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| Kool Aid Man from www.gamesprays.com |
Whenever I clean anything around the house, which isn't very often, Pete always makes the remark that it smells clean. In my book, clean doesn't smell. Pine Sol smells, Windex smells, Pledge smells, but those are the smells of chemicals, not the smell of clean. I think we all connect the smells of cleaning products with our past cleaning experiences or childhood. What about the future?
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| www.Cascadeclean.com |
I've been concerned for some time about what chemicals are making those "clean" smells and what other chemicals are ending up in our leach field. We have a septic system up here. When we used the last Cascade dishwasher tablet I decided to make my own dishwasher soap.
I found a great blog that provides a number of recipes for homemade cleaning products, including dishwasher soap. On
diy Natural
http://diynatural.com/ I found a recipe that listed Kool-Aid as one of its ingredients and I was hooked. Talk about childhood memories. . . Who knew that Kool-Aid stands really should have been set up to sell cleaning products, not sugary drinks for kids.
diy Natural blogger, Matt Jabbs, provides a recipe with 4 simple ingredients. You just mix them together, I mixed them in the now empty Cascade container, and you have enough powder for 24 loads.
1/2 Cup Borax Natural Laundry Booster
1/2 Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1/4 Cup Kosher salt
1/4 citric acid OR 8 packages of unsweetened lemonade Kool-Aid
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| Sample of My Homemade Dishwasher Soap |
You can get citric acid online, and I probably will, because those little packages of Lemonade Kool-Aid were not easy to find up here this time of year. Jabbs says not to use any other flavor because you will end up with blue, red or purple dishwasher interior. I think that might be a reason to use grape or cherry Kool-Aid - psychadelic Quiet Power.
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All our appliances seem
to have names.
The Quiet Power II really
isn't too quiet. |
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| Quiet Power II |
I have been using the recommended 1 Tablespoon per load in our Quiet Power II (it's not a KitchenAid, but a GE) and the dishes come out as clean as ever. Jabbs recommends using white vinegar in the rinse compartment. I think I will as soon as the Jet-Dry runs out.
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| Maddie Jo was pleased with the results. |
I've been using a vinegar and water concoction in lieu of 409 and Windex, but I'm not very satisfied with it. I need to work on tweaking it. We are almost out of laundry detergent, so I think that will be the next project. The diy Natural blog has a recipe for that as well. Asher seems to have a different idea for the next homemade cleaning project.
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"Let's make
doggie shampoo." |
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| "Is it time for a bath?" |
