After making (and totally loving!) this grease-fighting lavender dish soap, I decided it was time to ditch my automatic dish washing detergent tablets, too. Sure, they work great, but I was ready to go a more natural route. And let me tell you – I’m even more in love with this than the liquid dish soap! Making all natural dishwasher tablets is as easy as can be AND they cost less than store bought tablets. Hurrah!
I wanted to make mine without borax. There’s some debate about whether or not it’s really safe to use in natural dishwasher detergent so I opted to leave it out. I wasn’t sure it needed it anyway, and lucky for me, it definitely didn’t! Instead, I used five ingredients I always have on hand – super washing soda (my new favorite natural cleanser!), baking soda, kosher salt, citric acid and water.
All you need to do is mix the dry ingredients together in a big bowl then add the water. If you prefer to make a detergent that’s not in tablet form, just skip the water. There’s roughly 1 tablespoon of dishwasher detergent in each tablet so I would use 1 tablespoon of the dry detergent per load if you don’t make tablets.
It will fizz up a bit because the liquid creates a chemical reaction between the citric acid and the sodas. It doesn’t cancel out their cleaning power though. I was a bit worried at first, but they worked perfectly. Also, you want to be careful when working with super washing soda because it can cause skin irritation. I haven’t had a problem with this, but I did wear gloves while I was forming the tablets.
The mixture will look soupy at first, and then become more like slightly crumbly modeling clay. It starts to dry out quickly so you have work kind of fast. I got about 3 dozen tablets out of this batch. I really packed the wells of the ice cube trays tightly so you may get more or less than 36 depending on the size of the ice cube trays.
A few months ago, I also started to use white distilled vinegar as a rinse agent instead of the blue stuff. We have very hard water and my dishes would still come out with a little bit of a film on them and swapping that out really helped. I’ve been very happy with the natural dishwasher detergent tablets and the vinegar rinse agent. My dishes and flatware have never been cleaner or clearer!
DIY Natural Dishwasher Detergent Tablets
Easy DIY dishwasher detergent tablets are better for the environment and your wallet.
Ingredients
- 1 cup super washing soda
- 1 cup baking soda
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup citric acid
- 1 cup water
- Equipment needed - ice cube trays
Instructions
- Mix the sodas, salt, and citric acid together in a glass or stainless steel bowl.
- Add the water a little at a time, waiting for the fizzing to die down before adding more. Stir very well.
- Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the wells of several ice cube trays. Press hard on the mixture so the tablets hold together. Add a little more water if it becomes too crumbly to hold together.
- Let the tablets stand for about 30 minutes or so in the ice cube trays, then turn them out and let them dry completely.
- Transfer to a glass jar and store under the kitchen sink.
Lindsey, this was a very good help to me. I was helping out my friend with home made detergents and never found a good result. Thank myself for searching it online and finding your blog.
Now I guess, the work would be completed in no time. Will let you know about the results. 🙂
Let me know what you think! So glad you found us! I’ve been using the homemade tablets for a few weeks with really good results. The only time things didn’t come out sparkling clean was when I did a little experiment and put a measuring cup I used to measure sunflower butter. I didn’t rinse it at all. I just wanted to see. That was the only thing that wasn’t 100% clean, but everything else in the load looked great.
Lindsey Help!
I made this up not using the water to make the cubes. If i use a tablespoon I get this gritty cloud left on my dishes and if I use just a teaspoon they don’t come clean. My dish washer has 2 soap dispensers. I have been dividing the soap between the two. I have been using vinegar as a rinse aid for a long time.
Hi Violet! I would try adding some more citric acid to the powder. I’m still using the tablets for my dishes and so far so good. I am also wondering about water hardness. Our water is very hard, so I have had issues with other detergents leaving dishes cloudy. Unfortunately, I think it’s just a matter of trial and error until you find the right ratio that works with your water. Feel free to email me cafejohnsonia@gmail.com and I can troubleshoot more with you.
I can’t wait to use this! Two questions:
What is “super washing soda?”
Can I add in essential oils to create that “clean” smell such as lemon?
Hi Jenna! Yes, you could totally add some essential oils. You can read more about washing soda here – http://www.armandhammer.com/fabric-care/laundry-boosters/Products/arm-and-hammer-super-washing-soda-detergent-booster.aspx.
What is super washing soda?
Hi! It’s sodium carbonate – kind of like baking soda on steroids. Here’s a link to it – http://www.armandhammer.com/fabric-care/laundry-boosters/Products/arm-and-hammer-super-washing-soda-detergent-booster.aspx
Can you buy the ‘super washing soda’ in Australia? or is there an alternative?
Thanks
Hi there, love your website & ideas, just one simple question about the all natural bleach alternative. Any reason why it should be Kosher salt? Apologies if this is a stupid question. Thanks Julie-Anne.
Hi Julianne, I’m sure you could use any kind of salt. That’s just what I use.
Apologies regarding my previous message I meant the homemade dishwasher tablets not the all natural bleach alternative, doh!
Hey there, love this site! To say I’m obsessed is an understatement. Can you use something else besides citric acid?
Hi there
I’m in the uk & super washing soda is not available here.well it is on Ebay but for £25 which is unreal-do u know what the uk equivalent would be or what I can use as an alternative please?
I just did some checking and apparently you can make your own from baking soda! Check out this post on Wellness Mama for directions.
Thanks so much Hun-I just had a nice guy at whole foods tell me the uk equivalent is soda crystals so I may give them a try but would love to make my own so thanks so much for checking xxx
Hello, so I made these tablets exactly as the recipe calls for and I’m finding everything in my dishwasher is coming out with a white residue on them and I even put vinegar in my rinse aid compartment…do you have any suggestions about what I could do differently?
I have exactly the same problem. The white residue is pretty heavy and vinegar in the rinse cycle didn’t help either. Also I was making a mix, not tablets and ended up with mix getting hard as rock in the jar, I had to hammer it with a knife to get some out.
I would so much appreciate finding a earth friendly recipe that worked.
Made this recipe & I think there was way too much water. I just added a bit of water & the whole batch turned into a gooey mess! I have made these tablets before but think it called for 1-2 tbsps of white vinegar & no water.
Hi there! Thank you for sharing this very informative post! However, I think you missed to elaborate on the benefits of using organic dishwasher detergents, which is very important, especially for those who are looking for natural options for a healthier lifestyle. I discussed this on an in-depth post, and if you agree with me, you’re free to use my article as a source: https://karmaeating.com/blogs/healthy-lifestyle/why-use-organic-dishwasher-tablets More power to you! 🙂
Hi, where is the recipe with the measurements? Also, do you just pack it into the tray then immediately push them out?
Hi Lyndsay, the recipe is there now, sorry about that!
😱I don’t know what I’ve done wrong
Won’t stop fizzing 😱
I’m sure you meant a tablespoon or so of water?I made it with a cup of water as prescribed and it wad too runny yo do anythung with, so j had to use four times the amount of dry ingredients to make it work.