by Texas Homesteader
*contains affiliate link
I recently became extremely disenchanted with my crappy low-end dishwasher. I mean, why must we wash our dishes THREE times? Once BEFORE putting the in the dishwasher, once during the dishwasher’s many cycles and then once again when you pull the still-dirty dishes from the dishwasher! It would be easier to hand-wash the dishes but it was the principle of the thing. We have a dishwasher, we fill it with name-brand detergent and it just doesn’t clean the dishes.
Then right before buckling and replacing the dishwasher we were told to try dishwasher tabs instead of powder. I had always shunned them because they are so exorbitantly expensive. But upon trying them I was convinced. Our dishes came out clean, but oh at what expense?
Not only were they pricey but these dish-washing tab products had individually wrapped tabs that are tucked into a plastic molded tray, then placed inside a foil-covered cardboard box and then the whole thing plastic wrapped again. There has to be a better way both financially & environmentally! Hummm… Wonder if I can make my own dishwasher tabs? Um, YES!
In searching around I found a recipe on CuckooForCouponDeals site. I figured I had nothing to lose, I have all of the necessary ingredients. So I gave it a try.
Simple Ingredients
First I mixed Borax, washing soda and Epsom salt in a bowl. Then I started adding the lemon juice. I began with about 8 tablespoons & added a tablespoon at a time after that to get a consistency like a smooth thick icing. For me it took about 10 tablespoons of lemon juice.
When the consistency was right I used a cookie scoop to measure out approximately tablespoon-sized scoops onto a repurposed plastic bag. I used the bottom of a drinking glass to flatten the prepared scoops just a bit so they would fit in the dishwasher detergent compartment on my dishwasher.
IMPORTANT NOTE: These disks looked and smelled like something edible! So please inform your family these are NOT lemon cookies. And be sure to keep them out of the reach of children.
When these tabs dried they were very hard, but they dissolved just fine during the dishwasher cycle.
They worked just as well for me as some of the more expensive name brands that I’d tried. So I’m pleased with the results, the lack of landfill trash – and the PRICE!
The * Finish Dishwasher Tabs
still worked better at removing the white film on my glasses so I’m not through experimenting with this recipe. But in the meantime these homemade dishwasher tabs are quite a money saver. And I always have the ingredients to make them!
MYO Lemon Dishwasher Detergent Tabs
I make my own dishwasher tabs with common household ingredients. #TexasHomesteader
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Borax
- 1 Cup Washing Soda
- 1/2 Cup Epsom salt
- 10 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
Instructions
Directions:
-
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add 8-10 Tablespoons of lemon juice and mix thoroughly. (You want the consistency to be like a smooth thick icing.)
-
When you achieve the desired consistency place tablespoon-sized drops on waxed paper and allow to dry thoroughly.
Recipe Notes
I used a cookie scoop to make the tabs. I flattened the prepared scoops just a bit so they would fit in the dishwasher detergent compartment on my dishwasher.
~TxH~
Want To See Our Natural Cleaning Posts?
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I actually made a small batch of this to try. I didn’t have the lemon juice, so did without, making it a powder. Added some homemade Thieves oil, neat, 2 drops to it and was pleased with the cleaning result, but it didn’t seem to rinse off, so have reduced it to half a TBSP.
I just recently had my new (cheap) inexpensive dishwasher installed, and it, too seemed to not clean well. Had some very old (8 years or so) liquid ‘green’ dishwashing detergent that I used until it was gone, not happy with its results also.
I really think I will like this, but will add regular (not morton) salt and white vinegar
(organic, as the other stuff is made with petroleum products, YUCK) for helping with film and rinsing. Also may keep it in powder form if I don’t decide to use the lemon.
PS: What is the purpose of the lemon?
Thanks!!!
The lemon adds acidity to the dishwasher tabs Carol, similar to citric acid you would purchase. It should help with the rinse you mentioned. ~TxH~
Neat idea. I’ve never tried making my own cleaners. Pinning this!
Awesome, thanks for the pin, Jamie. ~TxH~
I have been thinking about this for a while so thank you for sharing your recipe. I now just need to find where to get Borax here. Thanks for linking up at Good Morning Mondays and for sharing your experiences with us. Blessings
Great idea! I’ll be pinning! Thanks for sharing on Merry Monday Link Party! Always a pleasure to have you! And congrats on being the “most clicked link” last week! Julia
The feature is pretty exciting Julia – thanks. And thanks for the pin for this post. ~TxH~
Super recipe for the washing dishes, love it!!! thanks for sharing at Fab Friday
Maria
My hubby is all about the dishwasher. Me, personally, I hate that thing LOL I would much rather do them by hand as we dirty them, then to have a pile waiting to be loaded. I know, I am weird maybe . Thank you for being part of the (mis)Adventures Monday Blog Hop!
Thank-you ! I am definitely going to make these.
I love using my homemade dishwasher tabs. As for your glasses having white residue you might want to try adding some citric acid to your mix and adding vinegar to the rinse aid. This may help.
Wow! I can’t believe I could actually make a dishwasher detergent with ingredients I already had in my kitchen. SWEET! Thank you for posting!
Give it a try Michelle. As I mentioned my main driving force behind making these in the first place was to push back against the shocking amount of waste packaging in the commercial dishwasher-tab options, but I’ve been pretty pleased with them. ~TxH~
I think these are so neat! I saw a post last week about this recipe. I wonder is it cheaper to make them? I do like the idea of homemade better if its cheaper! Visiting form Wake Up Wed!
I’m sure the cost comparison depends on what brand you buy Suzi, whether you use coupons, etc. I’m virtually certain it’s cheaper than the brand I was buying, but my biggest drive is eliminating the individually-wrapped tablets which were then in a box that was also plastic wrapped. I HATED all the wasted packaging! ~TxH~
I have been making my own as well, the rinse agent being the minus. I have been adding jet dry to that cup on the door and my homemade tabs do a better job than anything I have ever purchased. Thanks for this improved recipe!
Terry, the vinegar in the rinse-aid cup on the door has helped with the white film, but I still use the Finish tabs as well from time to time for a power-wash when the dishes are really grungy. My much less expensive and more environmentally friendly homemade version certainly performs as well as some of the other name brands but I haven’t been able to match the Finish yet. Hummm…. ~TxH~
This is amazing! I am making this up this afternoon. I agree with you. This sounds like it will work. Thanks for linking to What’d You Do This Weekend. Have a good one!
Linda @ Tumbleweed Contessa
Awesome Linda, let me know how they come out for you. ~TxH~
Awesome Angie – THANKS! ~TxH~
Thanks for sharing your great idea with Wildcrafting Wednesday! When my dishwasher gets fixed I will try these. 🙂
This is awesome! I use those expensive pouches in my dishwasher. I love them because they work so well, I hadn’t even though to look into an alternative. Once I run out I’ll have to give these a try!
Do give it a try Monica, being on a septic system out here I love that it’s gentler on the system and it’s so inexpensive! And you’ve gotta love a product you can provide for yourself instead of buying. ~TxH~
Great idea!
I’ve read several recipes that mention adding citric acid to your dishwasher tabs to help prevent the white film. i haven’t tried it yet but have read several reviews that said it helped. We also use vinegar as our rinse agent. I love finding MYO products!!
I’ve read that as well Kellie, although I know when you’re making cheese and the instructions tell you to add citric acid you can add lemon juice instead – I thought they were close to the same thing. I assumed with all the lemon juice in the tabs that it would suffice, but I’m certainly willing to throw some citric acid in & see what happens. That dang white film makes my glasses look dirty even when they’re clean! Thanks for the hint – I’ll let ya know how it comes out. ~TxH~
I’m going to have to give this a try. I am so tired of paying the high prices of dishwasher detergent!
I’m going to have to try this. I do a powdered version, but I love the ease of tablets. Thanks for sharing today on The 104 Homestead Blog Hop!
Our water is EXTREMELY hard. It was ruining everything that went into the dishwasher. You could literally flake the stuff off. Can’t imagine what it was doing to our insides… We had to install a high quality water purifier/softener but it has worked wonders but we may still get a little buildup on occasion. I’m anxious to try your recipe.
Wow Robin, that really *IS* hard water! ~TxH~
Hi. I have heard that if you add some regular SALT to your dishwasher recipe, it will help with the hard water issue. (salt is what they add to water conditioners/softeners for your water supply). I have a well, and it is somewhat hard, so I plan to add regular salt to this recipe. Citric acid used to be made from lemons, but is made from black mold now:
http://ethicalfoods.com/citric-acid/
Just wanted you to know…
Another possible viewpoint on the salt: We have an aerobic septic system out here, so after the water is treated it’s pumped to spray heads and dispersed onto our pasture grass to further percolate through the soil layers. As a result, I don’t like to add salt since too much salt accumulated on the ground could cause problems with over salination of our soil. Thankfully our water’s soft anyway. ~TxH~
For the whitish film, have you tried vinegar in the rinse compartment. It works pretty well for me.
I tried for the first time just the other day Jody & it did seem to help some. I’m going to experiment with it. Thanks for the hint. ~TxH~
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’ve literally tried every dishwasher recipe online and nothing has worked for us. My husband has threatened to go purchase a big bottle at Costco… The addition of epsom salts is a new ingredient that I think just might work for my next batch!
Ya know, it’s worth a try. Without the phosphates I’m still battling the light whitish film on my drinking glasses even with this homemade formula, but the last load I added vinegar in the rinse cycle & it seemed to help some so I’ll keep experimenting! ~TxH~
Thanks! I had given up on my dishwasher but we just figured out that all of our appliances have filters on them and the filters had gotten clogged. (we have a holding tank and we ran it almost dry pulling alot of sediment one time!) I will try this because I hate the price of the tabs or the little bubble things!
I compare the results to a name-brand dishwashing detergent that starts with a “C” – mine worked as well as theirs. I’m glad phosphates have been removed from detergents as they are not good for the environment but dang I hate the cloudy glasses that results from it! My dishwashing detergent didn’t do anything to help take away the cloudiness but I’m experimenting with adding vinegar in the rinse cycle, etc. We’ll see – I’d sure love to go 100% with homemade dishwashing detergent! ~TxH~
I use a similar DIY recipe (powdered). Use LemiShine rinse aid (its natural–citric acid) and your cloudy glasses will be gone!
I’ll definitely give it a try Tamara – I’ll let ya know how it does. ~TxH~