Dishwashing Disaster...and success

This past week has been an adventure in dishwashing. I ran out of my ultra-expensive stuff--the kind with the powder and liquid put together into a neat packet, and decided that I might as well give making my own a try. I mean, making my own laundry detergent was easy, so this can't be that hard, right?

Wrong.

It turns out that homemade dishwashing detergent doesn't work that well. And the recipe that everyone uses not only doesn't work that well, it SUCKS. 1 part borax to 1 part baking/washing soda. It leaves a nasty film on everything. I had to run a rinse cycle twice with vinegar to get it off. That's not too environmentally friendly, is it?

So I tried an easy alternative I found online: 1/4 c. soda and 1 T dishwashing liquid. I thought, well, I've seen how Dawn can cause the dishwasher to overflow with suds, but that only happens in the movies, right? Plus, 1 T hardly seems like a lot. Let's give it a shot. So I tried it and went to bed. About 30 minutes later, I woke up in a cold sweat, made a run for the kitchen, and witnessed half the floor covered in suds. D'oh! Again, I had to run a couple of cycles to get all the soap out of the system. Again, a waste.

Finally, I ran into another alternative on The New Homemaker. I've copied it here. Don't expect perfection, and yes, I did use the Kool-Aid instead of the citric acid, but it definitely does the job in aiding the dishwasher in sanitizing the dishes. Thanks to Lynn Siprelle of TNH.

In a plastic container with a firmly fitting lid, mix:
1 cup borax
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup citric acid (available in brewing stores among other places--if you haven't tracked it down yet but must try this formula, use two packets of Lemonade-Flavored Kool-Aid, ONLY lemon, or you'll dye your dishwasher! and ONLY unsweetened Kool-Aid!)
30 drops citrus essential oil--lemon, grapefruit, orange, tangerine, or a mixture

Put all of it in the container, shake it up.

I have decided that for the stuff I use, I'm going to do my best to handwash from now on. Katie's stuff goes in the dishwasher. But this mixture saved me lots of dough, so I don't feel so guilty!