Homemade Dishwasher Soap and Rinse Aid

The next item on my list of cleaning supplies to tackle was dishwasher detergent. I perused the internet for quite some time and finally came up with a hodge podge of several recipes.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent


1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Baking Soda
1/2 cup Salt (Some recipes said kosher salt, I used what I had)
1/2 cup Citric Acid
Several drops Essential Oil (optional, I used sweet orange)
One of those little absorbent packets that come in vitamins, etc. I read that this helps avoid clumping.
Container

Throw everything together in your container and shake well. The essential oils clumped a bit, not sure if I'll use them next time. Use a fork to break up any clumps. Throw in the absorbent packet on top (and as they all say 'do not eat'). I'm using 1 Tablespoon in the pre-wash spot and 1 Tablespoon in the main wash spot in my dishwasher.


Rinse Aid
Simply fill your rinse aid dispenser with white vinegar. I've been doing this for quite some time already.


Have you ever tried making dishwasher soap? How'd it do?


**Update
The rinse aid works perfectly...the dishwasher soap, not so much. Back to the drawing board. I find it just gets hard and you wind up scraping it out of the container. Also, it didn't clean that great.