Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
"Detergent for the dishwasher is SO expensive. I searched the net for a home-made alternative and developed this simple recipe. We've been using it for a while now and it washes the dishes even better than the shop bought variety. The amount needed will depend on how soft your water is - we find 1 tablespoon is enough, but we're on tank water. You might need 2 tablespoons if you're on hard town water. Instead of Rinse Aid, we just use white vinegar."
photo by lets.eat
- Ready In:
- 5mins
- Ingredients:
- 3
- Yields:
-
2 cups
ingredients
- 1 cup washing soda (crystals)
- 1 cup borax
- 2 -3 drops perfumed oil (optional)
directions
- Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor.
- Process until washing soda crystals are reduced to powder.
- Store in airtight container.
- Use 1- 2 tablespoons per load in your dishwasher.
- (To save even more money, substitute Rinse Aid with white vinegar.).
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Reviews
-
I have been using close to this recipe for over a month (1 load a day) with great results. Here are my tips. 1 cup each washing soda and borax plus 2 envelopes unsweetened lemonade (like koolaid) And use white vinegar in rinse agent compartment. This is for people with soft water. If you have hard water, mix in 4 envelopes of lemonade. If you continue to have white film, add another lemonade packet. I would also suggest, before giving it a try,(those with hard water) to run through 6 envelopes of lemonade first in an empty dishwasher and put 1 cup white vinegar in the rinse (to clean the dishwasher of limestone) I put my dishwasher powder in an old coffee creamer container with pour spout lid. Use approx. 1 TBS./ compartment- adjust to less if you can-LESS IS MORE. You may notice the powder will clump after a while-it doesn't hurt it- I put a silicon gel pack from a new pair of shoes to dry out my container. If you have heavy limestone build up in your dishwasher-look in your instruction manual or on the internet to find out how to clean out your sprayer arm. I started with FISTFULLS of limestone. Good luck- and don't give up... we can do this on the cheap... I HATE paying 5 bucks for something that is washed down the drain. -
Just thought I'd give everyone my tip for avoiding the white film on your dishes. Fill only the small pre-wash cup with the "detergent" and fill the larger wash cycle cup with white vinegar and the essential oil. Works perfect every time! -
Tried this tonight as I forgot to buy detergent at the store. It seemed to work pretty well on plastic containers, plates and silverware, although, I admit that I pre-rinse my dishes, so there wasn't a lot of stuck on food. Two previous reviews of this recipe were very helpful ~ whammie and isispleiades. Whammie suggested using lemonade packets, which contain citric acid. I've seen other detergent recipes include citric acid, so I am thinking it acts as an abrasive to help scrub away food particles. Isispleiades suggested filling the pre-rinse compartment with the detergent and the main wash compartment with white vinegar as well as adding the vinegar to the rinse compartment. I followed this advice (although my compartments are labeled "light wash" and "heavy/normal wash") and it seemed to work pretty well. 1 tbsp of the detergent filled the "light wash" compartment. Hopefully, this detergent mixture will continue to clean as well as it did tonight. -
It seemed good the first wash or two, but now I'm looking for one that doesn't leave a film plus dirt. -
I was very hopeful for this one. Used it this afternoon. The dishes were clean, but my glassware & plastic containers had a milky film covering them even tho I do use the white vinegar as a rinse agent. I will say I have very hard water here. Perhaps this formula simply isn't up that that challenge.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>Above: Slideshow of our garden at Avalon Slideshow of our recent holiday at Woodgate Beach, South-East Queensland, Australia. Hi! I'm Kookaburra, from Australia. First, a promise. I will only post recipes on this site which I've made myself and to which I would personally give a 5 star rating - what you give them is up to you ;-) I look forward to receiving your feedback. If you look at my reviews, they're all 5 stars. That doesn't mean I give 5 stars to every recipe I try. I'm just not interested in giving poor ratings to anyone else's recipe because I accept that different people have different tastes. So, I've decided that I'll only review those recipes which I really love and which I'd make again and recommend to friends. If a recipe meets that criteria - even if it needs a bit of 'tweaking' to match my tastes, I'll give it 5 stars. If not, I'll just delete it from my recipe book and no hard feelings. I'm not advocating this as the 'right' approach. I just decided I needed a consistent strategy for rating and this is mine. I'm passionate about cooking - and eating! What I look for in food is something that 'zings' in the mouth. I like lots of taste - I'm not a big fan of subtlety. I don't often cook recipes exactly as written. I like to experiment and adapt things to my own taste. A retired marketing executive and academic, I live with my elderly (but thoroughly modern) mother in a tiny mountain village at the edge of the rainforest. I'm female, happily single, in my mid-40s and boast the Rubenesque figure of a passionate cook! Avalon, our 'story-book' cottage, overlooks a small lake. As I sit at my computer or work in the kitchen, I'm serenaded by a cacophany of native birds - including a very fat family of kookaburras! We have quite a large property and are lucky to have vegetable gardens and a variety of fruit and nut trees. I look forward to sharing recipes on Recipezaar with family, friends and friends I've yet to meet. last minute flight</p>
