Home-Made Dishwasher Powder

I was recently teaching about Sugar-Free Jam making at the Bracken Ridge Library and, as usual, got chatting afterwards with like-minded people about making things yourself, helping the environment and the hip pocket simultaneously. The below recipe was emailed to me by a lovely lady named Beverley and I wanted to share this with you all.

Recipe (modified slightly for ease of use)

  • One cup Bi carb soda (baking soda)
  • One cup of washing soda (sodium carbonate, powdered, not crystals)
  • Half a cup of citric acid
  • Half a cup of salt

Instructions

Mix the above ingredients together and then use one tablespoon for a load of dishes. Use white vinegar instead of rinse aid.

This is a much safer option than the chemical detergents you get in the grocery store, benefiting you and the environment. It also costs less to make your own, so save yourself some money and mix up a batch.

As always, live well.

Valerie

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30 Replies to “Home-Made Dishwasher Powder”

  1. I have used this recipe for about 6 mths now and love it. Gets the dishes lovely and clean. I also use a couple of drops of essential oil for a lovely fragrance. Haven’t used white vinegar as a rinse aid but will be now. What a great idea. Sure beats all those chemicals.

    1. Yes, you can. We have citric acid in our store at Green Living Australia. washing Soda is available at Woolworths.

      Valerie

  2. This is very similar to the one I use in the washing machine for clothes except I also add a grated bar of sunlight soap.
    100 g baking sofa
    100g citric acid
    200g washing Skoda
    50g sea salt
    1 bar sunlight soap grated

  3. Hi Valerie, I made this last week and my glasses and plastic are coming out coated, almost greasy, not clear. Any suggestions? Using vinegar for rinse. In brisbane. Appreciate advice.

    1. Hi Natalie:

      How very strange.I wonder what could be causing them to be greasy? Looking at the ingredients, you would not think that this was possible. I have been using this recipe and have not had a similar problem. Have you run a cycle to clean out your dishwasher recently?

      1. Hi Valerie, thank you for the advice. I did a heavy duty wash empty with bicarb only and it seems to be better. I doubled up the powder on the first normal wash putting some in the pre wash and tbspn in normal compartment. Appreciate your advice.

    1. Washing soda is available in supermarkets. It is Sodium Carbonate (Na 2 CO 3) I get mine at Woolworths.

  4. I wondered what washing soda was too! Told it could be purchased at the chemist. The chemist told me it’s at Woolies. Had to ask a Woolies clerk who pointed to packets of it on the very bottom shelf in the household cleaning section.

  5. I mixed the ingredients, placed in a sealed tupperware and over a few days it hardened like a rock. I can still use it with pretty good results (working on better results due to very hard water) but wondering why it hardened. When it mixes with water, it still seems active. I live in a very humid environment. Any ideas what happened?
    Thank you for posting!

    1. David,

      It would most certainly be the humidity. I live in an area with low humidity, so don’t have much problem with this, but every now and then, mine also gets hard. I just use it anyway and it works just as well.

    2. I live in a dry desert and mine still hardens in a Tupperware container. I just shake it up and it’s fine.

  6. For the people living in humid areas, it can be helpful to put a small disc of terracotta in to absorb moisture. I do this for brown sugar to stop clumping too.

    I have also seen suggestions to use Ubtan powder in an organza bag. Ubtan is a clay used in cosmetics and you can get it on Amazon.

  7. I have looked at alot of recipes for DW detergent and all include alot of salt. I wonder why that is please? I know that in hard water areas people use salt in their DW but we are on tank water and no limescale issues. Could I omit it our are their other benefits to using salt?

  8. Hi Valerie, Thanks for the recipe. I am wondering why salt is used in many recipes I have seen? I know that in hard water areas it is great for reducing limescale, but I am using tank water with no limescale issues. Would salt still be needed?
    Cheers, Lynda

  9. I’ve mixed the ingredients and the mixture is hissing in the mixing bowl. The ingredients are reacting with each other and has become very cold to touch.
    The bowl was dry and I’m looking at all my ingredients again. I’m sure it’s right.
    Bicarbonate of soda
    Soda crystals
    Citric acid
    Sea salt

    I don’t think I dare seal it in a jar 😂

    1. Hello Christopher,

      I have never had this happen. I add all my ingredients to a large bowl and then stir with a wooden spoon. The ingredients are not reacting to each other. Rather, they are reacting to moisture, and the ingredient reacting is the bicarbonate soda.

      Here is a summary of the process
      Summary of the Process
      1. Dissolution: NaHCO3→Na++HCO3−
      2. Equilibrium in Water: HCO3−+H2O⇌H2CO3+OH−
      3. Decomposition of Carbonic Acid: H2CO3→CO2+H2O

      So the gas being released on carbon dioxide.

      Valerie

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