is very hard and we don't always remember to buy softener salt. However this stuff works and is super easy to make! A key step in using this is to have white vinegar in the rinse aid compartment of the machine. I have been using vinegar for a long time and my dishes are always clear if my vinegar doesn't run out!

1 cup washing soda (not baking soda!)
1/4 cup citric acid
Tea Tree essential oil (optional but I highly recommend essential oils for an extra clean and scent)

Combine the washing soda and citric acid in a bowl. These do clump together so I recommend making tablets out of this recipe. I have also read of people using silicon packets from a vitamin bottle in an air tight container to prevent clumping/turning rock hard. To make tablets put 1 tbsp. of the mix into each part of an ice cube tray. I then added 2-3 drops of essential oil to each tablet. I lightly pressed the powder down and then let it sit for 24-48 hours until I could gently pop each tablet out. I then stored the tablets in an air tight container. If you would rather not make tablets, just use 1 tbsp. mix in your machine.

Homemade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Fels Naptha soap or one whole bar of Ivory or homemade soap (I used Ivory, I've also used Sunlight Bar Soap)
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 cup borax powder
water
2+ gallon bucket, for storing

Grate the soap and place in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap melts.

Add the washing soda and borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat.

Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket. Add the soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir.

Store your laundry detergent in the bucket, covered. Use 1/2 cup per load of clothes. Let the soap sit and gel for about a day before using.

This can tend to become a bit lumpy/gelatainous, so keep a stirring utensil of sorts to mix it before you use it.

You can also pour soap into used laundry soap containers or if you're like me and don't have any, I've thoroughly washed out 1 gallon milk jugs and store it in there. Just don't get it mixed up with real milk! If stored in jugs all you have to do is shake the jug and measure out your soap, no stirring! This soap costs about a penny or so a load! A lot cheaper than store bought soap and it works just as well. I got this recipe from http://www.tammysrecipes.com/homemade_laundry_soap_recipe where she had pictures to go with each step if you're interested.