DIY Dishwasher Tabs

I'm feeling good these days... finally getting some sleep. My baby girl is a little over six weeks now and she has just turned a corner in the sleeping/eating departments. I knew that it was going to be a little more difficult with her than my son because she was born five weeks early but geez... I have been a zombie the last six weeks! She was nursing every 2-3 hours and that means she wasn't sleeping through the night. My husband and I were so perplexed at how hard it is to wake her and keep her awake during the day and pretty much impossible to get her to sleep at night?!

I recently ran out of dishwasher tabs and since we run the dishwasher every other day it's not really something I can go without. I haven't ventured out too many times on my own with them because I'm still adjusting to two kiddos. I certainly don't like going out for one last minute item, if I'm going out I'm making a morning of it and getting it all done. It's too much work for a five minute grocery store run! So I found this recipe for DIY tabs and I happened to have all the ingredients. Worth a try, right?

I went to work putting them together and I chose the solid tab route using two ice cube trays since that is what we are used to. I was so excited to try them because of this worked it would be amazing... cheap and I would know the ingredients in them. Win!

I ran the dishwasher the next morning and was so disappointed with the results. My dishes were foggy and had a residue. Barely even clean! Darn! I tried them a few more times on different settings (hi-temp, extra rinse, etc) and still the same results.

It's always frustrating to me when it "works great" on the internet and fails in real life so I went back to the blog where I found the recipe to see if anyone that commented had the same problem. Sure enough there were a pretty good amount of people who were experiencing the same thing and a number of others replied they had success in adding vinegar to the basin. It's just vinegar but it always manages to surprise me so I was going to give the DIY tabs one more chance... and wow! Great results! Just like and maybe better than my store bought tabs. Crystal clear glasses and fog-less plastic... success! I love it. I'm so glad I was stubborn and determined to make it work because it paid off. Now I just use about 1/8 to 1/4 cup vinegar with each load and it works every time.

I put the tabs in my old tab container and wrote the recipe on the lid so it's quick and easy to make again when I'm low. Also, the tabs are too big for my compartment to I always end up cutting off about a third of the tab and it still works great. Next time I will use three trays instead of two.

You have got to try this recipe! And let me know what you think when you do... I hope you are as happy with it as me. 

<-Kassy->