Hand wash or dishwasher?

To some people doing dishes is a job that they would rather not have to do! I guess I am one of the rare people that don't mind doing dishes (yes, you read it right) ....

There is quite a bit of an age difference between my siblings and I and so when I was pretty young I had to do them as one of my chores. My mother was sick  most of my life and so I had more chores than other kids my age did to help out. My brothers and sisters had all moved out and were married by the time I was 12 and at that point my mother was getting worse. I pretty much started doing dishes when I was a lil kid on a step stool. I remember helping out by drying the dishes at that point but as my mother got worse and I was getting older, obviously I ended up doing them. I remember my mother winning a dishwasher when I was about 10 years old and we hated it! It was one of those that you had to bring to the sink and hook it up, not to mention rinse everything first. I didn't see the point of wasting my time doing such a thing so we used it a couple times but it wasn't something that we made a habit of using. For that matter, we put it in it's place and used it for storage of canned goods! Yep, it did serve a purpose!

So all  of my life I have hand washed and dried dishes. I have a lot of fond memories in the kitchen washing dishes, especially when my aunts and uncles would come and visit and one of my aunt's would always help do the dishes...usually they would wash and I would dry and put them away. It was a great time and it was a bonding moment as well. Even though I was a kid and didn't really realize it at the time, those moments are times that I now treasure and smile when I think of them. 

I am now married and still we hand wash and it is something that both of us would rather do than use a dishwasher. I have never had a dishwasher other than that one that my mother won way back when.

Over the years, I remember using all sorts of different brands of dish soap but it has been in the past year that I have discovered one that I truly adore...it is one that I make! I never would have imagined making my own dish soap but now, along with my other cleaners, I can't think of why I would ever go back to store bought.

It is a simple recipe that I will share with you. Keep in mind that the first time I made it, it was a bit too thick but it worked great. Now I make it by the gallon and save so much money doing so.

The Recipe Is:

1/2 cup of grated soap (I use aloe but you can use any really)

3 cups of boiling water

5 -10 drops of essential oils (whatever you want) 

Directions: Boil the water and put in a bowl, put the grated soap in and stir til it is melted. Let set for about 20 minutes and pour in a squeeze container. Once completely cooled add the essential oils.

I get 3 cakes of aloe soap at the dollar store so for one batch of this size it costs about 25 cents.

For those of you that do use a dishwasher here is an easy recipe:

1 cup of borax

1 cup of baking soda

Mix together and use.

Either way, it is so much cheaper to make your own no matter if you hate doing dishes or not!

Do you hand wash or use a dishwasher?