If you are a cook or a Mom you wash a lot of dishes. If you are a food blogger you wash a TON of dishes … every day. I’d say I run maybe 2 or 3 loads in the dishwasher and my sore knuckles & wrinkled fingers tell me I wash too many dishes, knick knacks, pots and pans by hand … every … day! It’s possibly the least favorite chore on my plate (no pun intended).
That’s a lot of dishwasher tabs (and dish soap — but we’ll get to that another day).
If you have hard water, you know how much fun it is to get your dishes clean in a dishwasher — no matter what product you use. I really resent being asked to spend almost $15 for a box of what is essentially just soap “pillows.” But it seems that apparently I’m one of many that plunks down my hard earned cash for dishwasher tab. All in the hopes of getting sparkling clean dishes with no white gunky film.
Part of what bothers me is that those tabs are nothing but chemicals and the manufacturers aren’t required to tell me what’s in them. But they expect me to trust their soap & chemical combo to wash my dishes, plates, glasses and flatware and then let my family and friends use them to put my food into their bodies. Not saying that they are dangerous, I’m just saying that I prefer to know exactly what is being used. And I prefer spending a lot less money to do that.
I’ll go over the cost savings between homemade and store bought dishwasher tabs a little further on in the post, but I know you’ll be surprised, if nothing else.
If you have soft water or even moderately normal water, there are quite a few recipes you can try and most will probably work for you. If you have hard water, good luck! There aren’t that many recipes out there that get your dishes and plastics clean without a gunky white film that almost requires a sandblaster to remove after it’s there.
I’ve tried about six (6) different recipes for homemade dishwater detergent. I didn’t think about hard water when I tried the first one and the scale almost took over the dishes in the machine. I swear there is still scale on some dishes and flatware that I’m trying to scrub off.
I found two different recipes for dishwasher detergent that said it would work in hard water and neither did the trick for me.
I guess have extremely hard water. Sometimes when I pour a glass to drink, the water actually stands up in the glass and smacks me on the nose. It’s that hard and nasty.
So I did a bit of research then played around with recipes and came up with one that actually works on extremely hard water. YAY — Happy dance ensues!!
You’ll need some basic laundry ingredients. If you plan on trying my recipe for laundry soap or other products you may as well keep them handy! You’ll notice I reuse containers. My goal is to start replacing those plastic containers with glass jars instead. So much prettier to look at in these photos if I had fancier jars! LOL I know I’d be more impressed!
You’ll need Arm & Hammer WASHING Soda. Not baking soda. You’ll find washing soda in the Laundry soap aisle NOT the baking aisle. While you are in the laundry aisle, you are going to need some 20 Mule Team Borax and some powdered oxygenated cleaner (like OxiClean). I use the store brand. I have a recipe I’m trying for homemade oxygenated cleaner, but it’s a liquid and so wouldn’t work here anyway.
Then you’ll want to swing over to the drinks aisle and get Unsweetened Lemonade Powder Mix and Unsweetened Orange Powder Mix. You want totally unsweetened, like Kool-Aid or the equivalent store brand. (Believe it or not, Wal-Mart didn’t have any of their store brand in stock when I went to get some last time.) Some recipes suggest using citric acid (which is what Kool-Aid lemonade & orange drink mix mostly consist of). However, every recipe I tried that contained citric acid didn’t work as well. I could have been the citric acid I had, but why source it out when Kool-Aid (or store brand equivalent) does such a great job.
You’ll also need coarse kosher salt, a measuring cup and something to mix your ingredients and to store your powder in.
This recipe is easily doubled and also easily halved. In fact, if you aren’t sure the recipe will work for you, I’d suggest only making half. That way you aren’t wasting much.
I can’t even give my 1st 6-10 failed batches away as all my neighbors and friends have the same extremely hard water that we do.
Now here’s the reasons I think you should at least try this recipe:
- You’ll know exactly what is in your dishwasher detergent — no more mystery chemicals
- You’ll be saving a TON of money!
I just checked the price on Cascade Complete dishwasher tabs. Those are the ones I used before switching to my homemade recipe. I know they work in extremely hard water. I chose the least expensive source, Wal-Mart (even though that’s not where I shop). They have a 67-count box for $13.97 or $0.21 per dishwasher load.
Here’s the cost breakdown of my Homemade Dishwasher Detergent for Extremely Hard Water
- Arm & Hammer Washing Soda: $2.32 ($0.58 per cup)
- 20 Mule Team Borax: $1.20 ($0.40 per cup)
- Oxygenated Cleaner: $0.48 ($0.06 per oz.)
- Coarse Kosher Salt: $0.25 ($0.25 per cup)
- 6 pkg. Kool-Aid Unsweetened Lemonade Drink Mix: $1.20 ($0.20 per packet)
- 6 pkg. Kool-Aid Unsweetened Orange Drink Mix: $1.20 ($0.20 per packet)
- TOTAL COST: $6.65 for 147 Tablespoons of Dishwasher Detergent
- PER DISHWASHER LOAD: $0.045 or less than FIVE CENTS per Load
That’s what I call a Win-Win all around!
- 4 cups Washing Soda
- 3 cups Borax
- 1 cup oxygenated cleaner
- 1 cup coarse sea salt or kosher salt
- 6 pkgs Unsweetened Lemon Drink Mix
- 6 pkgs Unsweetened Orange Drink Mix
- Mix all ingredients well. Store in airtight container.
- Use approx. 1 tablespoon per dishwasher load. Combine with Lemi Shine Booster if desired.
- If you feel you need to, you can also use Lemi Shine Rinse (Jet Dry). It works better with this recipe than vinegar.
I use this recipe for our dishwasher- I am new to hardwater issues and this was a lifesaver!!! Thank you- do you have a laundry detergent recipe or recommendation? My clothes need some help….
front load washer- tide works best.
Top loading ones– add some washing soda and run extra rinse cycle
Seriously Jay?! Tide is nothing but chemicals and synthetic fragrance. Do your homework. I wouldn’t use Tide if you paid me.
Racquel, Hi! Yes. I use this laundry soap and have for years. I have an HE front loading washer and it’s been great. Save $88 (or more) By Making Your Own Laundry Soap!
I just discovered you and sad that you no longer blogging.
Powdered unsweetened koolaid no longer exists in Canada, how much citric acid would I use instead?
Joy,
Hi! I would recommend adding 1 tsp. of citric acid per dishwasher load to start with. Increase or decrease as necessary to get the results you want — sparkling clean dishes. I’d start by keeping the citric acid separate until you know how much you should use, then modify the recipe if you really want everything in one container. Cheers!
This works great in my dishwasher! I was worried I’d almost ruined it after several months of using liquid detergent- out water is very hard and deposits built up so fast!! After a few lemi shine treatments and using this recipe for several weeks, the inside of my dishwasher looks great and my dishes feel so clean. Thank you!
We moved into a house that has EXTREMELY hard water last winter and I have tried all sorts of commercial brands of dishwasher detergent and have gone through a ton of Jet Dry. The hard water residue just kept getting worse. I searched the interwebs and you recipe was the first one to pop up. Gathered all the ingredients today and gave it a shot (did use True Lemon and True Orange instead of the unsweetened drink mix, though). IT WORKS BRILLIANTLY! Am shaking my head at how long I fought with commercial brands. Am sooo thankful for your post!
I have used the recipe above for two loads of dishes. The first load had a white film on everything, and the dishwasher looked really dirty. So I ran a rinse cycle with vinegar, and it helped a little. The second load was also covered with a white powdery film even though I added LemiShine, so I rinsed with vinegar in the dishwasher again. This time, it didn’t work. The dishes are still white! Help!!!
Katie,
I’m sorry to hear that this recipe isn’t working for you. Did you use the unsweetened lemonade mix? Try using citric acid and see if that works for you. It sounds like you have really hard water too!
Winter!
Hello! Do you have any suggestions for when using the recipe as written and still getting a ton of film and scale on the dishes? I even put straight vinegar as rinse and a full cup on top rack. It only helps some of the dishes around it. Don’t want to have to resort to jet dry if there’s something I’m missing.
Hey there — I work at Crate and Barrel in the “entertaining area” where we sell glassware for everyday use and the more expensive wine and alcohol uses. Also, we sell 10/18 stainless flatware and dinnerware composed of Bone China, Porcelain, Stoneware and Earthenware (that list states hardest down to softest materials). One thing we emphasize strongly with all of those items is NOT TO USE A DISHWASHER DETERGENT THAT CONTAINS ANY CITRUS INGREDIENTS. I accidentally bought a bargain liquid detergent that was lemon flavored (but no pictures or yellow color on the packaging) and I can attest to the damage it did to my glassware in particular. I thought there was something wrong with my dishwasher! I finally read the ingredients on the side and slapped my forehead for my stupidity. Some of my glass items are scratched to the point of needing to get rid of them. Some of them fogged up. People have come into the store complaining about their glassware fogging up and I had no idea why — except I reiterated the warning about citrus detergents. What are your thoughts on this? BTW, FYI, Barkeepers Friend gets a lot of problem marks off of flatware and the silverware marks off dinnerware.
I can’t wait to try this. So excited about the possibility of clean glasses after a wash. I have all ingredients but questioning about the kooloaid. The store I went to only had sugar free lemonade and orange mix. Do you know is that the same as unsweetened? Or should I keep looking for unsweetened? Thank you. Stacy R
I made this exactly as stated, used 1 tbsp. in my dishwasher, and sadly my dishes came out worse than ever before. My dishwasher was given a deep clean/descale 3 washes prior and all filters, drains, etc are clear. The dishes weren’t covered with residue from the water but a thick, gritty, white film from the soap. I had to rehashed everything by hand and really scrub the soap off. It was worse on the outsides of dishes than the insides (cups, bowls, etc.)
Any ideas of what went wrong or other things to try? I really want this to work.
I’m sorry to hear that! A couple of things to try would be to add another packet of lemonade mix to what you already have. Check the temperature of your water heater. If you are getting gritty residue, it’s possible that the water isn’t hot enough. Can’t hurt to check. Also, add Jet Dry or vinegar to your Rinse Aid container.
Winter!
Winter, thank you for being so responsive to the comments here. Reading feedback to common questions has been helpful.
I just experienced the same white film coating on all of my dishes as Ashley, the woman who posted in March of 2022. My water heater works really well. I see your response and I have a few questions:
1. Personally, do you always use Lemi Shine with each wash to avoid the white residue?
2. I use a Target brand rinse aid each dishwasher cycle with the above detergent recipe. With it being store brand, do you think it’s missing the potency Lemi-Shine might have? Resulting in the white coating?
3. Do you have a homemade, cost-saving Lemi-Shine recipe by chance?
4. Are you familiar with the white film simply being undissolved salt (as the internet states it could be) or do you think it’s the entire detergent mix left behind? I ask because if the white residue left on the dishes is simply salt, I will skip out on washing each dish by hand and instead leave it be and use the dishes to cook and eat per usual, appreciating the leftover salt seasoning our meals lol. Let me know your thoughts.
Shay,
I’m sorry that you are getting a white coating on your dishes.
1. I use Kool-aid unsweetened lemonaid and orange powder.
2. If you aren’t having luck with kool-aid, try the Lemi Shine.
3. Unsweetened koolaid (or equivalent store brand) would be another thing to try. You can also try citric acid.
4. I wouldn’t use the dishes with the scale left on them. I’d rinse them off before using them to serve/cook food with.
Good luck!!
Winter!