Now 100% More Random: Dishwasher Detergent

I know y'all are wondering, what does this have to do with science?  Nothing.  But if I post it here I can't lose it.

Recipe: Dishwasher Detergent for Hard Water (With Soap Flakes)

1 c borax
1 c washing soda
1/2 c citric acid
5 T table salt
3 T epsom salts
1 oz soap flakes (or 1 bar of soap)
Dessicator packet (from shoes, vitamins, whatever)

Take a cheap bar of soap (source: 3/$1 at dollar store).  Put it in a large glass bowl and microwave for about 2 minutes, until it stops puffing up.  Microwave another 30 seconds to be sure.  Put aside to cool.  Mix the other ingredients well, smashing up lumps. Now take two forks and a small child, and squish your soap into very small pieces.  (It is now all flaky and brittle; this is not hard.)  Either measure out 1 oz of the dried flakes on a scale, or estimate 1/3, and add this to the other ingredients.  Put them all in a sealed container with the dessicator packet. Use 1 T per load, plus about 1/2 T in the 'prewash' compartment if you want. 

It actually washed our dishes, unlike its homemade predecessors that I tried out.

(Use at your own risk.  If it overflows/ kills/ otherwise harms your dishwasher, well, sorry.  It was okay in mine.)