You want to make your own dishwasher detergent that is completely natural? I love sharing how to frugally care for your family, so here it goes! This recipe is frugal and works beautifully. I have found that is washes away all film much better than my previous recipe that contained borax. It may be because this is a liquid detergent and dissolves more easily in the dishwasher.
1/2 cup Dr Bronner’s Sal Suds (a balanced biodegradable formulation of natural derived surfactants with natural fir pine needle oil)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice
3 drops tea tree oil
1/2 cup white vinegar
Combine all ingredients and store in a covered container. A glass quart jar with lid works perfectly. Use approximately 1 Tbsp per load. Try experimenting with the quantities of soap depending upon the hardness of your water. In the NW, the water is very hard, so the 1/2 cup Sal Suds works for me.
UPDATE: I originally tried this recipe with Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds and found it more concentrated and has a far more effective cleansing power than standard castile soap (and far cheaper as well – two 32 oz bottles for $16). Sal Suds works effectively for all household cleaning as well (including in homemade laundry detergent). It does contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), but they give full disclosure of their ingredient as follows:
SLS -This surfactant cuts grease and dirt, generates copious suds, and biodegrades quickly and completely. SLS is made by combining a sulfate group with lauryl alcohol from coconut oil, then attaching sodium. If improperly formulated, SLS can irritate skin, but our superb formula uses coconut oil betaine and lauryl glucoside to counter this.
This recipe makes enough detergent for approximately 12-15 loads, costing $0.05-0.06 per load.
Dishwashing Soap
You can also use this recipe for dishwashing soap as well – simply dilute it with additional water. 3-4 cups of additional water should be about right. I add enough water to fill up a large 32 oz spray bottle and use that to spray down my dishes. You conserve a lot more soap by using a spray bottle!
Enjoy your clean dishes!
That’s my frugal tip for the day!
This did not work at all for me! 1T made too many suds, and less leaves crud all over my dishes. I can’t even use this for every other wash, because I end up having to rewash half the dishes. Disappointing.
Hi!
I’m new to your blog. It’s very informative! I apologize if you’ve already answered this question or posted about this, but I was wondering if you know of any natural fabric refresher sprays. I’ve stopped using Febreeze, but I’d like to find something that I can spray on the clothes that I don’t necessarily wash after every single wear (like dresses and jeans). I sure wish Mrs. Meyers had something like that!
Thanks!
Kim
…and I just realized that I posted under dishwasher detergent! Oops, meant for it to be under laundry.
I know I’m bit late to the conversation here but wondered if you had found/developed anything like this that doesn’t use citrus, as a lot of my cookware and silverware specifically says not to wash it with anything that contains citrus. Thanks.
What affect does the tea tree oil have? I made some without it because I wanted to see how well it would clean before I went through the effort of finding tea tree oil, which I was thinking was more of a disinfectant? But my plates are not coming clean… they’re scummy looking where the food used to be on the plate. And I put vinegar in second cycle. I may just use a sponge and wipe them off before they go in… but I was trying to take the suggestion of using less water.
Oh, and I was using the Sal Suds, not the Castille soap.
Ruhi, thanks for posting that link, but sal suds isn’t the same as Castile soap. At the bottom of the article, it says that since sal suds is synthetic, vinegar wouldn’t affect it the same way.
I just bought a new dishwasher and am looking for a homemade detergent that I’m sure won’t damage it. I made this recipe with my last dishwasher and it works great for me, bit it did suds a lot. My dishwasher died after 11 years, but I don’t know that it was because of the detergent; frigidaire says their life expectancy is 10-12 years anyway. Thanks for the recipe Lindsay!!
Lindsay, I was just wondering if you are still using this dishwashing liquid? This past month I made a similar liquid and used it all up. And, I lOVED it!!! Everything came out super clean and the glasses were better than doing them by hand! Even the dishwasher looks better! The salsuds did not foam or make a mess at all. Unfortunately, I lost my recipe. I think it was almost identical to yours but I am quite sure it had grapefruit seed extract in it. Hmm… I was doing a bunch of filing that day. I am sure I will find it it in the wrong file sooner or later. I’ll let you know when I do. : )
I wasted a lot of soap making this recipe and I’m stuck with a big bottle now
I understand now that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Instead, this recipe is incorrect. We shouldn’t be mixing soap + Vinegar together.
Please read this blog post:
http://lisa.drbronner.com/?p=292&cpage=1#comment-1568
I just read the link you posted and here’s what it said at the bottom:
As a sidenote: This issue does not apply to combining Sal Suds with vinegar. Sal Suds, as a synthetic detergent, has a completely different chemical makeup and does not react with the vinegar in the same way. Vinegar would even add more degreasing power to the mixture.
The article was referring to the pure castile soap only, not the Sals Suds. It states this at the very end. “As a sidenote: This issue does not apply to combining Sal Suds with vinegar. Sal Suds, as a synthetic detergent, has a completely different chemical makeup and does not react with the vinegar in the same way. Vinegar would even add more degreasing power to the mixture.”
Hello! Just reading this site and checking things out.
I’ve read from several dishwasher repairmen (from posts just like this one about making your own dishwasher detergent) that soap of any kind actually damages your dishwasher. Our washing machines for laundry can take it but soap leaves a gummy residue on dishwashers which is why almost every single homemade detergent stops working after a while.
I promise I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer…it’s just what I’ve read.
Lindsey,
I really love this recipe and it seems to be getting my dishes squeaky clean but I have one concern. The detergent is totally liquid and it leaks out of my dispenser before it is supposed to. Does that happen to you? Is there anything I can add to the mixture to make it more of a paste so it doesn’t leak out, like Borax or something?
I have to try this! I’m so tired of having the store bought dishwashing detergant stuck to the dishes when I take them out and having to rinse everything off! Worries me with my two little ones! Thanks!!!
I have tried this and have not had much luck. It just isn’t cleaning the dishes. I’m trying to use out what I made but absolutely cannot wash the glasses or they come out exactly as they went in and cloudy. What am I doing wrong? Any ideas?
Rachel – I give the dishes (especially the glasses and silverware) a quick go-over with a green scratchy (or the like) before loading them. It makes all the difference.
I’m sorry but this appears to be the dilemma…but then again I encounter this dilemma with all the natural dishwasher products I have tried. Adding vinegar to the rinse aid helps.
I love this! I tried it this weekend and I am sold. This is my maiden voyage into making my own cleaning products and even the skeptical hubby was pleased!
I tried this recipe, but was disappointed with how dirty my dishes still were when I unloaded them. I think I will use the watered down version for my sink dishes, though.
I have looked around for the Sals Suds… Where do you buy it. Our co-op doesn’t even have it up here in Bellingham.
Nicole,
I just picked up some Sals Suds at the Fred Meyer on Bakerview!
I have read on the Charlie’s Soap site that some people have used the powdered laundry soap (which I LOVE for laundry!) in the dishwasher. Haven’t tried it myself since we do not have an automatic DW. It would be more expensive than your homemade recipe.
I’ve been using your recipe, but I am finding lots of food left on the dishes, as well as a white salt-like substance on the inside of my daughter’s bottles. Any ideas on what I should do about this?
You can use white vinegar in your rinse aid reservoir. That may help get rid of the “salt-like” substance. It may just be a soapy residue and white vinegar is great for that. I even use it in my laundry for a fabric softener. Same concept.