DIY dishwasher tabs

After trying another recipe for powdered dishwasher detergent that left my dishes very cloudy and dingy I decided to try another. The reason I also didn't like the old recipe was that it all clumped together in my container so I had to chisel it out every time I needed some. When I saw someone making tabs out of their ice cube trays I thought duh! I bought some silicon mini cube trays off amazon since the large ones would not fit in the dishwasher compartment.

My recipe I adapted from several others:

3/8 C Washing Soda 

3/8 C Borax

3/8 C Epsom Salt

3 T Lemon Juice

This made a perfect amount for my two trays.

Mix until incorporated to a damp mixture. Make sure you really pack in the mixture into the trays and wait for them to dry. I let it dry for a day and was able to pop them out easily.

You can see my old recipe that turned into a brick in the second picture. I used one tab and put a bit of vinegar in a cup on the top rack as my rinse agent. The results were significantly better than the old recipe. There was much less (if any) cloudiness. Everything came out clean so I am very pleased. He is glad also because store bought detergent is too expensive and often doesn't even work that great.