Dirty Dishes

I have been replacing all of our household products with more "earth friendly" options as they run out. The most recent thing to run out was detergent for the dishwasher... I bought Seventh Generation Automatic Dishwashing Powder. I had high hopes for this product since we have been very happy with our Dish Soap and other products. However - our dishes didn't come out sparkling clean as expected... they were covered in a white dusty film. Yuck. I handwashed all the dishes, which isn't so bad, until once they dried and I realized that the film was still there in patches... so I had to RE-handwash all of the dishes. What a waste of water! Hmm... guess I will have to keep shopping around for something else, or figure out a way to make my own. As far as other household cleaning products, I basically use a mix of 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water, and a couple drops of dish soap (and the occasional baking soda for scouring) for everything else. It works great and I don't have to worry about yucky chemicals. There is really no need to buy "natural" all purpose cleaners. They are often SUPER expensive and you can make the same thing at home! I think when the Seventh Generation dish soap runs out I am going to replace it with some Dr. Bronner's...