A Little Crazy, but Clean!



Winda ready to go home after her teeth cleaning.

This last weekend was a bit of a crazy time for me.  We took Friday and Monday off - so YAY 4 day weekend!  However, we had a crazy schedule of office things to get done, a dinner and game night planned and Winda was scheduled for a teeth cleaning...so, obviously, I got sick.  I have been feeling like I was getting a sinus infection for a few weeks, just a day or two - here and there.  No biggie for me usually - they come and go and I am maybe down a day at most.  Not this time - we took Winda to the vet's on Friday morning, and by the time we got home at 3pm I was feeling pretty bad (I even took a nap, which I never do).  Since I wasn't feeling too good, and Winda was still groggy from the vet, we didn't get any of our projects done but that was okay - we still had 3 days left.  Saturday, I woke up feeling worse - it wasn't until this morning that I finally slept through the night and my face hurts a little less.  

Even though all I wanted to do was stay in bed, I wanted to get some of our things done more.  We managed to get a few things done, like getting a butcherblock counter for Eric's office from IKEA and cleaning the house up for our dinner on Sunday, but nowhere near as much as I was hoping.  On Sunday, we had my brother and sister-in-law (and her brother) over for Tacos and Margaritas - the funny thing is we planned this over a week ago and I totally spaced that Cinco de Mayo was this Monday - happy coincidence.  I was really looking forward to it since it is so rare that we all have time to hang out, so I refused to cancel it.  I'm glad I didn't - it was a lot of fun!!

One of the few things I did manage to get done was making dishwasher tablets.  I have had the stuff to make them for about a month, but I didn't want to make them until I ran out of the ones I already had, which I finally did on Saturday.  I looked around online for a recipe that used lemon juice instead of citric acid - mostly because I didn't want to buy something extra just for this project.  There are lots of different recipes, but they are all pretty much the same.  The ones I made are from here.

Dishwasher Tablets:

1 cup Borax

1 cup Washing Soda

1/4 cup Epsom Salts

Lemon Juice

Mix the borax, washing soda and epsom salts really well.  Add the lemon juice until the mixture is damp but with no extra liquid in the bowl.  I would start with around 7 or 8 tablespoons, and add as needed.  Use a tablespoon to divide the mix into an ice cube tray or to scoop onto a flat surface. 

I tried it both ways and I thought either way was fine.  I was a little concerned that the ones in the ice tray would be too compressed to dissolve correctly, so I like how the scooped ones are more crumbly (Once they dry they don't fall apart unless you try to break them up though), plus they work better for my dishwasher because they are flatter.  The cubes are tidier looking, and they come out of the tray really easily.  Let them dry overnight and then place into a container for storage.         

I have used the round ones twice already and I think they work better than some of the detergents I have tried in the past.  There was no residue on my plasticware, which is a big problem for some all-natural detergents.  I also have a rinse agent that is all-natural (I don't know the brand).  You can use vinegar, but I have heard some people say their dishes smell like vinegar so I am a little wary. 

I think one of the best things about these is the price.  I think that I spent around $12/15 for all of the items, but I will get about 144 tablets out of that.  Also, I will only need to buy more washing soda and I can make around 72 more tablets for only $4.  So (in theory) I can make enough tablets to last all year (doing 4 loads a week), for less than $20.  I have also read that you can freeze them - so I might do that when I get a large freezer - then I only have to make them once a year.

BTW - If you use the scoop option, make sure you put them up high to dry.  I was asked what kind of cookies I was making, so we definitely don't want any kids getting their hands on them!!