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Mrs Meyers Dishwasher Detergent, Dish Soap, and Room Spray {REVIEW}

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dishwasher inside

The search has been long and spotty. My poor husband has endured many a “rejected” dish pile from homemade dishwasher detergents and frugal attempts. I have come to the firm belief that you cannot have a homemade dishwasher detergent unless you want to seriously pre-rinse all your dishes, which ends up questionably using a lot of extra water and time, thus expending resources from your pocketbook, environment, and personal stamina.

I don’t pre-rinse. Not one little bit. My dishwasher is full of GUNK.  (See this post if you don’t believe me!) I need a serious dishwasher detergent that is able to work with my laziness. I also want the dishwasher to be a safe place, because my daughter ADORES it. It’s the lure of the off-limits for her. The more we tell her “uh-UH!” the more she wants to wash her hands in the water droplets on the open dishwasher door. Ugh.  I cannot have toxic detergent in there. I just cannot.

Since homemade just isn’t cutting it, I decided it was time to branch out into the world of natural cleaners, spending more than I would in a grocery store, but at least keeping my kids and the good green Earth a little safer. (Did you know dishwasher detergent is one of the more toxic basic cleaners in your house?)

Effective Natural Dishwasher Detergent (Mrs. Meyer's Review)I approached the Mrs. Meyer’s company and asked for a sample, and they were generous enough to let me try out their product.

I received their dishwasher detergent packets, dishwashing liquid, and room freshener spray. I couldn’t wait to run the detergent through its paces (especially since I was literally OUT of Cascade and had run the DW once using the previous “acceptable” method of 3 drops of dishwashing liquid and a ½ cup of vinegar in the bottom. Lots of rejections!). I was glad the mail came quickly!

Mrs. Meyer’s Dishwasher Detergent Review

Mrs Meyers Dishwasher Detergent, Dish Soap, and Room Spray REVIEW

I loaded the dishwasher as usual:  totally full, nothing rinsed, (yes, not even melty cheese or egg!).

I almost cringed as I opened the dishwasher door the next morning. We’ve had so many failures! I nearly cried tears of joy when I saw…clean dishes. My heart sunk to the floor when I realized the next time I ran the dishwasher that, for a rare occasion in this house, I had used “normal” wash instead of “light”. Oh, dear. I knew it was too good to be true.

With great trepidation and trembling fingers, I ran the ol’ DW on “light wash”. Trying to keep any expectations at bay, I slowly opened the dishwasher, holding my breath… What can you say about a dishwasher detergent other than:  the dishes were clean. No food left behind. No grease. No streaks. ‘nuf said. I’m sold!

The detergent comes in little plastic packets, and you put the whole thing in your dishwasher cup without puncturing it. Come to think of it, I don’t know where the plastic goes (but right now I don’t care!). That’s probably wise for people like me who would always push the envelope and use less and less powder, right? This way the dishes are always clean, and I’m a happy girl. We’ve been using it for two weeks now without a complaint. The scent I tested is lemon verbena, which is very pleasant.

Mrs. Meyer’s Dish Soap Review

Mrs Meyers Dishwasher Detergent, Dish Soap, and Room Spray {REVIEW}Mrs. Meyer’s sent lavender dishsoap, which is actually aromatherapeutic (read: strong!). It smells great in my opinion, but if you’re sensitive to fragrances, I’d go with their “fragrance-free” version. I’m also duly impressed with the dish soap.

The suds stayed through washing a whole night’s worth of dishes, even a nasty, oily mayo container.  I even had enough suds after washing dinner dishes to put baby’s glass in, and her bib. That’s saying something because usually, the rule is to do drinking glasses first because you expect the water to get worthless at the end. Mrs. Meyer’s dishsoap has powered through some serious piles of dishes at our house (the only drawback to lots of home-cooking-from-scratch = more dishes!).

Mrs. Meyer’s Room Spray Review

Mrs Meyers Dishwasher Detergent, Dish Soap, and Room Spray {REVIEW}

I laughed when I saw that Mrs. Meyer’s threw some room spray in my box. I’m really not a spray-the-room kind of person. I grew up with a mom who was really sensitive to fragrances, and the habit rubbed off on me. I didn’t think I’d do much with it, maybe give it as a gift, until that very night a skunk visited our neighborhood. With our windows open for summer breezes, the whole house smelled awful before we could react to close the house down.

I decided to spray some Mrs. Meyer’s lemon verbena in our bedroom, then I closed my husband in there and took off to finish off some blogging. I did notice that I could smell lemon in other rooms, so “point” to MM for being pervasive (what people want in fragrances, right? I don’t do this kind of thing!). When I walked in the bedroom after the door was closed for an hour it smelled like…skunk plus lemon verbena…which is more pleasant than you’d think! Well done on the staying power and the covering power – they never promised to eliminate odors, so the product does exactly what it should.

My Dishwasher Detergent Adventures
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  2. I posted about the giveaway on my blog!
    http://woodyoubelieve.blogspot.com/2009/07/im-trying-to-win-giveaway.html

  7. Per your instructions 🙂

    I tweeted about the giveaway when you first announced it.

  13. I love Lemon Verbena! I got some samples (at the grocery store!) and also bought some hand soap for the bathroom. I am definitely going to try out the dishwasher soap once my Cascade is gone!

  14. I subscribe to your blog and love reading it. Thanks for persevering and testing out these safe remedies for dish washing liquid!!!

  16. Hopefully, Mrs. Meyer’s has changed their formula for their hand dish liquid, or something. I tried it about 18 months ago, and ended up tossing the rest of the bottle. The stuff had absolutely NO interest in cutting grease or “surrounding it”. I’d like a non-toxic dish liquid, but it’s gotta perform as well as Dawn–and not be outrageously priced. I haven’t tried their hand dish liquid yet, but have had good results with Bio-Kleen products–toilet cleaner, dishwasher soap, oxygen bleach, etc.

  19. I had better choose scent-free due to the strength of the scent. I like the idea of environmentally friendly soaps.

    Thanks for the opportunity.

  20. Also, I’m already an email feed subscriber–though just recently. I’ve enjoyed and appreciated your content very much!

  21. All of the scents are intriguing, but I think I’m most curious about the basil!

  25. The lemon verbena please! I am so excited to try the hand dish washer wash. I use Mrs. Meyer’s all purpose spray (though I bought the HUGE refill bottle in Basil, and it turns out that I find it odd when my whole house smells of basil). Though I love the smell of the geranium, I think that might start to wear on me as well.

  27. I am subscribed via email (and am really enjoying your posts – thank you for this ministry!)

  31. I’m guessing I would like the Lemon Verbena scent for dishes. I’ve been trying to find a non-toxic detergent that actually works.

  32. Just found your site today & subscribed. I, too, have tried many homemade dishwasher detergents. I’d love to try lemon verbena!

  38. My favorite scent is citrus. I am a loyal reader through my google reader and I have emailed 5 members of my “green group” about this awesome product and giveaway.

  40. I can’t tell you how I’ve been looking for an eco-friendly dishwasher detergent that WORKS. Hooray! I just went over to the Mrs. Meyer’s site — lemon verbena is the scent for me.

  42. I guess Lavender would be my favorite. Hard to say without smelling them – I must need to win, ha.

  45. Thanks so much for the giveaway. I’ve been wanting to find an effective natural dishwashing detergent for a long time.

    I think that I’d go for the lemon verbena as I’ve always thought that lemons smell “clean.” I usually only use lavender in the bedroom or bathroom.

    I already subscribe via Google Reader, and I’m going to tweet about this giveaway right now (my tweets link with my Facebook status, so there’s another entry.) 🙂

  46. Oh! And I forgot to mention that the lemon verbena is my fave scent. (I guess this is my second entry anyway.)

    I have tried the lemon verbena daily shower spray, but it wasn’t what I’d hoped. Smelled great, though.

  48. Here’s my entry, plus I subscribe via google reader.

    I was dying all week to hear the results of your DW detergent test. I’m a litle bummed that homemade stuff wasn’t able to do the job (didn’t work for me, either, though I am keeping vinegar in the rinse). But it’s good to hear the results. Thanks for taking the time to test the options.

  49. I love lemon verbena – and I’m sure my dishes would too. ( I can sympathize with the allure of the dishwasher – what is it that draws one and two year olds like honey?)
    thanks for the great contest!

  50. I already subscribe on google reader. I was looking for some natural detergent at the store yesterday. I would love to try this.

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Please remember that I’m just a gal who reads a lot and spends way too much time in her kitchen. I’m not a doctor, nurse, scientist, or even a real chef, and certainly the FDA hasn't evaluated anything on this blog. Any products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please talk to your health professional (or at least your spouse) before doing anything you might think is questionable. Trust your own judgment…I can’t be liable for problems that occur from bad decisions you make based on content found here.

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