I admit I am one of those people who get frustrated at “environmentally” friendly detergents; I find that they often don’t clean my dishes as well, I need to pre-rinse too much for my liking, or they leave a weird film on my dishes, particularly my glasses. 

Through some trial and error, I’ve discovered a dish detergent formula that is better for the environment and doesn’t require excessive pre-rinsing or follow-up washing.  This is not a totally environmentally friendly household recipe, but it does cut down on the amount of harmful materials being used in your home and as a bonus ends up being a lot cheaper.  As always, it goes back to some old-fashioned household cleaners that our grandmother’s used, baking soda and borax.  Baking soda has no real harmful effects on anything.  And borax is nowhere near as toxic as the detergent you currently have under your cupboard, not that I would want my son eating a spoonful, either!

1 1/2 - 2 parts baking soda

1 part borax

1 part powdered dish detergent of choice.

Stir the ingredients together.  And store in a large ziploc bag, waterproof storage container, or large mason jar.  Use as you would regular dish detergent.  I don’t have a great dishwasher and have found that I still can use less than I would think and get my dishes as clean as I want.

My next experiment will be trying to create a clothes detergent that is better too!

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