May 22, 2008
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Homemade Dishwasher Detergent - What a disaster!
Just because it’s frugal doesn’t mean that I can tolerate it. And I’m the girl who thought I loved all things frugal.
Homemade Dishwasher Detergent is a good example. When I read the recipe, I couldn’t wait to try it. I already had the ingredients on hand.
½ cup borax
½ cup baking soda
Combine in a container. Pour two tablespoons in dishwasher.
The dishes were technically clean, if you can accept the white residue. It was a real stomach turner for me. The white residue had to be hand washed from each dish. Rinsing them did not get it off. Hand washed from each dish!
Do you know how long I went without a dishwasher? TEN YEARS! After ten years of marital bliss, giving birth to three girls, preparing to give birth to a boy and hand washing dishes all the while, I finally got a dishwasher. The HALLELUJAH Chorus played in the background the first time I loaded her up. Yes, my dishwasher is a girl. Only a girl in my tribe would wash the dishes, unless coaxed or given the option of laundry instead. My dishes came out sparkling and germ free. Ahhh! What a girl, my dishwasher.
I started adding dishwasher detergent to my cart each time I could find it on sale. Combined with a coupon, of course. Then, I read about people making their own dishwasher detergent for pennies. Well, I couldn’t resist!
A dream come true!A nightmare!Having sworn off hand washing forever, there I stood, hand washing white residue. Homemade Dishwasher Detergent – what a disaster!
Okay, I know some of you love it. I’ve seen your comments. Somehow your dishes don’t have white residue. Y’all would no sooner eat dinner on a plate of white residue as you’d eat a spoon of borax.
I need to add vinegar as a rinsing agent, you say? I did. It didn’t work. Use more baking soda and less borax? Tried it. I also tried using less than two tablespoons. Didn’t work. I saw something about using washing soda instead of baking soda. I haven’t tried that. Hadn’t got my nerve up yet.
So, what did y’all do to get yours to work?
Comments (16)
Me too. I was so disappointed. I have no idea what they did but it didn't work for me either. I did land up using it in the wash.
I think the big consideration in this working or not is the quality of water. This varies so much from place to place and pays a big part in the success of dishwashing. I know it does in laundry. Whether the water is hard or soft, full of minerals or lacking there is so much that could hinder whether this works or not. From the sounds of your coupon savings I would say it is not worty your sanity trying to make it work....I hear you on the handwashing thing, I hate it.
I don't like it, either. I'd rather watch for sales and get the good stuff. (BTW, I've heard Jet Dry isn't much more than white vinegar. Not sure if that's true, but I don't buy it.) I love Cascade Complete, but I never buy it because it's too expensive. What's with Cascade and making you buy 2 on a crummy $1 coupon? I prefer the little packets--no waste. I still like Cascade better, but I'll use Electrosol in a pinch. No-names are just not worth it.
If I run out, I will use a combination of baking soda in the detergent cup and white vinegar in the rinse cup with the hottest water, and my dishes get really clean. But with oil running $4 a gallon now, hot water isn't much of an option, so this is only a 'last resort' thing.
Go ahead and use commercial detergent. Nobody said being frugal means you have to cut every tiny little corner! We save money in some areas to be able to afford better quality in others.
@Tara - I've lost a little already! I'm very excited. You are right about the cravings. They have really decreased. You've given some good suggestions for breakfast and lunch. Thank you! I'll check in with you on Wednesday!
@Niki - Hmm. That is something to consider. Although, I have not had trouble with my homemade laundry detergent.
@mom2fur - I was just so hoping that it would work. But I'm definetly not eating white residue (lol). So, I guess I'll be saving coupons and watching for sales. Unless, someone can enlighten us with the secret to making homemade dishwasher detergent a success?
The same thing happened to me. My recipe calls for 2 cups each borax and baking soda. So I added 2 cups of Cascade and mixed it all together and poured it into an empty Cascade box. It now works like a charm. So I'm still using the storebought stuff just not near as much. If you can get a good deal on the storebought stuff though it's probably about the same.
My recipe actually called for 4 envelopes of lemonade mix or 1/2 cup citric acid so I thought that was probably the trick to getting rid of the film. I had tried this before without the koolaid a year or so ago. Needless to say the koolaid didn't make any difference at all.
I made some too only mine included salt. It didn't work for me either.
Everything was cloudy and gritty white. I have had decent success with filling one dispenser with a tablespoon of homemade and the other dispenser with commercial dishwasher detergent. You may want to try that. I say decent success because nothing works that great in my dishwasher! I've tried it all and I always have to prewash as well. I do like to use vinegar instead of the expensive Jet-dry.
The homemade concoction works great as a scouring powder for toilets though!
Oh noooo,... lol What a disappointment! I don't think I will attempt that one then
I had the same experience. It was awful. The homemade laundry detergent I love but the dishwasher stuff was sickening. Everything was scummy!! I used 1/4 cup salt, 1 cup Borax, 1 cup washing soda and vinegar in the rinse dispenser. It didn't work at all. Think about it. There isn't even any SOAP in that recipe. I'm back to good old Cascade.
Try this:
1 cup Borax, 1 cup WASHING soda (not baking soda, although some recipes call for that), 1/2 cup table salt and 4 packages of UNsweetened Lemon Kool-aid. Mix all that together by shaking in a closed container. Use 2 TBSP per dishwasher load. Before running the washer, fill the 'jet dry' dispenser with plain household vinegar. (clear vinegar - refill as needed)
One other recipe to try that seems to work and not leave caked-on specks of detergent or the glasses cloudy:
1/2 cups Borax, Washing Soda, and Kosher Salt
2 packets unsweetened lemon Kool-aid
add vinegar to the rinse
Try this a few times and let us know whether this works!
I have tried the same recipe my dishes were still greasy when they were finished ! But homemade laundry detergent is great !! Does any one know how to make homemade fabric softner ?
@Blueice1701 - I make fabric softener. It's water, vinegar, and hair conditioner. My exact recipe is here, http://trenttribe.xanga.com/699888194/fabric-softener-for-the-rinse-cycle/.
I love homemade laundry detergent too!
Oops. The recipe should have said, 'Washing Soda", not baking soda. Don't know why, but there is a big difference. It is made by 'Arm&Hammer' .. But can be difficult to find. We have ACE hardware & Harris Teeter. Hope you have better luck next time. I promise it works. We even made clothes washing detergent.
Here's a link for the 'Washing Soda'.
http://www.buy.com/prod/arm-hammer-super-washing-soda-detergent-booster-55-oz/q/listingid/86967656/loc/66357/215956159.html
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