homemade dishwasher soap

[chickmom3]

I have just been reading through some of the threads and someone mentioned making their own dishwasher soap. I would love to have the recipe. How well does it work? We have saved in all the big ways we can and we are now trying to shave off pennies in every other way possible. Our water is very acidic and on the hard side. Right now I am having lots of trouble with food residue in my glasses after I run the dishwasher. GRRRR. Makes me so mad. We have cleaned any filters and still it happens. Anyone else have this problem?

[elphie]

I used homemade dishwasher soap for a while... 1 T each borax and baking soda (I kept equal parts in an ice cream bucket and added 2 T to each load). It worked great for a while but eventually I started getting a film on my glasses and plastic ware that really bothered dh. I still use vinegar in my rinse cycle and it works great but I have switched to the generic phosphate and chlorine free liquid detergent they have at Dollar General. It works much better for us and while not as cheap as homemade it is better than having to wipe everything down before we use it.

[NewLeaf]

I actually used my home made laundry det. a few times and it worked fine. I used the Duggars recipe (borax, super washing soda & ivory soap). Eventually it just didn't seem to be doing the same job as commercial dishwasher det. so I quit. But I still use the laundry det. to handwash dishes , mop floors and general cleaning.

[heartofmine]

I mixed 1 cup of Borax to 1/2 cup of Baking Soda using 1 tbsp of the mix per load...2 if its a grungy load. I use vinegar in the rinse cycle. Its actually working as well as the cascade/dawn tablets that I was buying.

I don't know how it will work on hard water though since we have city water.

Another thing to save a little might be to turn of your dry cycle on your dishwasher. I just open mine and let them air dry.

[Ciamak1020]

I've tried quite a few things and nothing seemed to work as good as the Walmart brand soap I bought. I desided one day to mix it half and half with the homemade mixture (1/2 baking soda/ 1/2 borax). It works great.I only have to use 2 tablespoons per load. Good luck. You can also find lots more tips and tricks as I post them through out the year on my website. www.meggiessite.blogspot.com Good Luck!

[Grainlady]

Here are some recipes I've posted here before:

There are recipes that include salt or citric acid that may work better than just Borax and baking soda or washing soda alone.

Recipe #1

1-1/2 c. Borax
1-1/2 c. baking soda
1 c. table salt

Recipe #2
1 c. Borax - 80-cents
1 c. washing soda - 80-cents
1/4 c. citric acid - ($1.00)
(The web site I got this recipe from also had a cost breakdown of 7-cents per load. They were paying way too much for citric acid. I purchase 8-pounds of citric acid for making bath bombs from www.soapmakingsuppliesstore.com for $18.25. A quarter cup weighs 2-ounces = 29-cents per quarter cup.

Recipe #3
1 c. Borax
1 c. Washing Soda
1/2 c. sea salt
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Word of caution, if you have a new dishwasher you may void your warranty by using homemade dishwasher detergents, and it may actually damage your machine. You may want to call the "help line" for your particular type of dishwasher and ask them about using a homemade product. They may even have a recipe to suggest.

[savvy_sniper]

I just use the cheapest liquid dishwasher soap I can find and put about a tablespoon in the little compartment. If you read the instructions for your dishwasher and the bottle of soap, you don't have to fill that little compartment.

[krbshappy71]

Glad to have found this. I purchased UP target brand powder and UGH. Yuck. It clumped the second day I bought it. Maybe it was clumped when I bought it, I don't know. Yes its kept under my sink but Cascade doesn't clump on me. (powder) I will never buy this brand again and am really considering the homemade now.

[MyMelody]

Our water is extremely hard and I haven't had success with homemade dishwasher soap, either. I found that a film was being left on our dishes and glassware, and my glassware got terribly etched, too -- to the point of looking perpetually dirty and we actually bought another set that I only handwash now. Of course, my old dishwasher was about 30 y/o, and now I hesitate to put a homemade mixture in my new dishwasher for the warranty reasons Grainlady mentioned. For now, I am using the Finish tabs and trying to space them out as far as I can so that I can make the box last as long as possible. I am actually writing it on the calendar so I can SEE how often a tab is being used. I have a box of 40, and I'd like to space them out to last one per week if possible. That would take me through almost the whole year, minus about 3 mos. Should probably mention @ this point that it's only DH and me in the house, and no small kiddos that would create extra dirty dishes.

[frugalfranny]

Have tried the cheaper brands but keep going back to Cascade. It works, I like it. I don't fill the cup completely with soap and I use the solid Jet Dry which is getting hard to find. Won't use the liquid.