Boy, am I grateful I have a good dishwasher…and a forgiving husband!
Since I posted on Using Your Dishwasher Wisely I’ve been working on finding a “greener” alternative to traditional dish detergents. The comments at that post gave me some ideas for storebought “natural” detergents, but I wanted to try a more frugal, homemade alternative first.
I tried the Borax/baking soda/salt version, but I got scared off by the facts on Borax being not-so-safe around children and food. Not exactly what I’m looking for in the safe-around-children-and-food arena! (See Passionate Homemaking and the comments for a really interesting discussion on borax.)
Here is the recipe for my next attempt, found at Nature Moms (thanks, Sarah’s Musings, for directing me!):
1/2 c. liquid castille soap
1/2 c. water
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 drops tea tree extract
1/2 cup white vinegar
Combine water and castille soap. Stir. Add other ingredients. Store in a squirt top bottle (I used an old ketchup bottle, label removed and a big X on the lid in black marker) and use 2 Tbs per load.
Disclaimer: I didn’t write down the directions exactly, and I just mixed everything haphazardly. So maybe the whole water and soap together first thing will make a difference. I did find the same recipe at another site with different mixing directions. I don’t know if I can try it again though – see note about forgiving husband (who happens to hate dishes) above!
The Results
The utensils were a miserable failure, speckled with smudges and covered in food. Our dishwasher has the utensil basket in the door, so that does present a unique challenge in getting clean. Still. Not cool.
There was a film on many of our glass drinking glasses, even though most of them only had water in them to begin with. Also unacceptable.
Here was the most striking failure of this “detergent”:
All my plastic lids from my wonderful glass storage containers were covered in a white powdery substance. Yuck!
Sad Endings
Now I had to rewash most of my dishes, AND I have tea tree oil (expensive) and a bottle of ineffective homemade dishwasher detergent to deal with! Time to offer it up as a sacrifice… I decided I needed to try to use the remainder of the recipe in some way. In a test with half Cascade and half homemade, the results were acceptable. When I pushed it a little more (poor husband!), using half a detergent cup of natural stuff and a few tsp Cascade, the cheese didn’t come off the dishes and the white powdery film was beginning to sneak onto the plastic lids again. 
Strange note: the homemade detergent totally separated into a liquid and an almost-solid. Maybe I do need to mix it differently… anyone want to try it at their house?
Added Bonus: The kitchen smells really good when the DW is running with this recipe!
Glutton for Punishment, Take Two
Poor husband. He had to deal with another experiment this week (he doesn’t know if he can unload the dishwasher anymore or if I need test results – or a re-do!). A friend told me that her favorite method for natural, frugal dishwasher detergent is 3 drops of regular dishsoap (any more and you get a foamy mess – really didn’t want to subject dear husband to THAT!) in the soap cup and 1/2 cup white vinegar poured into the bottom of the machine. Sounded easy enough.
It took about 2 weeks for me to get up the guts to try it. I wanted a load that didn’t have anything tooooo dirty or out of the ordinary in it. And I needed the energy to re-clean if necessary. *Sigh*
The Results
- Many utensils had serious issues. Can I blame the basket-in-door thing for that?
- Some foggy glasses – probably those that contained milk
- Couldn’t handle dried-on smoothie in plastic cups on the top shelf (that’s asking a lot)
- Couldn’t handle eggs on glass plates
- Couldn’t handle baked on food on top shelf
- BUT – all my Corelle dishes were clean, top and bottom shelf
- Most glassware looked good
You should know that we don’t rinse ANYthing at our house. I love my dishwasher! That might be the culprit with the utensils as well.
Final Analysis
If I had a dishwasher that made me pre-rinse my dishes anyway OR if you have nice, soft water, this “3 drops of regular dishsoap” would be a viable option. The list of items not handled pretty much sounds like what most people’s dishwashers can’t handle no matter what. If I ever run out of detergent, it’s nice to know I would have something effective on hand!
Next Steps
I am still without a safer alternative to Cascade detergent (that won’t make me pre-rinse my dishes, which I refuse to do now that I’m spoiled). I have seen a few recipes using oxygen bleach that I might get up the guts to try, but most of them call for citric acid, which is expensive enough to render the recipe NOT frugal. Beyond that I’m going to have to try some of the commercial natural brands mentioned in the dishwasher post comments. *Sigh* Anyone want to do dishes at my house?
UPDATE:
- A commercial detergent that worked great for us
- My second attempt at two more homemade, natural dishwasher detergents
I’ll keep trying! Visit Try It Tuesday at Naturally Knocked Up, Tuesday Toot (Tootin’ my own horn for givin’ it the old college try!) at Mommy Community, Tightwad Tuesday at Being Frugal, and, thank the Lord for understanding husbands and dishwashers that do the job at Gratituesdays at Heavenly Homemakers.
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Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money. If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.
Other Interesting Posts:
- What’s in My Freezer?
- How Much Does my Dishwasher Cost?
- Dishes Workout
- The Fate of Returned Food in Grocery Stores
- Praying in the Kitchen
- Hand Sanitizers in the Home
- How to Buy Reduced Produce
- Are Canned Foods Necessary for Emergencies?
- For the Love of Broccoli
- Honey, We’re Having a Crudite Platter Tonight!
- I’m a Garlic Virgin
Hungry for more? Related posts:
- Homemade Dishwasher Detergent Experiments, Back Again!
- The Final Answer: How Does Biokleen Dishwasher Detergent Work? (And Their Other Stuff Too?)
- Monday Mission: Use your Dishwasher Wisely
- Charlie’s Soap Natural Laundry Detergent and All-Purpose Cleaner: A Mixed Review
- Natural Kitchen Cleaners: What’s Under my Sink?
I know you are trying to formulate this on your own, but the Sun & Earth dishwasher packets are really wonderful and safe. You can buy in bulk, too, often with a tiny shipping cost. And, they give you free items each time you order. Best Buy will begin selling some of their cleaning products soon. Also, I use the liquid castile soap and tea tree oil as part of a solution in my baby wipes recipe.
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Katie Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:14 am
Hey, frugal is frugal, whether I make it or buy it! Thank you; I hadn’t heard of Sun & Earth. I’ll have to keep an eye out! Welcome to KS; I hope you stick around!
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The tea tree oil doesn’t have to be a waste– there are tons of uses for it, from clearing up acne to cleaning. Google for uses. It’s an amazing product!
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Katie Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Yay! I was hoping someone would chime in with some help. I knew I could make an all-purpose sanitizing spray, but wasn’t sure what else. Good deal. I’ll be looking into it after I tackle produce wash…
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Thanks for sharing this. I’ve tried the borax mixture in the dishwasher, and it didn’t do very well at all. I’m using commercial detergent now, but I’m open to alternatives. I recently read about one from Ecostore USA, but I haven’t tried it.
Melissa’s last blog post..Gratituesday – June 2
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Your husband must be very understanding, mine gets mad if he grabs a dish from the dishwasher that should be clean but isn’t. I hate rerunning the same dishes so I agree with him. Be sure to let us know when you find something that gets the job done:)
Tosha’s last blog post..Get Your New Cellfire Coupons Today!
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Katie Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Believe me, his patience is wearing thin. That’s why I can’t try the next option, like, tomorrow…have to wait until he forgets about the last failure!
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If you’re looking for a less expensive alternative to citric acid you might try sugar free lemonade kool-aid packets.
Also if anyone is looking for a great recipe and is ok with using borax here’s the one I use: http://frugallygreen.blogspot.com/search/label/Clean%20Green
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Katie Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:31 pm
GREAT link! Thanks so much. I may have to try that one; Kool-aid is not that expensive. Making my list…
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Twitter: sarahsmusings
// Jun 2, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Thank you for being a guinea pig! I was all set and excited to try out that first recipe too as soon as we get into our new home . . . sad to know it doesn’t work but glad (sorry!:) to know about it so I don’t waste my time!
Best,
Sarah
Sarah’s last blog post..Daybook
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Katie Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Just call me a rodent.
I’m ok with being the guinea pig; glad I could save you some grief (and dirty dishes)!
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Have you tried the Ecover dishwasher tabs? They are earth-friendly and, last I checked, cheaper than the Cascade tabs. They are on sale this week at my local Whole Foods.
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Katie Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Haven’t tried anything commercial yet…but I’m getting to that point!
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Twitter: donielle
// Jun 2, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I still haven’t found a good homemade DW recipe yet either! So I’ve gone back to my Seventh Generation stuff.
FYI on the citric acid though- you can get 1lb for $3.50 from Mountain Rose Herbs.
Donielle @ Naturally Knocked Up’s last blog post..Try It Tuesday : Kamut
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Katie Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Have you tried a DW recipe with citric acid? That’s a great price compared to $5 for a tiny bottle in my health food store, but if it’s not going to work, I don’t want to bother. Great carnival, by the way!
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I’ve tried more natural things in the dishwasher with no success. We have very hard water, and I don’t know if that makes a difference.
I’ve gone with Trader Joe’s dishwasher detergent. It’s less than $4 a box, and it will last me over a month because I only fill the space for detergent in the dishwasher halfway full. Best of all, no streaks on my silverware and glasses.
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I have started buying Palmolive Eco which is phosphate free. I have been wanting to do something similar. Would love to hear when you perfect this. I remember experimenting in the kitchen as a little girl. It’s fun, huh?
Listen, I’m really glad I came across your site via Being Frugal. We have similar niches. I will be sure to visit again! Blessings to you and your family.
Angie’s last blog post..Coupon Help
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Katie Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Awesome! Thanks for visiting! A reader at my first DW post said the Palmolive didn’t do well for her, so I was wary to try it. I hope I can post some success stories (just one story, even!) before the end of the summer! God bless, Katie
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Katie,
I use cascade, but reduce it to 1 teaspoon per full load. I also use a rinse agent. My dishes come out clean and even glassware is sparkley.
I only use regualr cascade – no lemon or acids added. Much better for dishwasher and dishes.
I do have soft water.
Anxious to see you in Michigan over the 4th. Love, A. Vic
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Katie Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I wonder if the “homemade/natural” version with citric acid or lemon Kool-Aid is a no-no for dishes and DW then? I’m still hoping to find something that won’t hurt my baby, dishes, appliance or budget. Apparently it’s a tall order!
Katie
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I haven’t found a good one to replace store bought detergent either. The best I’ve come up with is to stretch the Aldi brand, but I don’t even bother much with that. I just use the homemade stuff if I run out now.
Stephanie’s last blog post..Pretty, Simple, and Economical
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Katie Reply:
July 4th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Stephanie,
I’m waiting on a product review sample from Mrs. Meyer’s – I have great hope (plus I’m out of Cascade, so I hope it gets here soon!).
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I used Seventh Generation powder and am satisfied. Tried the Palmolive Eco, but it didn’t clean too well for me. I’ve read of people that have used Charlie’s Soap successfully, but they don’t necessarily recommend it since it wasn’t formulated for dishwashers (but they say if it works for you, go for it). I don’t use standard rinse agents, instead I used just white vinegar.
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Have you tried food grade citric acid? I use this instead of lemi-shine and I’m going to try it instead of detergent….
jana @ weekend vintage´s last blog ..Privacy Policy
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Katie Reply:
February 27th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
I’ve seen recipes with citric acid, and I’ve tried a lot of things! I finally decided not to make my own and just use Biokleen — Katie
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I have to prewash my dishes since I have a useless dishwasher BUT a Tbsp borax and a Tbsp bakingsoda works great for me with vinegar as a rinse agent.
Jaime Kiser´s last blog ..I love you, even though you’re square
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