Chat with us, powered by LiveChat

The Final Answer: How Does Biokleen Dishwasher Detergent Work? (And Their Other Stuff Too?)

Hah-lelujah!

It was a Sunday morning when I opened the dishwasher. Appropriately, I woke husband up singing the Hallelujah chorus when I saw the job Biokleen dishwasher detergent did.

Clear glasses?

Check.

Cut the grease?

Check.

Zero food residue?

Check.

100% success, zero rejections?

Check.

It even cleaned my yogurt jar, which I’ve found, since having to handwash them for two weeks, have little spots of cultured milk all over that are incredibly hard to get off. I had to wash some of them three times by hand. Biokleen handled it in one go.

*sigh*

My marriage is back in order, the dishes are not longer stressful, and all is well in the Kimball household. I’ve found my new dishwasher detergent!

How many of you have been counting on me to be your guinea pig for dishwasher detergent? It’s been a bit of a saga, with the white film on the dishes here, a little success here and the just-not-clean-dishes in so many ways here and the disgruntled husband everywhere.  Is anyone else waiting for me to finally have some success so they know what to buy (other than my friend Mary, who got a sneak preview!)?

UPDATE, spring and summer 2011: I have terrible news! For some reason, the Biokleen just stopped working. It felt very sudden – we now have minions of rejected dishes, terrible white film on anything plastic (like lids) and really, really cloudy glasses. It’s awful! I’ve tried and tried to troubleshoot the problem, but the only thing it keeps coming back to is the Biokleen. I’m perplexed!

UPDATE, fall 2011: We’re in our new home, with another dishwasher, and the same thing is happening with Biokleen powder. In fact, it’s quite common for glasses that only contained water to come out with food glued on inside. It’s like we have a dish-dirtier instead of a dish-washer. Other detergents haven’t been perfect, but Biokleen has proven itself to be by far, the worst. Seventh Generation gel is acceptable, with a few rejects per load, and 7th Gen powder single-use packets are doing quite well, but they’re pricey. I’m on the hunt for a new detergent AGAIN! Watch for updates into spring/summer 2012 if I find anything passable…

I did! (Phew!) HERE are my top recommendations!

I’ve given up on homemade detergent, and I’ve noticed in the comments that Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking has too. I don’t want to spend a ton of money getting my dishes clean…but I can’t handle doing them all by hand. Dishwasher detergent is one of the more toxic cleaners in your home because many still use phosphates, which are pretty tough on the earth.

But I’m sitting here happy tonight.

Biokleen is my new best friend.

Not only is their automatic dish powder gentle on the environment, and I don’t have to worry (as much) about my toddler getting into the open dishwasher (like a moth to the flame, I’m telling you!).

I know. You all want to know how well it really works, or if I’ve just got lower standards after all my lousy experimenting. I just noticed it’s not even called “detergent” – so does it work as well as one?

See for yourself:

Can your dishwasher handle this? Mine can. *sigh* I love my dishwasher! Biokleen handled it, too!
Can your dishwasher handle this? Mine can. *sigh* I love my dishwasher! Biokleen handled it, too!
Can it cut grease? How about butter-covered blender? Check.
Can it cut grease? How about butter-covered blender? Check.
Dried-on oatmeal...in the utensils caddy? Handled!
Dried-on oatmeal…in the utensils caddy? Handled!
Strange film from homemade yogurt? (It usually takes 3 HANDwashing to get rid of this.) Handled!
Strange film from homemade yogurt? (It usually takes 3 HANDwashing to get rid of this.) Handled!
Nooo, not cheesy eggs! Katie, at least rinse off the cheesy eggs on glass! It's okay...Biokleen can handle it. :)
Nooo, not cheesy eggs! Katie, at least rinse off the cheesy eggs on glass! It’s okay…Biokleen can handle it. 🙂
Oven-baked-on leftovers? Welllll...5 out of 6 isn't bad. This dish was ALMOST but not quite handled. You gotta have some rejects when you ask too much of a machine!
Oven-baked-on leftovers? Welllll…5 out of 6 isn’t bad. This dish was ALMOST but not quite handled. You gotta have some rejects when you ask too much of a machine!

Oh, yes. Happy Katie.

Even better:  I use less than half of the recommended amount!

Take a minute to check out how well Biokleen’s produce wash works as well. I was skeptical at first, but as you’ll see, this product merited an entire post about washing apples 8 different ways. I was shocked with some of my results!

Biokleen Rocks Out in the Laundry Room, Too

I first met Biokleen when a dear friend sent me some Bac-Out as a laundry pre-treater when I was expecting Lovey Girl. What can I say? I loved it! I dilute it 1/3 with water to make it stretch. It smells like limes, I don’t feel like I’m going to poison my kiddos if I stain-treat their laundry while they’re in the bath, and it gets strawberries and blood out with just scrubbing, before I even wash. Solid stuff.

I love to find products that are earth-friendly, made from natural ingredients, safe for my kids and my air quality…and don’t break the bank.

Bac-Out can’t handle tomato-based stains very well, and really ground in mud and grass are a challenge. That’s when I use Biokleen’s Oxygen Bleach in water for a good soak. This is the active ingredient in the famous OxyClean without all the other fillers. (There are off-brand oxygen bleaches, too.)  You can soak colors even overnight without problem, unless they’re touching whites. We only get a few stains a year that a good oxygen-bleach-soak can’t handle!

Note:  Oxygen bleach is not chlorine bleach. It is friendly to the environment and doesn’t have noxious fumes. Someday I’ll do more research and post in depth on this. For now, I’m trusting other people and companies to tell me it’s okay! (Why no bleach in my house?)

A reader commented at the produce wash post that Bac-Out is her favorite cleaner ever. Now I’m excited to try it on my carpet and other places, too!

Between the Bac-Out for pre-treating, oxygen bleach for the soak, and my soap nuts for the wash, I’ve FINALLY “greened up” my laundry room. *sigh of contentment*

Dishsoap: Biokleen vs. Mrs. Meyer’s

I challenged two brands of natural dishsoap in a head-to-head competition, and the results were quite clear. (I reviewed Mrs. Meyer’s here. You can buy it here.)  I’m sad to announce that Biokleen’s dishsoap was not the winner. *cringe*  I feel like I just told a dear friend that I hated her new outfit! I’ve got to be an honest blogger, though, and tell you what I think of the product. Biokleen just didn’t measure up:

  • Had to use more soap to get suds
  • Grease-cutting power was fine at first, but didn’t last, even on not-so-dirty dishes
  • Bottle was larger than Mrs. Meyer’s but seemed to disappear fast. The large hole encourages me to use more, and yet I never found myself with a sink full of extra suds after doing dishes.
  • Free and Clear version smelled…not exactly like nothing. It smelled odd, but at least it was a “light” smelling odd. You just can’t take all the scent out of something and call it “nothing”, I guess.

Honestly, there are a lot of effective, natural dish soaps. I’ve been happy with our local store brand, Meijer. So I probably won’t be purchasing either Mrs. Meyer’s or Biokleen for hand washing my dishes. I still have this failed dishwasher detergent with Sal Suds to use up as dishsoap anway!

Where to Find Biokleen

I have seen Biokleen products at my local health foods store, priced similarly to what I’m listing here online. Find a store near you with the store locator.

GIVEAWAY HAS BEEN CLOSED. THANKS!

I’m well known for honest, thorough product reviews…

reviewed and recommended
 

…and you can always tell a real family has run these products through the gauntlet.

When I review a type of item, I try to review a LOT of different brands! From over a dozen reusable sandwich bags to over 120 natural mineral sunscreens, I’m your girl for straight-up info about natural, real foodie items you’re considering buying.

Click here to see more product reviews and you’ll also love my resources page, with REAL products that have passed my rigorous testing enough to be “regulars” in the Kimball household, plus some other comprehensive reviews. Updated at least once a year to boot the losers and add new gems!

Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.

68 thoughts on “The Final Answer: How Does Biokleen Dishwasher Detergent Work? (And Their Other Stuff Too?)”

  1. via Facebook

    Kari Mackay – I do use vinegar as a rinse aid, and all the homemade versions I tried were horrible…

  2. I hope no one mentioned this already becuase I didn’t have time to read all the reviews, but I found this on a review of the 7th Gen. DW detergent on Amazon:

    QUESTION: Why is there a residue on my dishes after using the Seventh Generation Automatic Dish Detergent? Is this residue safe?

    ANSWER: The residue that periodically is found on clean dishes is caused by the level of hardness in your water and the amount of detergent that is used, accordingly.

    If you have hard water you will need to use a rinse aid. Our product does not have phosphates in it, which can act as a rinse aid. With extremely hard water, the detergent will need the assistance of the rinse aid, which acts as a buffer so that minerals from the water and soils are not redeposited on the clean dishes and glasses.

    If you have soft water you will need to reduce the amount of the detergent that you use per load. If you are using too much detergent, it will be impossible for your dish washer to rinse off the extra detergent and the minerals from the water.

  3. Jennifer via Facebook

    Anyone try soap nuts?? I use it for my laundry and you can grind the nuts into powder for the dishwasher I think too

  4. Kim via Facebook

    I found Biokleen to be garbage. Nice to know there are other uses for the bottle sitting under my sink. We have been happy with Ecover tabs.

  5. Cathy via Facebook

    The manual for my brand-new dishwasher addresses this white film in the troubleshooting area. It says it is caused by using phosphate-free detergent, and the film can be removed by running the clean dishes (butt not silverware) through the full cycle again with a citric acid powder. Or, to use a vinegar rinse! I cup of vinegar added after the detergent cup opens.

  6. Cathy via Facebook

    What Tiffany said. Run the water until it is hot before you start the dishwasher or use the water-heating feature. Note that if you have and use the water-heating feature on your dishwasher you no longer need to keep your hot water heater set at 140 degrees. You get a net energy savings. (Note that if your water heater is set any lower, and you don’t have a water heating feature on your dishwasher, you are not likely to get stellar performance from that dishwasher) Also check for adequate rinse agent, even if the agent you are using is only vinegar. And make sure the trap /filter is spotless. I myself am very satisfied with the 7th Gen unscented powder dishwasher detergent and the 7th Gen rinse agent.

  7. Tiffany via Facebook

    I have been using biokleen and find that sometimes I will have things that don’t come out very clean or have a film on them. Most of the time I find that the culprit is not cleaning out the trap in the bottom of the dishwasher or having too many items that should have been rinsed before put in. Also, not having hot enough water can make things filmy. I try to always run the kitchen sink until the water is hot before starting the dishwasher.

  8. Jeniece via Facebook

    For Dishwashers: Fill the dishwasher soap dispenser with soap nuts liquid. Wash as usual. Tip: For extra sparkle, add a half-ounce of vinegar to the rinse dispenser or during the rinse cycle.

  9. Jeniece via Facebook

    Naturoil website says you can you soap nut liquid. I haven;’t been brave enough to try it yet1.

  10. Lisa via Facebook

    i also use the Ecover tabs. it works better than the commercial stuff i’ve tried. i buy it through Frontier Natural Coop, I have a wholesale account so it’s super cheap.

  11. Bethany via Facebook

    We also use Ecover. And we make sure nothing goes in caked on. We use the tablets. Buying from Amazon via Subscribe and Save gets you them at half off compared to health food stores. And you can use the extra Biokleen as toilet bowl scrub.

  12. Kathryn via Facebook

    Well, i’m not sure i’d do it now, but years ago we used to use this on bleach-able things with stubborn stains (formula stains on bibs – NOT my child!) 1 Gal hot water, 1 cup bleach, 1/4 cup dishwasher detergent. This worked really well, but as i said – bleach. I do still have bleach in the house. I use it about twice a year for things i just can’t get out stains any other way.

  13. Heather via Facebook

    We use ecover. I tried a few others before finding this one. Works perfect almost every time (the exceptions tend to be due to my careless loading). I do rinse off things before they get hardened on though. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001J6O604/ref=oh_o02_s00_i00_details

  14. Kari via Facebook

    Have you tried making your own detergent? Have you tried adding a small amount of vinegar to each load. I should read your post to see if you answered those questions, but I’ve got to get kids in bed…no time to read. 🙁

  15. Angela via Facebook

    I have to use the limeshine stuff for finding…I also every month have to use a dishwasher/garbage disposal cleaner every month due to exceedingly hard water. I haven’t ventured into green dishwasher soap…not to say I don’t have green things in my dishwasher from time to time.

  16. Heather via Facebook

    Biokleen dishwasher degergent – Seventh Gen rinse aid works for us. I haven’t read many reviews, so I hope I am doing it right!

  17. I had the same problem. My MIL even noticed when she visited in the summer that I used to have sparkly glasses but now they have a film all over. A friend even came and looked at one and thought it was dirty so I was a little embarrassed but didn’t have the energy to explain why. I still keep on using it, but now I’m going to try the scent free. I don’t know why. I should just try a different one but we have hard water and that was the only eco-friendly one that worked at all when I first tried different detergents. So I have no idea what to switch to!

    1. Jae,
      Arg, I wish I could help! A bunch of readers told me to really, really clean my trap and filter well, so that might help. We soaked our DW overnight with straight vinegar, then ran it empty, and that also helped a bit. Worth a try! 🙂 katie

      1. Hi, Katie
        I have tried something from the grocery store to clean the entire DW out-forgot the name and running a cup of vinegar through. I use Jet Dry as well. And my dishes are 95% clean going in; maybe a little grease left on a few. So I’ve even tried cutting down the detergent level b/c I don’t have much to clean off. I’m pretty much using it to semi-sanitize my dishes. But I don’t know how to take my filter or trap off to clean it besides doing the whole DW rinse. It’s frustrating b/c BioKleen was doing great for a year and then suddenly started getting worse. And since I’m not the only one, I tend to think something else is going on.

  18. Amanda via Facebook

    I appreciate your mentioning this as I was about to buy some! Have you tried soap-nuts liquid? I tried using some home-made soap nuts liquid in the dishwasher and it did an OK job: didn’t get all the stuck-on bits off, but the strength may have been too weak. Since it is low-sudsing it might work in the dishwasher. Perhaps you can use your Biokleen as a laundry pre-treater by diluting it in a spray bottle, or as a shower cleaner? I think I’d be tempted to go around “refreshing” things like garden furniture and old toys…

  19. Dawn via Facebook

    Rereading the comments on those past posts on the topic, several folks seem to indicate that the addition of vinegar, citric acid (I’ve heard it can be gotten inexpensively, but I haven’t yet tried), or Lemishine might help the BioKleen function better? We have very hard water, and 7th Gen has been my best. I just try not to use too much and buy it on sale… Good luck, I appreciate all your work on this!

  20. Kristie via Facebook

    I had the white gunk on my dishes. I just assumed it was because the dishes were plastic. Or my thought was that I was using too much powder. It was working great for me till just the last two canisters ago. Did they change their formula?

  21. This is so very odd. I’ve been using Biokleen for probably about a year and it works beautifully for me still. And my dishwasher is broken. (the hard food grinder is broken so we have to take it apart and clean the filter every few weeks) You mentioned in your earlier post that you weren’t using the full amount. I have noticed that I have to use the full amount for it to work right. But one canister lasts me at least 4 months so it doesn’t really bother me.

  22. Sheree via Facebook

    and we clean out the trap in the dishwasher very regularly or even the toxic stuff won’t work.

  23. Sheree via Facebook

    We use finish. My husband is all for going “green” as long as his standards are met, if the green stuff can’t keep things up to his standards then he insists I use regular stuff. I guess we just compromise as best we can. I try to use biokleen on our laundry, and we use natural soaps/shampoo, lotions, etc but when it comes to dishes, well, clean just trumps green in our household.

  24. Peyton via Facebook

    I made a homemade dishwasher detergent that was a complete fail (I think our hard water is at least partly to blame–I even used vinegar as a rinse agent). I tried it out as a bathtub/shower floor/toilet scrub and it worked wonderfully. Maybe you could do that with your Biokleen.

  25. Kelly via Facebook

    Hmmm, Biokleen is still working fine for me and I had to get my last batch at Whole Foods so I’m pretty sure it is their latest batch. I have been using white vinegar as a rinse aid however and my dishwasher is only a couple months old.

  26. Amy via Facebook

    Have you made sure you cleaned out the trap in the dishwasher? If my other dishwashers wasn’t kept clean then all the food was just redeposited on the dishes.

  27. Nichole via Facebook

    I used biokleen powder for years and never had any trouble. Then we switced to gel and it didn’t clean as well. For laundry I love Charlie’s Soap. I tried making my own, but it just makes everything dingy. I can buy a gallon of Charlies at Azure last 4 months.

  28. On one of your posts that I read today, you mentioned that this detergent had stopped working for you. Did I understand that right? When did you notice the change? We have been buying this for awhile and I used to love it but the last couple containers have left stuff on the dishes, even soap itself, and we are getting this weird film on everything. Just curious about your experience. Thank you for all of your wonderful posts.

    1. Leilani,
      That’s exactly what I experienced!!!! It started this spring, but with a new tub that I believe was purchased in the fall. I’ve emailed the company and begged them to tell me if the formula was changed, and they swear up and down that it’s still the same. You know what though? When the FDA changed the regulation and mandated no phosphates in any detergent last summer, ALL regular old dishwasher detergents had to change their formulas, and suddenly people, especially with newer dishwashers, are experiencing the exact same thing you described. It seems too fishy to be right. Sigh. I might try Lemishine, but I need to look into it more.

      Thanks for sharing your experience – I don’t think we’re the only two!!!!! 🙁 Katie

  29. Thank you for doing this review! I recently ran out of my stand-by “phosphate free” dishwasher soap & had been trying to figure out a healthy alternative (I have a baby just getting ready to crawl & was worried about her getting into that stuff…) The Biokleen Dish Powder is awesome! I only use 1/2 T & usually flip a little cup upside-down on the top rack with a few T’s of vinegar and my dishes come out cleaner than with my old dish-washing stuff! And my dishwasher is a bona-fide dinosaur to boot! (I also turned off the heated dry on your recommendation & found it doesn’t need that either) 🙂

  30. I’m sure you probably buy bulk and get a better deal than this but for those of us who just want to try it or can’t buy bulk Biokleen products are 35% off at drugstore.com right now!

    1. Candice,
      Nope, in fact, I just discovered Drugstore.com and that’s where I got my last few containers! 🙂 Katie

  31. I ordered both biokleen products today on soap.com at 50% OFF using promo code FBBIO. This is for real, but only good today!!!

  32. I went to put Biokleen Dish Powder on my Christmas wish list and saw that there are (at least) two options: Grapefruit Seed & Orange Peel Extract (“Citrus”) or Free & Clear. Which do you use/recommend, Katie?

  33. I know how you like comments on old posts!

    FYI, every few months Drugstore dot com has sales on cleaning supplies, like Biokleen. I have been buying for a few years now, so I can say the best price I’ve found is when they run a 35-38% off sale [I’ll buy enough for a year to get free shipping, plus I sometimes get addt’l stackable dollars off in email]. I still prefer Charlie’s for cloth dipes and the household clothes/linens, but I cherish Biokleen’s Bacout for diaper pretreat [I dilute 1:1 and refill my Bumgenius diaper stain pump bottle], the Produce Wash [I dilute 1:6 and use in my Ecos produce spray bottle to wash single items] and of course the FreeNClear dishwasher detergent which I have sadly not used regularly for the last few months…

    For some reason I saw a “great” deal on 7thgen at babiesrus, and I had coups, so I stocked up on their detergent cubes… UGH, I have 2 washes left of the awful packs– 1 out of 5 times I find in the bottom of the machine undissolved. Breastmilk or raw milk residue? Forget about it. Anything oily or dried or stain-y or fibrous [like Vitamix smoothies] I have to re-wash. But not with Biokleen. In fact, the Biokleen even helped remove the gunk [which looks like undissolved 7thgen granules] that collects at the door jamb and behind the gaskets. It cleans as well as it did when the machine was installed 2 years ago. We have “average” water [like, if I forget to refill the rinse cup with vinegar, I might not notice for a month], so I can get away with using only 3/4 of the scoop which makes it even more economical.

    Anyway, just wanted to share this savings tip!

    1. Perfect, Johanna, I’ll mention that in next week’s cleaning roundup post! Thanks! 🙂 Katie

  34. have you tried 7th generation at all? we like it…but at first we got white residue in the glasses too…but if we use less of the detergent, no white stuff!

    for laundry…how much biokleen bleach do you use per load?

    and for the comment on baking soda for cloth diapers…tell me more! how much and where do you put it? (i have a front loader). thanks!

    1. Amanda,
      I have tried 7th Gen, and I didn’t get as good as results as with Biokleen, although I didn’t have white residue.

      I don’t put Biokleen bleach in the load, just as a presoak for bad stains. A 1/2 scoop or so in some hot water in a tub.
      🙂 Katie

  35. Pingback: What We Use To Clean « Health, Home, & Happiness

  36. I’ve only tried peroxide in lights, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be fine on colors, too. Baking soda does a nice job of de-stinking my 18 month-old’s diapers, and there just isn’t much of anything stinkier than a load of dirty diapers.
    I use Charlie’s Soap for washing. Originally bought it because it was recommended for cloth diapers, and decided I liked it enough to use it for everyone. I REALLY like that you only use a tablespoon per load. And the price is very reasonable.

    1. A little warning about peroxide. If it isn’t diluted it can bleach colors, if have splashed it on clothes accidentally. Also, a few years ago my son had some crusty sores on his scalp. One of my standard treatments for sores it peroxide, so I put some on the sores with a cotton ball and later notices that he had patches of lighter colored hair. It slightly bleached his hair! Needless to say, I will not use peroxide on the scalp again unless it is an absolute emergency! 🙂

  37. I use the Biokleen without even vinegar, with no major water spot problems & hard water. By the way, plain old peroxide makes a fine substitute for oxygen bleach–between 1/8 & 1/4 c per load (I don’t measure). If you’re buying it in the Costco-sized containers, 1/2 a gallon is about $2.

    1. Thanks, Heather! I’ll add the peroxide to my next Costco trip. Definitely cheaper than buying the Biokleen oxygen bleach. At the moment, I only use it in my whites load and my husbands shirts which I wash separately or I find that the odor can spread to other clothes and everything stinks. Is the peroxide safe for all the colors too? And what about adding baking soda to the load? I heard that might help but I don’t know why.

  38. Katie, my husband is putting in my first ever in my life dishwasher tomorrow. I’m so excited! I’m going to try Biokleen’s dishwasher soap/detergent (whatever you call it) and see if it works over here but noticed in the comments that you use vinegar in the rinse. Is there anything else I need to know? Like how much of each to use and do you have hard water and does it work with that? We have a septic system with hard well water with no softener system on it. I live in MI also and shop at Harvest Health and Meijers. BTW, do you just use Meijer brand vinegar? That’s what I’ve been using in my washing machine with my soap nuts and Biokleen’s oxygen bleach for the whites. My washing machine drum is really looking stained from the water now and it didn’t before with the regular washing detergent. Oh well, my clothes are clean and less toxic now too! 🙂

    1. Dawn,
      Woo hoo for dishwashers!

      I put the vinegar in my Jet Dry dispenser, and that takes care of the amount. I do have hard water. I use about half a scoop of Biokleen, maybe it’s somewhere between 1-2 Tbs? You’d have to experiment to see what your machine can handle. I happen to use Save-a-Lot brand vinegar b/c it’s cheap! I don’t really do it in the laundry, though, and I only use oxygen bleach to soak stained stuff, not in every load necessarily. Hope that helps!
      🙂 Katie

      1. Thanks, Katie! I picked up my Biokleen today. My hubby and father-in-law are currently installing the water filtration unit we bought to get rid of the arsenic in our water, have already installed the new kitchen faucet and will next work on the dishwasher. I’m hoping to run it for the first time tonight, but I already did the dishes today and I’m not planning on cooking a big meal tonight. I don’t suppose I should run the dishwasher for the 3 things that are dirty at the moment!

  39. BioKleen rocks! I use their dishwasher soap, bac out, and their carpet shampoo. If you have access to Azure Standard co-op, they have BioKleen stuff for very good prices. For oxygen bleach, though, I just use plain ol’ liquid peroxide. Works great, &, bought at Costco, costs less than oxyclean or biokleen’s version of same.

  40. Funny. I’ve been using Biokleen and it doesn’t work at all in my dishwasher. Glasses have guck inside and out, it leaves a white residue on the bottoms of glasses and mugs, and all the dishes have to be practically clean before I put them in! Today out of desperation, I made the homemade version that you just dissed before you found biokleen! Ugh. Maybe it’s just time for a new dishwasher?

    1. Kim,
      Every household is so different! Do you use white vinegar in the rinse? I put some right in the jet dry container – makes a huge difference.
      Katie

      1. Ugh, it was horrible, but only a shade worse than BioKleen. I’m tempted to go back to Cascade to see if it’s our washer or the detergent.

    2. I too struggled testing naturals out for years. Finally! Biokleen…but with a trick. Like Katie use only 1/2 the recommended amount (1/2 Tbs). Instead of using toxic, expensive lemi-shine, use any ol’ generic brand of 10 cent lemon koolaid. It has to be lemon. I use about 2 pkgs per biokleen tub. (25 cents-talk about frugal!) Open biokleen tub, sprinkle about 1/3 to 1/2 pkg of lemon koolaid into biokleen tub and gently stir. After you’ve used the top layer (about an inch or 2), add more and gently (b/c it’s powdery) stir. The lemon koolaid is mostly citric acid. That is what cuts the rest of the film that biokleen tends to leave after the initial honeymoon period. You can also just buy citric acid but I prefer the koolaid b/c you can smell the lemon and when you don’t smell the lemon anymore that is when you know you need to add more. Katie–if you have any pull with biokleen–tell them to add citric acid to their mix and change instructions to 1/2 Tbs and they will have a lot more faithful customers. I’ve done it this way for almost a year and still works great!!!

  41. Earth Friendly Goodies

    I thought I had found the perfect natural dishwasher detergent in Smarty Dish but after a few loads the dreaded hard water film set in. Now we use a hard water additive along with the Smarty Dish called Lemi-Shine which is phosphate free. Now our dishes are crystal clear again, but it would be nice not to have to use two products so I’ll definitely be on the look out for Biokleen.
    .-= Earth Friendly Goodies´s last blog ..Naturally Nora Cookie Cookie Cake Mix Super Sale =-.

    1. I too struggled testing naturals out for years. Finally! Biokleen…but with a trick. Like Katie use only 1/2 the recommended amount (1/2 Tbs). Instead of using toxic, expensive lemi-shine, use any ol’ generic brand of 10 cent lemon koolaid. It has to be lemon. I use about 2 pkgs per biokleen tub. (25 cents-talk about frugal!) Open biokleen tub, sprinkle about 1/3 to 1/2 pkg of lemon koolaid into biokleen tub and gently stir. After you’ve used the top layer (about an inch or 2), add more and gently (b/c it’s powdery) stir. The lemon koolaid is mostly citric acid. That is what cuts the rest of the film that biokleen tends to leave after the initial honeymoon period. You can also just buy citric acid but I prefer the koolaid b/c you can smell the lemon and when you don’t smell the lemon anymore that is when you know you need to add more. Katie–if you have any pull with biokleen–tell them to add citric acid to there mix and change instructions to 1/2 Tbs and they will have a lot more faithful customers. I’ve done it this way for almost a year and still works great!!!

  42. Thanks for the heads up on the Bio-Kleen dishwasher soap! 😉 I have been using it for a few weeks now and we are pretty happy with it. I use 1/2 Tbs. per load and it gets everything off of the plates but sometimes doesn’t get everything off of the pots. (My hubby gets upset if I don’t wash them out first and/or soak them. I am getting better at “soaking” which apparently all men like to do. Hmm…) I am low on liquid dish soap; do you use the Meijer Naturals kind?

    1. I am all over the board on dish soap; I even still have some regular old stuff around from a big sale last year…but yes, I’ve liked Meijer Naturals. I haven’t inspected their bottle with a microscope for perfection in natural-ness, but it’s a good start!
      🙂 Katie

  43. Mrs. Mordecai

    Thanks for the review! I just mentioned in another comment that I’d been having a hard time with dishwasher soap. Glad to know I’m not the only one!
    .-= Mrs. Mordecai´s last blog ..Pineapple right-side-up coffee cake =-.

  44. Pingback: Tweets that mention The Final Answer: How Does Biokleen Dishwasher Detergent Work? (And Their Other Stuff Too?) -- Topsy.com

  45. Lenetta @ Nettacow

    Katie, I DO appreciate your being a guinea pig for the rest of us! I pay special attention to this sort of thing as we’ll have a septic system on the farm and things are gonna be different. Thanks!!
    .-= Lenetta @ Nettacow´s last blog ..Link Roundup – What Doin’? Edition =-.

  46. Thanks for reviewing all these. I looked for the produce wash at the grocery store this week and found that they do carry BioKleen – but no produce wash.

    I was eyeing the dishwasher detergent and hoping you’d review that, too. Unfortunately I still have quite a bit of the toxic stuff bought at Costco right before I decided it was time to clean up the household cleaners, lol.

    1. Betsy,
      That just gives you time to tackle the other ones first, then get to this one when the big box is almost gone! 🙂 Katie

      1. We had nearly two huge bottles of dishwasher detergent (and a big thing of Jetdry!) from Costco when we decided to green up our kitchen cleaning products… but Costco has a 100% satisfaction guarantee even if you’ve used the products. Take them back and get your money back towards the better stuff, that’s what we did!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.