Comments on: Homemade Dishwasher Detergent Experiments, Back Again!

By: sandra

sandra — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:30:22 +0000

You might be interested in the european SIN ….. “The SIN (Substitute It Now!) List is an NGO driven project to speed up the transition to a toxic free world. The List 2.0 consists of 378 chemicals that are identified as Substances of Very High Concern based on the criteria established by the EU chemical regulation” . http://www.sinlist.org/.
Borax seems pretty dangerous to me, I think I’ll skip it too.

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:34:49 +0000

Ani,
Fascinating to know about the ACV vs white vinegar, thank you. So Sal Suds is no good, but castille is okay? Seems like there’s no end to the learning… Katie

By: Vicky

Vicky — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:22:38 +0000

Well it’s been a year and I’ve since made changes to “customize” my detergent. It works way better than the store bought. The two I started with worked better than the store bought. Talk about hard water, the water here leaves a layer of minerals on everything! I ended up with
1 cup Borax
1 1/2 cups Washing Soda or Kings Water Softener
1/2 cup Kosher Salt (makes a difference for some reason)
3/4 cup citric acid or lemi-shine

I use vinegar in place of Jet Dry now and WOW! Now my glasses don’t have that white mineral layer on them. Works pretty good would be better if I had a REAL dishwasher with a food grinder, but I’m in a rental. Oh, well.

By: ani

ani — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:01:19 +0000

I’ve used Shaklee and Biokleen and they are both hands down the best out there! None of the big name, bleachy, scary brands have ever worked as well. I use the teeniest, tiniest bit of detergent, like maybe not even a tablespoon total (a tiny sprinkle in the pre-wash section and a little more in the main cup). I also use apple cider vinegar in the rinse be/c white vinegar is a petroleum by-product and I’ve completely cut it out of my home. The ACV works perfectly! I don’t know why they always say white vinegar, but I like the ACV.

I also experimented with the homemade stuff for a while and got the same results as you did, Katie. Not worth it. My Shaklee lasted almost a year and I just started with the Biokleen, but I think it will last at least as long. The $8.99 I paid for it is totally worth it. If it lasts 9 months, that’s only $1 a month. Not bad at all.

As for the SLS, I did some research on this when I started making soap. It is really very deceitful (much like your Charlie’s Soap experience) for them to claim that SLS is coconut derived. It is so far derived that it lost any merit way back. Check out what wikipedia says out how it’s produced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_lauryl_sulfate
I love Dr. Bronners, but I will not use their Sal Suds.

Thanks for all the experimenting – it’s good to know I’m not the only crazy out there

By: Katie

Katie — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 03:44:23 +0000

Julie,
that’s a new one for me – I do love oxygen bleach for laundry though! Katie

By: Using Your Dishwasher without Crazy Chemicals « Kinda Crunchy Kate

Using Your Dishwasher without Crazy Chemicals « Kinda Crunchy Kate — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 01:10:05 +0000

[...] done the research for me! Yay! You can read about how Katie over at Kitchen Stewardship tried many different things, but ultimately chose Biokleen as the best. (I love when other people do all of [...]

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 21:26:54 +0000

Katie,
I have very hard water and have found that using a 50/50 combo of the homemade borax recipe and a store bought detergent (I use 7th Generation) get the dishes clean with no film. This way I can stretch the store-bought detergent a really long time. I’ve also heard people say to reduce the amount of borax to 3/4 cup in the recipe if you have hard water and you can get away using only the homemade, but like you, I’m starting to question borax’s toxity. Now I’m hearing about oxygenated cleaners as a borax replacement. Do you know anything about that?

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 04:20:32 +0000

Rebecca,
Nothing homemade worked for us, and I fell in love with Biokleen: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/11/23/the-final-answer-how-does-biokleen-dishwasher-detergent-work-and-their-other-stuff-too/

Here are the other experiments: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/06/02/early-results-natural-dishwasher-detergent-experiments/

Good luck! Katie

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:30:03 +0000

Hi there,
I’ve just come across this in effort to see what others have had with homemade dishwasher soaps. I’m wondering if you can tell me how things made out and what you are currently using as I too have small children and share many of your enviro concerns as well. THANKS!!

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:30:52 +0000

Vicky,
Definitely, good luck! Katie