
Detergent for the dishwasher has two components that I don’t like: the trash and the chemicals in the average dish detergent. Even the ones that are “natural” are chock full of things I don’t want my family possibly ingesting… Like what’s in this detergent:
Ingredient | Purpose |
---|---|
Water | Consistency |
Sodium Carbonate | Water Softener |
Sodium Silicate | pH Control |
Sodium Salt of Polyacrylic Acid | Controls Thickness |
Sodium Hydroxide | pH Control |
Sodium Hypochlorite | Prevents Spotting |
Disodium Decylphenyl Ether Disulfonate | Cleaning Agent |
Polyquaternium | Prevents Spotting |
Zinc Chloride | Prevents Corrosion |
Sodium Stearate | Controls Thickness |
Fragrance | Pleasant Scent |
Titanium Dioxide | Makes Product Opaque |
Sulfuric Acid | pH Control |
Pretty nasty stuff, right? I mean, if you can’t pronounce it, why on earth are we using it?
Does it really do that good of a job cleaning? For me, it didn’t. I used to try everything on the market, especially in my coupon days and I found they all pretty much worked the same. As in they didn’t.
We have very hard, high iron, well water and it takes a lot to get our dishes clean. And, the commercial stuff just wasn’t cutting it. An when I really started researching the chemicals, I knew that there had to be another way to get our dishes clean!
So, me being ME, I decided to make my own Homemade Auto Dishwasher Detergent with 4 Simple ingredients that I had on hand (like always!)

Automatic Dishwasher Detergent Recipe
Materials
- 1 cup of borax
- 1 cup washing soda
- 1 cup citric acid
Instructions
- I place in a covered jar.
- Gently shake.
Add 1/2 cup plain white vinegar to the rinse cycle and there you go:

I figured that this cost me only a few dollars to make…and this batch will last about 4 weeks, using 2 Tablespoons per wash load.
The best part of this was that it really worked on caked on food and grease, which is good because my kids aren’t the best at pre-rinsing. I didn’t have to worry about any type of nasty residue being left over and getting into our food and bodies.

Heather’s homesteading journey started in 2006, with baby steps: first, she got a few raised beds, some chickens, and rabbits. Over the years, she amassed a wealth of homesteading knowledge, knowledge that you can find in the articles of this blog.