what did I do wrong? re: natural diswasher detergent

[mamalita]

hello all!

I did a search and found the combination for natural dishwasher detergent (1 teaspoon baking soda + 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid). It kind of worked except when I opened the diswasher I had a couple of inches of suds in the bottom - no water, just suds. They didn't seem to be on the plates, etc., but they were on/in some pots and lids. I then proceeded to rinse the pots in the sink thereby feeling guillty about the waste of water. Does anyone know what I did *wrong*? I didn't use vinegar in the rinse cup - maybe I should've? Also, I used Dawn diswashing liquid (DH bought it on sale and I hate to waste it) - could be the culprit. Any tips?

[MamaMonica]

We used to make our own, can't remeber the recipe- it's been about 13 years since I did it. We used borax (I think) and other stuff- no dishwashing liquid.

[camprunner]

We used to do this. Sometimes we'd put the baking soda directly on the dishes. I found that I just had to experiment with the right amount. We did it out of necessity because we couldn't afford the store bought stuff. It's been awhile so I can't remember what worked for me. Keep trying.

[LaLa]

well, we don't use 1 tsp of dishwashing liquid, we just use a dime sized amount of Dishmate, which is a natural and mild dish washing liquid.

And then the dishes only get clean if they were pre rinsed and some vinegear in the rinse would help too!