Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
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Homemade dishwasher detergent is a simple, inexpensive, and effective way to wash the dishes. All you need are a few simple ingredients and two minutes to make this DIY dishwasher detergent recipe.
This recipe to make your own dishwasher detergent is so frugal and so easy. You have to try it! It only takes about two minutes to whip up, costs a few dollars per batch to make, and should last about 100 loads.
I created this recipe 12 years ago, when my husband and I were pinching pennies and trying to live a more natural lifestyle. Little did I know this recipe would be the catalyst to becoming more crunchy.
This homemade dishwasher detergent works better than store-bought versions. It is a great recipe for beginners who want to make more homemade items and avoid purchasing commercial brands that contain ingredients you aren’t familiar with or can’t even pronounce.
If you are trying to make the switch to more natural cleaning products you should try my recipes for homemade cleaners: granite cleaner, furniture polish, and my favorite all-purpose cleaning spray. They are all cleaners you can feel good using at home around your kids and pets.
This recipe is a much more natural version of dishwasher detergent than many of us can find in our local grocery store. Cheap and more natural? Sign me up!
Why You Will love this recipe
- Inexpensive: A batch of this recipe costs about a dollar and lasts for approximately 50 loads, which is less than a penny per load. In comparison, commercial detergents can cost several dollars per load over time. Again, explain the math here, OR we need new math.
- Quick: this recipe comes together in 2 minutes. Add in clean-up, and your total time commitment is under 5 minutes.
- Natural: by making your own homemade dishwasher detergent you can control the ingredients and ensure they are natural and safe for your family and the environment.
- Effective: This detergent, with it’s natural ingredients, will make those dirty dishes shine.
Ingredients
There are only a few basic ingredients necessary to make this natural cleaner:
Borax: a naturally occurring mineral salt, helps soften hard water and fights stains and food buildup. This is much cheaper at a grocery store.
Washing Soda (sodium carbonate): effectively cuts through grease and oil.
Citric Acid: is a natural acid found in citrus fruits. It helps in breaking down grease and food residues.
Salt: I like to use sea salt or kosher salt. This is added to soften the water and help reduce mineral buildup. Some people say not to use sea salt as it can contain minerals, but I haven’t had any issues. I wouldn’t recommend using Redmond’s salt or another type of salt that does have a lot of minerals in it.
Essential oils: Optional. If you want your dishes to have a pleasant scent, you can add a few drops of an essential oil, like lemon oil, to your detergent mix. However, be cautious as some essential oils might not be suitable for use in dishwashers.
A list of the remaining ingredients can be found in the recipe card.
Tools Needed
Bowl
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Glass jar
Measuring cups and spoons
To Use:
To do a load of dishes with your newly made dishwasher soap: Place 1 Tbs of the mixture in the pre-wash (open cup) and 1 Tbs in the main wash (closed cup) and run a regular wash cycle.
Tip: I find that if you put a drop of natural dish soap in the detergent compartment along with your detergent it makes your dishes much more sparkly!
Tips For Using Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
- Use 1 tablespoon in both the pre-wash cup and the main wash cup.
- Add white vinegar as a natural rinse aid for a natural way to get sparkly dishes.
- Different water types can have different results with DIY dishwasher detergent. If you are getting any cloudiness, or food residue left on your dishes, add a few drops of natural dish soap to the mix.
- If you have hard water, you might need to use more detergent or add a water softener to your dishwater.
- If you notice a white film on your dishes, it might be due to hard water minerals. Using white vinegar in the rinse cycle can help remove this.
- To prevent mineral deposits, make sure to use the correct amount of detergent and rinse aid.
- For heavily stained dishes, pre-treat them with baking soda or lemon juice before loading them into the dishwater.
- For best results, use hot water in your dishwater cycle.
Storage
The best way to store DIY dishwasher detergent is in a glass jar or other airtight plastic container. You could even reuse old laundry detergent boxes for storing your homemade detergent.
The only thing you have to consider about when storing this dishwasher powder is making sure it stays dry.
FAQ’s
This has been up for debate for some time. Katie over at the Wellness Mama has a great article here. Basically, there isn’t conclusive evidence of it being bad for you.
You can add a few drops of dish soap and fill the rinse aid compartment with white vinegar. That should get rid of any water spots or cloudiness. You can also add a tsp of baking soda to the dishwasher to help against lime buildup (white film).
You betcha. When I’m strapped for time, I will frequently reach for Seventh Generation powder. Biokleen also scores an A on EWG, as does Ecos, Fit Organic, and Mama Suds.
Want some more DIY Natural Products? Try these!
- DIY Foaming Hand Soap
- Homemade Laundry soap
- Get my favorite natural cleaning tips here.
- If you are a mom, you definitely need this DIY Hand Sanitizer.
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back, comment on the post, and give it 5 stars! Please and thank you. Tag me on Instagram @ablossominglife.
Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
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Ingredients
- 2 cups Borax
- 2 cups washing soda
- 1 cup citric acid
- 1/2 cup salt
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Pour into a air-tight container.
To use:
- Place 1 tablespoon in the main wash. Optional: add 1 tablespoon to the prewash.
Notes
- Use 1 tablespoon in both the pre-wash cup and the main wash cup.
- Add white vinegar as a natural rinse aid for a natural way to get sparkly dishes.
- Different water types can have different results with DIY dishwasher detergent. If you are getting any cloudiness, or food residue left on your dishes, add a few drops of natural dish soap to the mix.
- If you have hard water, you might need to use more detergent or add a water softener to your dishwater.
- If you notice a white film on your dishes, it might be due to hard water minerals. Using white vinegar in the rinse cycle can help remove this.
- To prevent mineral deposits, make sure to use the correct amount of detergent and rinse aid.
- For heavily stained dishes, pre-treat them with baking soda or lemon juice before loading them into the dishwater.
- For best results, use hot water in your dishwater cycle.
If you put dish washer soap in and they dont come out clean or spotted add Vinagar (white) 1/3 cup to rinse cycle , comes out great and dont hurt Septic….
I was wondering when you say washing soda, do you baking soda? Thanks!
Washing Soda and Baking Soda are two different things however if washing soda is hard to find in your area I can give u a link to go and read how to turn baking soda into washing soda by baking it http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf51211341.tip.html and there is even a picture there so u can see the difference.
I don’t have an open cup for pre-wash, just a closed cup. My dishwasher also says to use jetdry or else my dishes stay wet. Can I maybe use 2 Tbsp in the closed cup?
How to make washing soda
Well, as the title says, we’re turning baking soda into washing soda this week. A good number of my homemade products require the use of washing soda, but for every item I post that uses washing soda, I always get at least 5 or 10 comments asking where you can find it. It’s true, sometimes it’s a little hard to find – even I had trouble the first time around. (It’s usually in the laundry aisle, by the way.)
But for those who live in rural areas, or without large grocery stores, it’s still hard to track down. So in my search for the best place to buy washing soda for one of our readers, I stumbled upon this idea that you can actually turn baking soda into washing soda, simply by baking it!
http://naturesnurtureblog.com/2012/05/08/ttt-turn-baking-soda-into-washing-soda/
I make my own dishwasher tablets only difference is I use 1 cup of borax, 1 cup of washing soda, 1/4 cup of epsom salt, 1/8 cup of lemon juice, and 1/8 cup of the Great Value brand rinse agent. Mix all together and press into tabs in ice cube trays and allow to dry completely and then give trays a twist they come right out. Purpose of the rinse aid is to not leave spotty dishes and one bottle of it goes along way when making these tablets and u only need one tablet per load of dishes.
Do you think vinegar could be used in place of the rinse agent?
also- I’ve made another recipe (same borax/washing soda ratio) with 1 c borax, 1 c washing soda, 1/4 cup epsom salt, lemon juice…have you ever used the salt in with this recipe? Not sure what it does besides soften the water. But we don’t have hard water…..
As far as the Kool-aid, for those that might think it does nothing- it really does! My husband was in the Navy and they used Kool-aid (made into paste w/water) as a BRASS cleaner, and for other cleaning, all the time….think about that next time you make some for the kiddos 😀
How much citric acid would you use instead of Koolaid??
I haven’t yet taken the step to making our own detergent, but maybe one day in the future. Thanks for sharing your recipe on Tuesday Greens!
Do you use super washing soda? Or can you?
Yep thats what I use!
This works great!!!!
For laundry of which costs pennies I take one box Borax, I bar that is shaved of Felds laundry boost bar, and one large box of Baking Soda …… and mix thoroughly altogether……only takes 2 Tablespoons to do laundry with.
So glad you like it Dorothy! I use a very similar recipe too for laundry and love it! I use the liquid version though!
I wish that I could make this! My 5 year old is allergic to Borax though. 🙁 I do make liquid laundry detergent w/out it and use vinegar with every load. He has eczema so his skin is pretty sensitive to a lot of soaps.
O no well maybe one day I can come up with a non borax version of this 🙂
I have used Vinegar in my dishwasher for years. My stuff does not come out smelling like Vinegar. 🙂 THank you for this recipe for dishwasher!
Hmmm I wonder why mine does! I wish it didn’t I would use it all the time!
this sounds great. anything that saves money these days… for those of you who are worried about using a powder in place of a liquid you problem is more likely your water than your septic or your machine. a powder doesn’t dissolve as readily as a liquid and soaps with lots of phosphates in them re-crystalize in pipes in septic system drain pipes. i don’t know the chemical content of borax so i don’t know if that would be a problem with this formula. we had that problem once with our septic system. maybe adding a bit of water and dishwashing liquid to the side that is for the wash cycle just to dampen it and start it dissolving would solve that problem for the hard water people. for septic users checking the phosphorus content might be a good idea. we had to watch out for that in our laundry detergent too…
I have never seen “sugar free” kool aid and I have looked many times. Could you use fresh or store bought lemon or lime juice?
Really its just regular kool-aid because it’s sugar free until you add sugar ha!
I was always told that if you put dish soap in the dishwasher it can over suds and really make a mess. I think folks should be aware that you can use too much. Great idea though
Borax and Washing Soda both being alkaline and the citric acid being, well, an acid, they will counteract each other in the washer. I use straight Washing Soda, salt, and lemon essential oil for the dish soap and add either vinegar or a citric acid/water solution to the rinse-aide cup so the acid doesn’t mix with the alkaline. Plus, you want the acid to be during the rinse cycle to keep the mineral deposits off of the dishes!
I find bulk citric acid anywhere they sell sprouting supplies (health food store). It is used to help prevent bacterial growth in the sprout jar.
I only use liquid also because I have a well and septic system. I was told you should only use liquid with them. I would love a liquid recipe!!! <3
Maybe I will have to come up with that soon 🙂
Not true about the well/septic system. I grew up with that and we always used powdered detergent and never a problem, and that’s all I use now with a well/septic.
What is washing soda? Is that like baking soda?