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Hah-leluia!
It was a Sunday morning when I opened the dishwasher. Appropriately, I woke husband up singing the Halleluia 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!)?
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!), but for 64 loads under $9, it’s almost frugal.
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 it cut grease? How about butter-covered blender? Check.
Dried-on oatmeal...in the utensils caddy? 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. 
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 from Amazon. Find a store near you with the store locator. I can use my Swagbucks at Amazon, though, and get the cleaners for free!
GIVEAWAY HAS BEEN CLOSED. THANKS!
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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.
Disclaimer: Biokleen sent me some free products for this review, but they did not compensate me otherwise or expect a positive review. The links to Amazon and NaturOli in this post are affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through this site, I will get a little compensation.
Hungry for more? Related posts:
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.
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 1:50 am
Betsy,
Katie
That just gives you time to tackle the other ones first, then get to this one when the big box is almost gone!
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Carrie Reply:
March 4th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
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!
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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
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Tweets that mention The Final Answer: How Does Biokleen Dishwasher Detergent Work? (And Their Other Stuff Too?) -- Topsy.com // Nov 23, 2009 at 12:25 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Katie Kimball, Lesley H. Lesley H said: The Final Answer: How Does Biokleen Dishwasher Detergent Work … http://bit.ly/090ZaKu [...]
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
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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?
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Katie Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 1:54 am
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
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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
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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?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
March 5th, 2010 at 2:12 am
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
[Reply to this comment]
Kim Reply:
March 5th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
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.
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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.
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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!
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 8:05 am
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
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Dawn Norman Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
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!
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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.
[Reply to this comment]
Dawn Norman Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
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.
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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.
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What We Use To Clean « Health, Home, & Happiness // Jul 28, 2010 at 7:54 am
[...] Dishwasher Detergent: I just started using Biokleen at the recommendation of Katie of Kitchen Stewardship, until this week I was using Cascade ultra toxic. Because it worked and I didn’t want to risk [...]