I’ve posted a lot of recipes for DIY natural cleaners in the past, but dishwasher detergent was one that I had trouble figuring out. I’d experimented with a lot of recipes, but all of them left a little residue, especially on glass. I wasn’t sure if I had too much of something or if I was missing an ingredient that would make it more effective.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Natural Dishwasher Detergent
Thanks to a little tip on Pinterest last week, I figured out what the missing ingredient was: Citric Acid.
Thankfully, I already had this on hand for making soothing salt bath bombs and after birth bath fizzies, so I was able to give it a try.
The result: clean and shiny dishes… finally (and naturally).
Much Ado…
I should mention that this recipe does include Borax, which has been the center of much online debate. In my personal opinion, Borax is very much on the low end of the scale when it comes to the potential toxicity of chemicals in cleaning products.
If not, I’ve also used enzyme cleaners like Biokleen and Tropical Traditions’ dishwasher soap and both seem to work well and do not contain borax.
DIY Dishwasher Detergent Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 parts borax
- 2 parts washing soda
- 1 part citric acid
- 1 part salt
- essential oils for scent (completely optional)
Instructions:
- Combine all ingredients and store in an air tight container.
- Use 1 tablespoon per load as needed.
- For an extra boost, add a few drops of dishwashing liquid (only a few!!!) to the powder before closing the soap container in the dishwasher.
- You can also add white vinegar as the rinse agent, though honestly, I forget this most of the time and it still works.
Notes:
1 Part= Any Measure you want.
In other words, if 1 part=1 cup, you would use 2 cups each of borax and washing soda and 1 cup each of citric acid and salt. If 1 part was 1/4 cup, you’d use 1/2 cup of borax/washing soda and 1/4 cup of citric acid/salt.
Not Working for you?
Homemade powdered dish detergent can be tricky and depending on how hard/soft your water is and the temperature you wash dishes at, it can be really difficult to find a recipe that works.
If you aren’t up for the DIY option, here is my review of all the natural store-bought versions I’ve tried and which ones actually worked. Also, there are quite a few other homemade dishwasher detergent recipes floating around online, like this one from Crunchy Betty and this one from Kitchen Stewardship, so if you want to experiment with other recipes, check theirs out.
New to Natural Cleaning?
If you’re just starting out with DIY or natural cleaners, here are some other easy and inexpensive recipes:
Natural Stain Treatment Reference Sheet [Printable]
Natural Homemade Laundry Detergent
Natural All-Purpose Cleaner Recipe
Natural Oven Cleaning
Natural Homemade Glass Cleaner Recipe
Easy Homemade Scouring Powder Recipe
Natural Cleaning and Organizing Checklist
Natural Bathroom Cleaning
Natural Kitchen Cleaning
What do you use in the dishwasher? Ever made your own dishwasher detergent? Share below!
I’ve been looking for recipes, and this one is very similar to what I settled on. It’s a recipe for dishwasher *tablets*. Solves the clumping issue by intentionally clumping it! The only thing additional to your recipe was 1 part white vinegar. Aside from helping to bind everything together, vinegar helps with disinfecting and softening hard water. I packed the mix into silicone molds (after making sure the hardened tablets will fit my dishwasher’s dispenser), let it dry for 24 hours, and then popped them out into a container with an airtight lid.
So far so good! Dishes come out clean and sparkling. There were a few pans that didn’t completely clean on the sides, but that was a problem with all my detergents and is solvable with a “power wash” option on my dishwasher.
I do have a question though… I also have an enzyme dishwasher powder (Norwex), and I wonder if there’s any benefit to adding it to the mix? Anyone experiment with that? If so, what portion size worked with the recipe?
Works like a charm. Thank you for the great recipe! 🙂
Short Comment:
Borax (2 tbsp)
Washing Soda (2 tbsp)
Kosher Salt (2 tbsp)
Citric Acid (1 tbsp)
This is for (1) load.
Long Comment:
I threw my hands up /gave up on natural dishwashing detergent because I kept having to re-wash about 10% of the dishes each time.
BUT..
I gave it another go this week and finally found a recipe.
I believe the problem was a failure to use enough product each load.
I do believe you have to play around with DIY dishwashing detergent /tailor it to your water.
We have hard water.
Anyway, this recipe equals out to about $0.45 a load if you buy the ingredients in bulk (example: 10 lb bag of citric acid on Amazon).
That’s pretty comparable (maybe even a little cheaper) than the best Cascade packs you can buy.
I don’t pre-mix the ingredients for storage because they clump together (at least with my old recipe; I haven’t bothered combining the new), I just add them right to the dishwasher each time.
I was soo excited, I had to share!!
Oh.. no, it’s more expensive than Cascade (which is about $0.30 /load) but it’s worth it to me.
I always feel like those chemicals stick to my dishes and transfer to my food /drinks.. no thank you.
Same here…. bought all the ingredients and tried it. First time worked perfect. Second, the powder was rock hard and dishes unclean.
What seems to be the issue???? Anyone????