I have finally run out of Cascade for the dishwasher and have made my first batch of homemade dish washing detergent. It is super simple to make and fits into a reused pasta jar nicely. I have tried it, and it cleaned the dishes well, but did leave some water spots. Doesn't really matter to my husband, but it bothers me, so next time I will add vinegar to the rinse cycle and supposedly that will take care of the water spot problem.
I used:
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1/4 cup citric acid
1/4 cup kosher salt
Mix it all up and store in reused pasta jar. Use 1 tablespoon per load of dishes.
Cost breakdown:
Borax (76oz. @ $5.49)= 8oz. @ $0.58
Super Washing Soda (55oz. @ $4.59) = 8oz. @ $0.67
Now Citric Acid (4oz. @ $3.49) = 2oz @ $1.75
Kosher Salt (16oz. @ $2.00?)= 2oz. @ $0.25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL $3.25 for 20oz. = $0.08 per tablespoon (load)
Homemade dish washing detergent = 8 cents per load
Cascade dish washing detergent = 23 cents per load