This is a common theme

It's amazing how the recipes I find for homemade things consistently are made of the same basic ingredients. Borax, baking soda, washing soda, vinegar, maybe some essential oil for a little kick.

Now that I'm in my own place with my own dishwasher to do with as I please, I threw together some homemade detergent for the dishwasher. It's starts with the same base as my laundry detergent.

1 cup washing soda

1 cup Borax

And then gets a little complicated in order to soften the water and prevent those pesky water spots.

1/2 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup citric acid

Citric acid may be found in your local gardening or canning section. I bought a 7.5oz jar of it by Ball in my canning supplies area.

I was told to use vinegar in my rinse aid dispenser but I didn't feel like it. I buy vinegar by the gallon and I can't imagine trying to pour into that tiny slot from my gallon jug, haha. Right now our drinking glasses are Missing In Action so I would have only noticed very obvious spots on my dishes... perhaps I should check my silverware again. Anyway, I might have to reevaluate my technique and recipe once I have my glasses back, since those are the real devils when it comes to water spots.