Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
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Update: Although I did use this recipe for a few years, I found it wasn’t something I received enough satisfaction from to keep doing. But I’ve still kept the recipe here if you’d like to experiment and give it a try too!
This isn’t the first time I’ve tried a homemade dishwasher detergent. Some of my previous attempts resulted in cloudy residue on my glasses, and the additional problem that my mixtures with citric acid in them were clumping and turning hard as a rock. I also tried extending my dishwasher detergent with baking soda. It worked pretty well, but I just wasn’t real motivated to stick with it.
And now I’m giving this DIY dishwasher detergent a try and it’s been getting my dishes clean so far!
What makes this mixture a little different (and makes it work better) than my other homemade dishwasher detergent mixtures is that you add in a product called Lemi Shine
It’s a dishwasher additive that helps with hard water and keeps spots from building up on dishes and glasses. It really made a difference and is why this recipe has worked so much better than the others I tried. I felt I didn’t even need a rinse aid because the Lemi Shine works much like a rinse aid.
The other trick in this recipe that worked great is to leave it out for a couple days and keep stirring it. The other homemade dishwasher detergent recipes that I tried usually turned into one giant rock-hard clump that I would finally toss out. The combo of the Lemi-Shine and the stirring for the first couple of days kept this mixture from turning solid as time went on.
Here are the ingredients I used:
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda
1 cup kosher salt
12 oz container of Lemi-Shine (equals about 1-3/4 cups)
First, combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. When everything is first combined it will have a fine powdery texture.
Next, let your mixture set out in the mixing bowl, uncovered, for a couple of days. It will get harder and start clumping up. Keep stirring it every so often to break up the clumps. After a couple days of occasional stirring you will have a mixture with a grainy texture and it will stop clumping up. You may find that it can take more or less days depending on heat or cold, or the dryness or the humidity of the air in your house.
If you want to make the grainy mixture a little more powdery again, put it in a food processor and pulse it a few times. You might also want to keep your finished dishwasher powder in a rectangular storage container along with a little spoon. Then you can keep stirring the mixture if necessary as time goes along. You can also use the spoon for scooping out the 1 tablespoon you will use per load.
As mentioned above, you might find that you have no need for a rinse aid with this recipe as the Lemi Shine works like a rinse aid. If you’ve been using vinegar as a homemade rinse aid, you might be able to skip it with this recipe.
Homemade Dishwasher Powder
Equipment:
- large mixing bowl
Materials:
- 2 cups borax
- 2 cups washing soda
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 container Lemi-Shine (12 oz size) (about 1-3/4 cups)
Instructions:
- Stir together all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. When everything is first combined it will have a fine powdery texture.
- Next, let your mixture set out in the mixing bowl, uncovered, for a couple of days. It will get harder and start clumping up. Keep stirring it every so often to break up the clumps. After a couple days of occasional stirring you will have a mixture with a grainy texture and it will stop clumping up. You may find that it can take more or less days depending on heat or cold, or the dryness or the humidity of the air in your house.
- Transfer to a container with a tight lid.
- Use about 1 tablespoon per load in your dishwasher.
Thoughts after reading–lemi shine is citric acid with added lemon scent or oil. Citric acid needs not to be inhaled while using/mixing, and the added scent is optional/unnecessary. It is inexpensive to buy as a canning or cleaning ingredient. If your detergent recipe currently works, citric acid mixed w water and used separately/independently as the rinse agent instead of as part of the detergent mix will work better. Acids mixed with bases and used simultaneously effectively neutralize one another and therefore reduce the effectiveness of both pH extremes. If your recipe currently works for you, after you separate acid and base components you may not need as much of the bases as you currently think you need. Citric acid removes stubborn protein stains and hard water mineral deposits. So quickly grab a mask and gloves when mixing this up and whenever you add new rinse agent every few loads. Physically touching these ingredients, either individually or after mixing, is also strongly discouraged. Strong acids and strong bases are not to be touched w bare hands. Skip the lemi-shine & go buy a pound of citric acid and use it separately as rinse agent diluted with filtered water. Then, try using slightly less base during the initial wash cycle and see if you get the same effect with less.
I wash dishes by hand. Do you think this would be good for hand washing dishes? What is washing soda? thanks
No, I think liquid dish soaps are better for hand washing dishes than a homemade powder intended for the dishwasher.
I’m sure someone has already thought of this but could you just put the dishwasher detergent into a silicone mold and make small cube that can be put into the dishwasher adding convenience and solving the clumping problem??
Could you not add boiling water to make it a liquid like the homemade laundry detergent recipe? That would solve the clumping problem. I’m going to try that but not add the lemi-shine but still use my finish rinse aid in the rinse cycle.
I just tried to make this, but haven’t given it a test run yet. My question is this: I think it smells terrible; do you have any suggestions for making it smell better? I think it’s the Lemi Shine. I thought it would smell like lemon but I think it’s more like cat pee. All of my other homemade soaps are liquid and I add essential oils but obviously that won’t work here. Suggestions welcome! Thanks!
Hmmmm – I just went and smelled my mixture again . . . and it does have a “smell” but not anything I find bothersome or like an ammonia “cat pee” smell. Would be interested to hear if anyone else is getting this result.
Could it be a reaction to mixing it in a metal mixing bowl? I asked my son to smell it and he said (without my input) that it smells “like a litter box” so something happened. In any case, recommendations for adding a scent would be nice even if we get the cat pee smell resolved.
Hi,
I made your homemade powdered dishwasher detergent and powdered laundry detergent. They have both worked great with one problem, the dishwasher detergent started getting clumpy so I added a bit of regular baking soda. The baking soda being added while trying to make the detergent more fine was great. Although, it has gotten harder since adding the regular baking soda, but it still gets the dishes very clean.
However, it would be great if you have any ideas on how I might can get it in a powder form once more and keep it that way.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Ron
Where do you find Lemi Shine ? I can’t find it.
I was able to find Lemi Shine at Walmart and at one of the main grocery store chains in my area (Meijer). It’s sold by the other automatic dishwasher detergents and rinse aids. If you don’t have a Walmart or other large grocery store chain by you, you should be able to order it from Amazon too (but of course then the cost goes up because of shipping).
You might try using 2 pkts of sugar free Lemonade Kool-Ade. Works in place of the Lemi Shine that I can’t seem to find locally
Is the vinegar cleaner for general use safe to use on glass treated with EC10 to reduce staining?
I’m not familiar with EC10 or how vinegar might react to it. Perhaps you could try rubbing some vinegar on the underside of the glass and see if there is any reaction. However if you are in doubt, then it’s best to just skip it and stick with a store bought rinse aid.