Comments on: Homemade Dishwasher Detergent Recipes

By: Tonya

Tonya — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:38:02 +0000

If you stick to that theory, then instant grits (parboiled corn meal) and cream of wheat are poisonous too. If you either of these natural ingredients on ant hills the ants take it in to feed to the colony and their bellies explode. Perhaps humans should stop eating it because it’s poisonous.

By: bbrowneyes

bbrowneyes — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:58:14 +0000

I use recipe number 2 with 1 TBS works great and we love saving the money.

By: Morissa

Morissa — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:44:29 +0000

My dishwasher door was replaced ,due to a recall, and the handyman who came out and fixed it, said to put the dishwashing detergent into the compartment and do not close the lid, so when the door shuts the soap will go all over dishes inside. He said that the dishsoap compartment only opens at the very end of the wash cycle. So I thought maybe that is why the individuals making there own soap had residue on their dishes?

It’s worth a try.

By: TipNut

TipNut — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:07:21 +0000

Thanks for sharing that recipe Jacklen!

By: Jacklen Taylor

Jacklen Taylor — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:24:59 +0000

None of those recipes have ever worked for me. What does is my homemade concoction

1/2C washing soda
1/2C borax
1/4C kosher salt
1/4C citric acid

use 1TBS per load, and fill the rinse aid reservoir with vinegar.

We have an oooooold inefficient dishwasher that came with our apartment, and very hard water.
This works beautifully with no film or residue!

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:54:46 +0000

the etching on your glasses is because are using a dishwasher and are not using a detergent that prevents etching. Detergents will state on them that it is an anti etching formula. Not sure how to make it homemade but if you figure it out let me know.

By: Jan Ford

Jan Ford — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:40:40 +0000

HAS ANYONE TRIED 1 TEASPOON BAKING SODA AND 1 TEASPOON BORAX YET?

I tried the Homemade Powder Dishwasher Detergent Version #2 with one (1) TABLESPOON EACH of BAKING SODA AND BORAX.

I ran my Kitchenaid (less than a year old) dishwasher through just a regular cycle. When I opened the door, I saw a filmy residue inside the dishwasher and noticed a little residue on a glass coffee pot. It was very noticeable because it has a stainless interior.

So, I then ran the d/washer through a Rinse Only cycle to remove the residue. Dishes were clean, but I don’t put dishes with any residue in my d/washer. lol

My rinse dispenser has Jet Dry in it, so haven’t tried white vinegar yet. Looking forward to trying out vinegar.

Will attempt this version again, but with 1 teaspoon each of Borax and baking soda.

Have read to clean your dishwasher, that you can put 1.5 cups of vinegar and run it through a cycle.

Re vinegar, my husband uses apple cider vinegar in water to lose weight, help with diabetes, etc. I use 1 part ACV to 3 parts water as a facial toner.

Would be afraid to put salt in the dishwasher, as it might corrode the heating elements, etc.

By: laura

laura — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:00:22 +0000

And thank you so much for the tips! Can’t wait to try them!

By: laura

laura — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:56:56 +0000

Hi. I have heard, and this may sound stupid, that the reason fleas and roaches die from borax is because it makes them burp. Which is; apparently, something ants, fleas, and roaches can’t do, so instead, they basically blow up. So I have heard. My mom told me this as a child and since moms are always right I am still assuming it is true. I do remember her sprinkling it on the carpet when we were younger to kill fleas, something I still do today. So I do not believe it is toxic. I haven’t done any other research. I’m playing the “my mother always did it” card. And she is about as “Green” as they get.

By: Vyrianna

Vyrianna — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:12:03 +0000

I am looking forward to trying these recipes to find out what works best for my family, but I have used borax before in our dishwasher. When we rented a place that had extremely hard water I used two tablespoons of borax along with my dish detergent and vinegar as a rinse agent, to get the dishes (particularly the glasses) to come out clean. It started that I was using Calgon Water Softener (the powder) in the dishwasher for get things clean because nothing else was working. But that stuff is expensive, I did have 20 Mule Borax on hand and when I ran out of the Calgon I tried that. It worked wonderfully and was about 1/3 the price or less when you take into account the different sizes.

From my reading about using borax for cleaning & homemade beauty products you have to have HOT water to dissolve it. So if some people are having problems, I would have to agree that it water may not be getting hot enough.