Something I’ve started recently is making my own dish soap. I make pods and loose powder. The pods are for the main wash and the powder is for the prewash cycle.
Making your own dish soap is a sustainable choice. You use all natural ingredients and it is cost effective. The upfront cost can be more than a pack of dishwasher pods, but the longterm savings are so worth it!
You can find all your ingredients at your grocery store. You can buy fresh lemons and squeeze your own for the lemon juice or you can buy jars of juice. The washing soda is typically found with in the laundry or cleaning aisles. You can exchange the kosher salt for sea salt if you’d like, but don’t use table salt.
These pods do a great job cleaning the dishes. They come out clean and shiny.
Today I’ll share the how to process for making the washer pods. Be on the lookout this Saturday for my prewash powder recipe.
What you’ll need:
1. 1 cup Washing Soda
2. 1/2 cup Lemon Juice
3. 1 cup Baking Soda
4. 1/2 cup Kosher Salt
5. 15-20 drops essential oil of your choice
6. Silicone Ice Cube Trays
How to make the pods:
You need a large bowl. In the bowl, add the one cup of washing soda, one cup of baking soda, and 1/2 cup kosher salt.
Mix these together with a fork. I like using the fork, because the ingredients don’t stick as much, like when using a spoon.
Once the dry ingredients are tossed together, add the half cup of lemon juice. The juice will react with the baking soda and foam up. Don’t worry about this, just mix it all together. As you mix, the foam will subside.
At this point, you’ll have a mixture that is both lumpy and soft. When you grab a bit and squeeze it in your hand, it should hold together.
Next add the essential oil of your choice. This is where you can get creative. I used lemon essential oil, because lemon in the kitchen bring me joy. However, you can use whatever type you’d like. Use different combinations to make fun, engaging smells!
Mix everything up again to make sure the oils are good and combined.
Now it’s time to fill up the ice cube trays. My dishwasher has a small box for pods, so I bought trays that make small, hexagonal cubes. If you don’t want to use an ice cube tray, you can use a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon measure and lay them out on a cookie sheet to chill.
You can use a spoon to fill the trays, but I just went ahead and used my hands. Everything is safe and natural, so using your hands is perfectly acceptable.
Use the spoon or your fingers to press everything down in the cube slot so that it becomes a solid cube.
Once everything has been pressed into the cubes, place the trays into the fridge to set for about an hour.
Once they’ve set in the fridge, careful pop them out of the ice cube trays and put them into a lidded container of your choice. You can use a large canning jar or other jar. I reuse the dishwasher pod bucket so that I’m not just throwing away more plastic.
Pop the pod into your dishwasher soap cup and run the washer as you normally would. I add a cup of white vinegar as a rinse aid as well to keep dishes streak free.
My Urban Homestead by Sarah 