Homemade Dish Detergent

I'm doing it, darnit. I posted on Facebook that I was going to make my own dish detergent and everyone was all "Boo, hiss! Didn't work for me!!" so I got scared. But I've done more research and I'm going to do it, darn it!! Harumph.

I first found this recipe and it's the one I posted online that got all the "Boo, hiss!" comments:

• 2 c borax 
• 2 c Arm & Hammer washing soda 
• 2 c lemi shine 
• 1 c kosher salt

So I searched around again and found this recipe that is borax-free:

• 1 cup washing soda 
• 1/4 c. citric acid
• 1/4 c. coarse salt
• 10-15 drops of citrus essential oil (Optional) 
• Homemade citrus vinegar cleaner rinsing agent

She was anti-borax because she thinks it's super deadly but other than that the recipes are about the same. I posted again on FB, asking if anyone had succeeded in making their own dish detergent and my cousin said she knew some people who had. But theirs was also a disaster - it hardened up like a rock.

But I had found this recipe that came with this FAQ that seemed to explain how to remedy all the issues people had had (cloudy dishes, clumped detergent, etc.):

• 1 cup borax 
• 1 cup washing soda 
• 1/2 cup citric acid 
• 1/2 cup kosher salt (for scrubbing action)

You'll notice it's almost exactly the same as the first one. DIY cleaning supplies are so complicated!! Well I was a little worried about the borax, since that one chick seemed to be, so I did some (a tiny bit of) research and found this and I agree with ze Crunchy chica that borax is a-okay. 

Guess what. She also had a recipe for dish detergent:

• 1 c. Borax 
• 1 c. Washing Soda 
• 1/4 c. finely grated Castille Soap (optional)
• 1/2 c. Sea Salt (optional) 
• 30 drops Lemon Essential Oil (optional) 
• Citric Acid (optional)

Again, basically the same. Madness!!

Anywho, what I'm gonna do is...uhh....which one is it....mmmm....Recipe #3! (The one with the FAQ.) I trust it because it had the FAQ. Logical, right? 8} And all of them are about the same, so does it really matter? I don't think so. I'm going to try some of the suggestions in the FAQ to combat cloudiness and clumping and...hopefully I will succeed! Wish me luck!