With our no spend year challenge came the promise to ourselves and to all the followers of the freedom family that I would purchase no luxury items this year. We had a little debate as to whether dishwasher tablets are luxury or not, in the end it was decided that a dishwasher itself is a luxury item so anything to go with it falls into that category as well. I have to say honestly I wasn’t prepared to run out of anything in the first week of January and be in the kitchen whipping up alternatives, and truth be told if I had realized just how empty the box was I probably would have bought a new box before the challenge started. But alas this is how it happened and I have to say honestly it was fairly easy to come up with something that works quite well. So let’s get right into it.
Dishwasher tablets
1 Cup Bi-carb Soda
1 Cup Borax
1/2 Cup Salt
2 Tablespoons Corn Flour
2 Tablespoons Citric Acid
2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
12 Drops Lemon Essential Oil
4 Drops Yellow Food Colouring (for fun)
- Mix all dry ingredients together in a glass or stainless steel bowl
- Mix wet ingredients together in a small bowl
- Slowly add wet ingredients to dry, about 1 teaspoon at a time stirring in well. Do not allow the dry mixture to fizz as this is the activation of the soda and you want this to happen in your dishwasher not in your bowl. Mixture will look quite dry still but it is supposed to.
- Spoon mixture into an ice cube tray. (I prefer to use a silicone one as it makes removal so much easier). Compress the mixture down very tightly.
- Leave trays to set for 2-3 days. I like to leave mine for at least 3 as I live in a very humid climate and if not properly set the tablets can crumble when being removed from the tray. (when this happens I still keep it and use it as dishwasher powder)
- Store in an airtight container and enjoy!
You can watch the video of me making these here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G75jAnAyrbw&t=10s
I honestly find my dishes just as clean as using the store bought tablets. I do however clean my dishwasher regularly and empty the filters weekly at maximum. This helps a lot with the end result. Occasionally if I have a lot of glassware going through I find it helps to put a small bowl of white vinegar in the top tray for extra sparkly glass.
I am also quite interested to try to make a recipe without the borax. I will have a play around and leave an update if I have any success.
If you want to join the freedom family for more recipes or anything else we are doing during our debt busting year to freedom you can find us here.
https://www.instagram.com/familyseeksfreedom/
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