Oh, the saga! My husband’s going to toss me out. (Actually, he’s threatened to just go to the store – the man who never shops! – and buy Cascade, but the first sentence sounded more catchy!)
Out of necessity and curiosity, a deadly combination, I tried yet another homemade, “natural” dishwasher detergent this week. I promised I’d tell you about it in the natural kitchen cleaners post.
Oh, dear.
It didn’t leave white stuff all over the plastic lids.
It didn’t have an ingredient that I later found to be semi-toxic.
It didn’t clean the dishes, either.
Meet my dishwasher. It's been through a lot lately. Send condolences via my email address.
I found the same recipe I tried last time posted at Passionate Homemaking, and I was quite surprised to find that Lindsay said it worked great for her. I commented as such with my example, and Lindsay realized that she had actually used Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds, not castile soap. Apparently that makes all the difference. Since I was decently happy with the amount of food that recipe got off the dishes, I was excited to try this new version to see if the white film problem really went away.
Results
Lindsay must have a better dishwasher than me. Or something. I even pre-rinsed after the first wash-all-the-dishes-again (poor, distressed husband!) failure. It does a B+ job on the food on the bottom rack, with the exception of some tough food or grease. The top rack is quite a mess though. This solution puts a film of greasiness on everything, even glasses that only had water in them to begin with. Shucks.
I’m also questioning Sal Suds a bit. It contains sodium lauryl sulfate, a surfactant that some say harms the environment (it’s in every soap you can find except special, natural ones). The bottle says its SLS is coconut derived, which makes me wonder: are all “natural” soaps that don’t disclose ingredients but say “from plant-derived surfactants” using coconut-based SLS? And is that any better than whatever conventional soaps’ SLS is made of? (Or is that coconut-based after all, too?) A topic for another day…
Why Keep Trying Homemade Dishwasher Detergents???
The reason I tried this homemade detergent at all was because we ran out of Mrs. Meyer’s. I remain super happy with my results with Mrs. Meyer’s, but I am waiting on a sample from Biokleen, and they’re a little less expensive, so I was kind of hoping I’d like it too! I’ve been very pleased with Biokleen’s Bac-Out for laundry pretreating after a dear friend got me some for a birth-of-Lovey-Girl present. I have high hopes for their other products and didn’t want to buy anything until I knew which one worked better…so…on with the dread of a full dishwasher and nothing to put in it!
This week, after two or three tries with varying amounts of the Sal Suds detergent, I had a full dishwasher again. I saw “Homemade Dishwasher Detergent” on a Works for Me Wednesday list and, gullible child that I am, clicked on the link. It was one similar to the borax/baking soda/salt mixture I tried back in the winter, along with a tsp of liquid dishsoap, similar to the last sort-of successful venture before the Sal Suds. I was intrigued. Maybe the combo would do the job, and even though I’m not thrilled about borax, it’s getting mixed reviews on safety and is still better than getting stuck with a whole box of Cascade. Heart palpitations commence. I felt like I was running around on my husband; I made sure I started the DW load with this stuff when he was not home and could not ask questions.
I watched for suds overflowing on the floor. None.
I waited for the cycle to end. Such a long time! I have no patience.
I squeezed my eyes closed and opened the door. No fireworks went off, and no lightning struck either, and upon first glance at the silverware, it looked like it wasn’t a complete disaster.
Final analysis: only two glass bowls and a cup were “rejects”. An incredible improvement! Finally. Something that works if I’m in a pinch. (Speaking of pinch, I might add a pinch of citric acid next time around…if I ever need to use this again!)
The next day, the most beautiful sight in the world met my eyes:
The package from Biokleen, after the order getting misplaced for a while, is finally here!
So I’m finally loading my dishwasher as usual, no prerinsing – a serious challenge for any detergent, to be sure. I breathe faster when I do it, imagining the potentially baked-on crud that could come out at the end of the cycle. Imagine what I’ll be like loading the Biokleen detergent in the little cup! I’m going to have a heart attack! Sweet Jesus, may this Biokleen work! (Is it sacreligious to pray about dishwashers? I don’t know, but I don’t want to sleep on the couch tonight!)
Don’t miss the next installment of Katie’s dishwasher saga (and a giveaway from Biokleen to boot)! Sign up for an email subscription or grab my reader feed.
If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.
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.
Clean dishes are a Finer Thing. See more at Finer Things Friday at The Finer Things in Life AND Fearless Friday at Home-Ec 101. I’m making do with what I have until the box comes for real: Ann Kroeker’s Make-Do Mondays. I’ve learned a lot, haven’t I? What I Learned This Week at Musings of a Housewife. At least this stuff doesn’t cost very much: Tightwad Tuesdays at Being Frugal.
Hungry for more? Related posts:
- Early Results: Natural Dishwasher Detergent Experiments
- 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
- Effective Homemade Deodorant: My Baby Steps Story
I can’t wait for the results. I hope you are cooking up a storm so you’ll have enough dishes to fill it up, push that button, and let us know. Love your blog.
[Reply to this comment]
Well I am glad to know that homemade dishwasher soap isn’t so easy for me alone. I have tried many times but with no sucess. I like Biokleen, that worked. Right now using the Simplicity nontoxic dishwasher tabs (trying to decode ingredients to see if it is really nontoxic) but they work great and are available where I shop.
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I use either Seventh Generation Gel or Ecover tabs. They both work great, but I’m always on the lookout for less expensive options!
Laryssa @ Heaven In The Home´s last blog ..New Herb Paintings and A Giveaway!
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We really liked Method’s dish detergent but when we ran out we got the Ecover stuff – it does not clean the dishes, which we pre-scrape.
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Good for you! We buy regular ol’ dishwashing detergent because well…I never really thought about it before. Thank you!
Michelle @ Find Your Balance´s last blog ..Oodles of noodles
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I have a very strong suspicion that those with nice, soft water have a lot more options than those of us with hard-as-rock (’cause it’s full of rock!) water. None of these alternative anythings (dishwasher detergent, shampoo, etc.) have ever worked for me, but I’ve had hard water nearly as long as I’ve been married. (I did have success with homemade laundry detergent until we moved here, and this is the most crazy-hard water I’ve ever seen.)
Rachel R.´s last blog ..Sovereignty and the Fear of God
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Katie Reply:
September 19th, 2009 at 7:46 am
Hmmmm…I did notice a difference in my ‘poo-free hair when I was home at my parents’ with their softened water. I don’t know how hard our city water is…good thing to think about. Maybe that’s why the HMs don’t work as well for me as Lindsay!
Katie
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Katie — You are cracking me up! I’ll probably stick with Cascade until you do all the research and experimenting you can handle… then I’ll check in to what works for you.
Amy @ Finer Things´s last blog ..Fall Festival – Blog Style
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Thanks for sharing your experiment results. I’ve given up on finding a homemade dishwasher detergent, because none of my attempts have cleaned the dishes. I always end up going back to Cascade or Electrasol. But if you find something that works, I’m willing to give it a try!
Melissa´s last blog ..YoKids Organic Yogurt – Review and Giveaway
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Thank you for your honesty in trying the homemade alternatives. I know a lot of what works for some but not for others is solely due to water type. If you have hard water, it’s an uphill battle. (So thankful ours isn’t.)
Heather Solos´s last blog ..Sunday Confessional 9/20
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Hurry Katie! My Cascade is about to run out! Agh!
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Katie Reply:
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Mareth,
Katie
Do you have soft or hard water? Two people have commented that it makes a big difference, and I bet they’re right. I think our water is rather hard, so the things that work “ok” for me would probably work for you, including the few drops of regular dishsoap in the cup plus vinegar in the bottom of the DW. That one you can try w/o mixing or buying anything, so it’s a good place to start! I’ve been pretty happy with the last one, except for the questionable nature of Borax. If you have it on hand though, it’s good in a pinch. Hubby doesn’t think 4-5 rejections is acceptable enough, so we’ll keep trying for perfection!
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I really enjoyed your posting~! What a saga- I will definitely have to keep up on this.
I am excited to invite you over to my site as I take over the hosting from Ann Kroeker for her Make-Do Mondays. I would love to share your ideas with all the make-doers in Bloggville. I hope to find many other participants as I love to learn new things and how to make-do in many different ways.
So come visit me next week as I begin hosting Make-Do Mondays at My Practically Perfect Life – Make-Do Mondays
Have a great day!
Shari
Sharinskishe´s last blog ..Duct Tape Repair
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Katie Reply:
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Sharinskishe,
It’s already marked down on my list! As long as I have a post that fits, I’ll be there! Thanks for the invite. Katie
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The most interesting thing about your experiment… when I had a dishwasher in my last home, even using Cascade, sometimes I had an item or two that didn’t come clean … food for thought.
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Kat,
Katie
We’ve definitely taken that into account. My dishwasher rocks! With the right detergent, it has an incredible success rate.
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