Here are the basic ingredients you will need....
Recipe...
1 Cup Borax – Used as a detergent
1 Cup Super Washing Soda (Sodium Carbonate / Soda Ash) – Used to soften the water for cleaning and as a detergent
1/4 Cup Epsom Salt – Also used for water softening
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice (reconstituted is fine) – Used as a rinse aid and to disinfect (Optional) Ice Cube Tray
(Optional) Storage Container for finished tablets
Step 1: Measure out the dry ingredients
Step 2: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the Borax, Super Washing Soda and Epsom salt. Stir these ingredients until well blend
Step 3: In a smaller bowl, measure out 1 Cup of the mixture from Step 2
Step 4: Add in 1/4 Cup of Lemon Juice to the small bowl from Step 3, it will begin foaming
Step 5: Stir the foaming mixture thoroughly. If the mixture is clumpy, add small amounts of lemon juice until smooth, but not runny.
Step 6: Add 1 Tbsp of the mixture to each space in the ice tray and use your fingers to lightly tamp it down into the molds. If the mixture is sticking to your finger, then you may want to add more lemon juice on the next batch.
Step 7: Let the homemade dishwasher detergent tablets dry for 12-24 hours and then release them from the ice-cube tray molds. Once they are released, let them air dry for another 24 hours. If there are any rough edges on them, you can use a cheese grater to smooth them up
Use these as you would normally use other products in your dishwasher. If the tablets do not fit in the detergent compartment, you can crush one into a powder or place one in the bottom of your dish washer. You can also use an alternate mold to better suit your needs–just make sure that you have at least 1 Tbsp of the detergent in each tablet.