Homemade Dishwasher Powder

I organized under my kitchen sink this morning and wanted to share the dishwasher powder recipe I made. We’ve had issues with dishwasher detergents because we have hard water in our house. I came across a simple and inexpensive homemade dishwasher powder and have been loving it! It makes a good-size batch, leaving all my dishes clear and clean. And the best part is that there’s no fragrance or harmful ingredients!

According to Safe Mama, here’s 3 dishwasher detergent ingredients you want to avoid:

1. “Phosphates: Phosphates are all sorts of bad and are completely unnecessary in your detergents.  Phosphates act as a water softener, in order to make your detergent “work better.”  They leak into the ground and water system and wreak havoc on our ecosystem.  Once in the water system, it causes algae blooms, which rob the water of oxygen.  This is just a smidge important for our aquatic life.  (fish need oxygen too!)

2. Chlorine: Chlorine is one of those cleaners that people swear by.  Your house is just not “clean” unless you douse it with a healthy dose of bleach.  Need your baby’s toys or bottles sanitized?  Just add a little bleach to the water.   Again, entirely unnecessary.  Bleach is caustic.  The fumes alone are enough to make you sick.

3. Artificial perfumes (phthalates): By now, it’s known that phthalates are just plain bad for you.   Those fresh morning daisies you’re smelling in your dishwashing detergent, most likely contain phthalates.  And are most likely leaving that residue on your glasses.  Ew.”

Here’s the ingredients and cost for making my own Dishwasher Powder (scroll down for the recipe!)

• washing soda (Amazon $4.76)

• borax (Target $6.29)

• powdered citric acid (Amazon $5.99)

• kosher salt (Fry’s Food and Drug $2.99)

**Edited to add, you may want to substitute lemon juice for citric acid, as I recently learned citric acid can damage stainless steel.

All the supplies cost me $20.03 and I still have plenty left for more batches and projects! I am sooooo done spending more than that every month just for one bag of brand-name dishwasher powder. Before you make your own, here’s what to expect:

Con: There are no anti-caking agents in this recipe, so it does clump in the container. I just scrape up enough to fill a Tbsp. and don’t worry about it. 

Pro: This also makes a fantastic toilet cleaner!

Alrighty here’s the recipe to make your batch:

Homemade Dishwasher Powder

• 1 cup washing soda

• 1 cup borax

• 1/2 cup powdered citric acid OR 3/4 cup lemon juice

• 1/2 cup kosher salt

Add all ingredients to a bowl, mix well, transfer to an airtight container. Don’t forget to label! You’ll need 1-2 tbsp. Per load, and to reduce the likelihood of it clumping in your dishwasher, add it to the dishwasher dispenser right before you begin the cycle so it dissolves well. I choose to add a splash of distilled white vinegar to every load but I bet you can try it without. 

**If using Lemon juice in place of citric acid, stir all ingredients together, scoop out 1 Tbsp and place in silicone mold or ice cube trays, let dry to make tablets, then store them in an airtight container.

Recipe from: The Spruce

Have you made your own dishwasher detergent or tried this recipe? Would love to hear your thoughts!