Make a dish soap and forget about commercial cleaning agents

Effective dish soap
©Depositphotos/mcornelius

Commercial dish soaps are so expensive, sometimes they completely overrun the use of your dishwasher. As much of an angel your gadget may be, as a homemaker, spending too much on store bought commercial cleaning solutions may stress you out. It’s a good thing it’s actually fairly easy to make inexpensive homemade dish soap. Take note that this variant is for the machine and is not for hand washing.

Getting started

To begin making your own dish soap, prepare a 32 ounce container with a secure lid. Add these five ingredients first:

  • A cup of washing soda
  • A cup of borax
  • Half a cup of citric acid, or double that dose if you have hard water
  • Half a cup of kosher salt.

Put the lid back on and shake all your ingredients together. Shake for five good minutes and your dish soap should be ready for use.

Some notes

dish soap
©Depositphotos/mcornelius

As inexpensive as your homemade dish soap may be, it can be clumpier than commercial variants. For this reason, it’s best to have white vinegar ready as well. Put about a tablespoon of white vinegar into the rinse aid compartment every time you wash a load of dishes. For the good dish soap, you will need about a tablespoon per load as well, or as indicated by your machine.

Because homemade dish soaps usually leave behind debris, you still need to have a regular, commercially available dish detergent ready. Use regular dishwashing liquid on your dishwasher at least once a month just to clean out the system. You can still economize by using your homemade variant for most of the month.

Extremely sensitive machines

While this dishwashing soap recipe works on most dishwashing machines, some machine models do require special dishwashing liquids. It is best to follow the instructions on the manufacturer’s manual, especially if your machine is still under warranty. If you’re way past the warranty period, though, and you just want to save money, you may take the risk of clumping and try using it with homemade solutions.

Clumpy solutions

Take note that your solution will also clump because it has citric acid in the mix. What you should do is add about a teaspoon of rice to the solution to absorb the moisture. You may also leave the solution out and stir it frequently throughout the day when you’ve just combined all the ingredients. You may also leave out the citric acid, and just add it to your machine separately as you load it with dishes instead of mixing it with your own dish soap.

Weighing the pros and cons

The advantages of making and using homemade dish soap are tempting. On the one hand, the solution is very inexpensive and it’s easy to make. However, unlike commercial blends, the homemade variant is far from perfect. It can still clog up your dishwasher, and it can get clumpy. The clumpy solution problem can be resolved, but the solutions are a bit tedious to follow. If you want to stick to your homemade solution, you will have to face the consequences. Weigh the pros and cons first before opting for the homemade variant.

2 thoughts on “Make a dish soap and forget about commercial cleaning agents”

  1. I love this soap, but I can’t seem to get the super washing soda to dissolve so I have to shake before each use. Is this normal? Also, I use a citrus essential oil to help cut the grease.

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