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Dishwasher detergent

Patella1129Patella1129 member
in Eco-Friendly Family

I tried my hand at making dishwasher detergent and it hasn't gone well.  I started with a recipe from the book Green Clean (1 c. Borax and 1 c. Washing soda).  We use vinegar as a rinse agent as well.  Most of the dishes came out with a powdery film on them.  The book suggested to add a little more washing soda if this happens.  I did, and the dishes still had a powdery film.  So I tried a different recipe that also used salt and unsweetened lemon Kool-Aid (for citric acid).  There was definitely less of a film on the dishes this time, but it was still there.

Is there another recipe that someone has tried that might work better?  I did see a recipe that uses a few drops of Dawn, but I have heard such terrible things about that product that I don't really want to go there.  Would a castile soap like Dr. Bronners help?  Or would that ruin my dishwasher?

We do have hard water, so maybe I just need to suck it up and buy the expensive store-bought EF detergent. 

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Re: Dishwasher detergent

  • ToastieSimonsToastieSimons member

    The EFF just reposted her recipe on her facebook

    https://theecofriendlyfamily.com/2011/10/diy-dishwasher-detergent-without-borax/

    I just bought teh lemi shine to try it when we run out of our cascade. 

    To my boys:  I will love you for you Not for what you have done or what you will become I will love you for you I will give you the love The love that you never knew
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  • PeonyPumpsPeonyPumps member
    I tried my own with lemon juice, tea tree oil, castile soap, and something else, I can't remember what else was in it.  Anyway, it didn't work at all.  My dishes were really gross after.  I may try the EFF's recipe when we get done with the purchased dishwasher detergent soap we have now.
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  • LilyMonster2010LilyMonster2010 member
    When I first used the homemade and even seventh generation dishwasher soap, the white film was miserable. I had extra critic acid from making it, so I add maybe 1/4 tsp separately to the soap right before running the machine, and sparkling clean dishes! Maybe you need more critic acid if you have hard water. Hope this helps.
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  • Lynnette171Lynnette171
    imageMichelleLeigh13:
    imageToastieSimons:

    The EFF just reposted her recipe on her facebook

    https://theecofriendlyfamily.com/2011/10/diy-dishwasher-detergent-without-borax/

    I just bought teh lemi shine to try it when we run out of our cascade. 

    This is what I use and I have yucky film.  It is so bad that I think we are going back to the store bought stuff when this batch runs out.

    This is the recipe I used, and I had no film on my dishes when it was done.  I was thrilled.

    Before, I used Method, and it worked well.  Cascade was always a disaster for us- DH preferred it but it always left film and drove me nuts.  

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  • PeonyPumpsPeonyPumps member
    I just added a blog post about this- I've gone back to my 7th generation dishwasher soap, but I did switch from gel to the packs, because they have less bad ingredients in them.
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