Tired of shelling out $6-15 a month for chemical laden Liquid Dishwashing detergent? I was too, so I created Mom’s Dishwasher Supreme Sauce a super concentrated Dishwasher safe* dishwasher liquid that actually works and it handles 64 loads of dishes for less than .02¢ per Load and does NOT leave a film on your dishes, maybe I should seriously call it Awesomesauce!
While several of our other dishwashing soap recipes call for Borax, You’ll notice that this recipe doesn’t. Many of our website guests and members were leery about using Borax on their dishes, for fear that it wouldn’t wash away completely or that it was leaving frosty/cloudy dishes in their dishwasher. If you prefer a dry detergent, there are links to those dishwasher recipes at the bottom of this page.
While this recipe is pretty simple and doesn’t require cooking of any kind, it does require that you follow the directions completely, or it won’t come out properly.
Trust me, I made 13 batches of homemade dish washing soaps before I finally perfected this one. So, take advantage of my willingness to trash my own kitchen in the name of do it yourself and make your own!
You’ll Need:
3 Cups of Water (dry cup measure, Not liquid measure)
1 c. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda DO NOT SUBSTITUTE – make sure it doesn’t have ANY LUMPS.
5 Tbs Bronners Liquid Castile Soap (Peppermint is nice!) DO NOT SUBSTITUTE with other Castile Soaps- they are NOT the same
Regular Quart Mason Jar with a Lid (NOT a wide-mouth jar) DO NOT USE A LARGER JAR.
Free Printable Label for your Jar
Add the water to the mason jar, just regular water from the tap is fine. Add the Bronner’s Castile Soap.
Add the (completely powdered, LUMP FREE) arm & hammer washing soda, a little at a time, giving it a chance to dissolve, or it will overflow causing a Mess.
Do not use baking soda, it will NOT work.
Put the lid on the jar, make sure that it is seated properly so it won’t leak and screw the band on tightly. Shake vigorously to blend all of the ingredients well.
INVERT THE JAR. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP or you will have a solid block at the bottom of your jar that you CANNOT get out and be sure to Follow the directions COMPLETELY.
DO NOT LEAVE THIS OVERNIGHT, it must be whipped during the time frame stated or it will turn into a solid chunk which WILL Break your Jar.
Leave it alone for at least an hour, then shake vigorously again. Put it back & make sure it is still INVERTED. You DO NOT want the contents to settle on the bottom of the glass jar.
After a couple hours or so, open the jar and it should be gelled, like so:
Attach your blender blade and gasket right to the mason jar, (we use a cheap Oster blender for this), and whip for a minute or so until all the ingredients are well blended and smooth and creamy.
It will look like this:
For those with Normal Water: Use 1 Tablespoon per Load of Dishes. This is a very low sudsing homemade Dishwasher Detergent.
Here you can see we wanted to test the efficiency of the soap, so we smeared raw egg yolks all over the plate and let it dry a little while before adding it to the machine.
For those with SOFT Water: Use 2 teaspoons ONLY per Load.
Budget101 Budget Breakdown:
Washing Soda 55 oz box =6.875 cups – $2.97 box = .43 per cup= .53¢
Dr Bronners = 3.69 for 4 oz = $1.38 per 3 Tbs.
Total Cost:$1.91 per 64 Loads = Less than .02¢ per Load
FAQ- here are a few questions we Anticipate you asking:
1. I don’t have a blender what can I use instead?
You can try a hand mixer or an immersion stick blender. We haven’t tried these and don’t know if they’ll work well. Alternatively, you can get a very cheap Oster blender on Amazon for making your own detergents, creams, lotions, etc. We use ours daily for these kinds of things.
If you transfer the ingredients to a blender, only whip it until you have reached the 4 cup mark on your blender or it will be a weaker concentration.
2. Can I use Regular Liquid Dishsoap like dawn, joy, etc
No. Those are not Low-Sudsing soaps and are not meant for the dishwasher. We use Dr Bronners because it is pure, made with organic oils, biodegradable, safe for use around food and works like a dream.
3. Is this safe for the Septic/dishwasher/etc?
We could find no indication on the ingredients anywhere that they were not safe for septic systems or dishwashers.
4. Where can I get the Ingredients Listed?
You can get the water from your faucet. You can get Arm & Hammer Washing Soda from the Laundry aisle of your local grocery store or here on Amazon. You can buy the Dr. Bronners Liquid Castile soap from the cleaning aisle of your local grocery store, at almost any natural foods/health store or from Here on Amazon.
5. Do you use Vinegar in the Rinse Cycle?
No, You MUST Use a DECENT Commercial rinse aid, or you will notice a cloudy effect on your dishes after several loads.
However, we sometimes dissolve 1/4 c. citric acid per 2 c. water over medium heat until dissolved and add that to the rinse dispenser instead. It’s all a matter of preference and availability of ingredients.
I prefer the rinse aid because it doesn’t oxidize my KitchenAid mixer utensils like citric acid does.
6. I found another brand of Castile soap that’s cheaper, can I use that instead?
We tested 3 different Castile Soaps Dr.Bronners, Kirks, Dr. Woods.We experienced the BEST results using Dr.Bronners Liquid Peppermint Castile Soap.
The Kirks castile soap left a haze/film on the dishes, the Dr Woods works okay but doesn’t seem to have the same cleaning power/results.
If you were going to substitute, which we do NOT recommend, your 2nd best choice would be Dr. Woods Castile soaps.
7. Does this work with High mineral count/ hard water?
We have been noticing that those who already have hard water are using their hard water as an ingredient in their dishwashing detergent.
If you have Hard water issues or use a Water Softener, you must use BOTTLED water in the recipe instead.
Also, For Hard Water/High Mineral Content you will need to reduce the washing soda by 1/4 cup and increase the Bronners by 2 Tablespoons.
8. Can I use a Larger Jar?
You could, but then it wouldn’t have the same concentration and would not work as directed.
9. I’m wanting to make this but my blender parts don’t fit on a mason jar. I don’t understand how it changes the concentration of the mix by using a larger jar.
This recipe makes 4 cups of Concentrated Whipped Soap. If you choose to use a blender, hand mixer, or immersion blender, be sure that you have 4 cups of whipped soap at the end.
Often members use a blender or hand mixer and report back that they ended up with 6 or 8 cups of soap. It’s no longer as concentrated at that level and you would need nearly twice as much for the same cleaning power as what the original recipe called for.
Other Homemade Automatic Dishwasher Detergent Recipes:
- MYO Dishwasher Pods/Tablets
- Money Saving Dishwasher Tips
- Homemade Dry Dishwasher Detergent in a Jar
- Homemade Automatic Dishwasher Detergent
Make Your Own Liquid Dish Detergent
We’d love for you to Share our original recipe, but please don’t copy and paste it to other sites. Instead, please consider linking back to our recipe here! Oh, and if you try it and want to share your results on your own site, please feel free to share the link to your page where you posted about it! Thank you so much!
*Disclaimer*– as with any and all recipes, we are not chemists, this is just what works for our family and is our humble opinion, nothing more, nothing less.
wow! now that’s what i call awesome! liss, i swear girl you are a plethora of information!
i can’t wait to try this!:worthy:
i can’t wait to try this. i’ve been severely disappointed in the other dishwasher recipes i’ve tried. they all leave my glasses cloudy & i have to nearly wash the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher.
i’m thinking positive with this one:)
We definitely Didn’t wash anything before putting the dishes in the dishwasher. As a matter of fact I literally smeared egg yolk all over a couple plates and let it partially dry, just to test it, LOL. Instead of taking pictures of the dishes, I should have been taking pictures of the looks on my kids faces.
Cloudiness can come from mineral deposits, (usually if you have a recipe with borax or salt in it). It can also come from the dishes getting etched by too many abrasives in the detergent.
At our house, so far so good. But I haven’t tried the vinegar yet- that’s coming soon.
i can’t wait to try this! thanks for being so willing to trash your own kitchen to help out the rest of us!!! :23_30_109[1]:
cool beans! thanks for sharing this, i’ve been trying for years to find a recipe that won’t etch my glasses or leave a nasty film all over everything. this site is amazing.
love the name awesomesauce, that’s funny!
i saw this posted on budget101’s facebook but at first I didn’t believe it. lol, you seriously intentionally dried egg yolk on your dishes to test this recipe? my regular dishwasher detergent wont remove egg yolk!
i’m curious as to what you would have done if it didn’t come off, lol.
i have all the ingredients for this on hand so we’re trying this one today to see how well it works for us. i noticed that your castile soap expense was alot more than mine. i can find the little bottles for about $2.
can i store this in something else? at the moment i only have two mason jars and i’m not ready to commit to buying a whole case of jars yet. i got them from a friend so that i could make the laundry sauce.
once i make that, i thought i would just transfer it into another container and use the jars again for this recipe.
please let me know if i can do that. i would hate to ruin it, because this stuff sounds amazing! my daughter is an actual chemist so i know how much trial and error must go into all these recipes.
thanks for all you hard work.
Check thrift stores for single mason jars..
I always see them there..
I would just invest in your local wal mart for 8.00 and get 12 1 quart regular mouth mason Jars. The main stay ones are only $8.00 range so that equals out to like a little over a dollar a piece and if you don’t want to go to the store right away you can over it over walmart.com and have them shipped to you or the store.:jar:
I wouldn’t if I were you. 3 cups of water and 1 1/4 cups of washing powder overflowed the quart jar I bought.
(I had wide mouth but bought a regular so I could blend it easily). I had to mix mine in a much larger container and will be pouring that into my blender so I can blend it, then back into another container. Waste of money buying that one jar I bought.
You could do a half batch in each of two jars and that would fit, but the whole thing won’t fit into my quart jars.
you can’t just dump it in all at once and expect it to fit, you have to dump it in, let it dissolve, then add more, etc. i’ve made this exactly as directed 3 times already with the Proper size jar and Never had an issue.
Using a different size jar will change your concentration and your soap will not clean properly.
I took a mason jar and put three cups of water in it. It had nowhere near the amount of room left over as was shown in the picture in the instructions. I will try doing it much more slowly next time, but still don’t think it will fit.
Did you fill to the three cup line on your jar, or did you measure and pour in three cups of water?
Using a different jar won’t change a thing if you are measuring and pouring in the water – it’s not a “fill to the shoulders of the jar” type of thing like the laundry sauce it.
(I love the laundry sauce!)
I attached a picture to show how full my jar is. Maybe newer quart jars aren’t quite as big as the old ones? It’s a Ball jar.
Measure 3 cups of water with a Dry measuring cup and pour it in. Don’t use the level on the jar- see if that makes a difference.
That’s how I did it. The three cup level on the jar is slightly lower than three cups measured with a measuring cup.
The picture I took shows it has no where near as much room left in the jar as the picture in the instructions.
Okay, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why you were having this issue. I used a regular dry cup measuring cup for the water (1 cup measuring cup 3x’s). Then I used a pyrex glass liquid measuring cup and it changes the water level by nearly 1/2 cup. This is the water level with Just 3 cups, dry cup measure on a ball canning jar:
oh my gosh! you are kidding! i guess from now on i’ll use my pyrex measuring cup when i need to be accurate.
i had no idea that a regular dry cup wouldn’t be as accurate as a pyrex cup. thanks!
so we aren’t supposed to use a regular measuring cup? i’m guessing it isn’t going to work right if you use a measuring cup for liquids instead…. right?
It won’t let me see the attachment, but I took my dry cup and poured it into my pyrex twice (2 cup pyrex) and it went over the 2 cup line on the pyrex. So those who have questions about which cup to use, use a pyrex.
[note]see the faq, pyrex is not recommended for this recipe[/note]
using a different size jar won’t matter, since i measure out the water, the castile soap and the washing soda. the jar is just the container to hold them and shake them up.
i did it exactly as directed too, but when i did it, the instructions didn’t say to use hot water and didn’t mention letting the washing soda dissolve or adding it slowly. glad that has been updated, so no one else has to deal with soapy counters like i did! 🙂 i’ve tried the detergent – it left a film on the dishes, so i got some jet dry and will be trying it again when i have another load ready to wash.
i hope it works as well as the laundry detergent does!
The directions didn’t say to use hot water because you don’t need to use hot water, you can use any tap water as long as it’s not Hard water. You ended up with soapy counters because you used a pyrex measuring cup and used too much water and added the washing soda TOO fast and didn’t let it dissolve. To remedy this next time, use 2 2/3 c. water at first, then the next day after is has gelled add the remaining 1/3 cup of water.
06 Jul 2019
Ok, are you sure that you are using a 32 oz canning jar and not one from spaghetti sauce? The average spaghetti jar is only 24 oz. I made this a while back but it did not work well in my dishwasher–my dishes came out smelling like peppermint and the food tasted like that as well. Yes I use the pots and pans setting with the hot wash and sani rinse. Yes I used less than the 1 T amount. It never mattered what wash cycle I used, but I used the recipe for the hard water. It made a WONDERFUL laundry boost for whites though!!
Thanks! I’ll definitely try that.
No idea, try it and see 🙂
check your local craft store for individual mason jars. i got some today from ac moore for $1.49 each.
I’ve had problems with this recipe also. I’ve tried 4 different recipes (this one and the one with Borax) as well as a couple others I’ve seen. I have even tried adding citric acid.
Not sure why, but none of these have worked for me. Guess I will be going back to “Finish” dishwasher tabs. Not as expensive as some of the others.
On the up note… i will never again go back to store bought laundry soap. mom’s super laundy sauce is amazing!!
have a great day everyone!
This is my first post so I hope I’m doing this right! 🙂 I just mixed all ingredients together for the Mom’s Dishwashing Sauce. Per instructions, I inverted the mason jar and waited for the one hour time period to pass so that I could shake it up.
I fell asleep and the 1 hour waiting period ended up being 2 hours. When I went to shake up the solution, there was a hard layer (about 1/4 inch thick) at the top of the substance in the jar. I began to shake, as directed, and eventually the hard layer broke loose.
It quickly became evident that I could shake the jar all night and that thick layer of stuff was not going to dissolve. So, I broke it up using a knife, shook some more, tried to break it up some more, shook, shook, shook. This stuff was not dissolving.
So, I put it in the blender on the lowest spped, (stir), for no more than a minute. Dumped it ack in the mason jar. The soap mixture just doesn’t seem to be dissolved.
I am now in the waiting phase of the next step, but I’m afraid when I go to shake this up again I am going to have a mess. I don’t understand what is going on with my ingredients. What could I have done wrong?
I will try to whip this up in a little while, but it’s not looking good right now. Suggestions?
i’ll have to give this a shot…i’ve been using the recipe for the tablets on budget101, (dry, not in tablet form) and adding lemon juice or vinegar to the dishwasher. I have been noticing a pretty heavy film on everything.
thank you!
i was skeptical when i read it but i could not believe my eyes when i opened my dishwasher this morning and not only were my dishes clean, they were completely spotless! beautiful clear glasses! and it’s lets than .02 per load for me because I bought my castile soap for about half of the price you paid.
Wicked Awesome!
:worthy:
ok being a newbie and a nurse, i am in the process of making the super laundry soap. i am anxious to use it as i am a terrible tightwad and am always looking for better sources and good recipes. i made the dishwasher sauce and figured out a way to convert from liquid to grated castille soap.
and it turned out fabulous!
however, be careful because when you liquefy the bar down it makes a bunch.:overreaction: but on the bright side it does allow to make several jars…. you are an amazing woman!!!!!!!! love your recipes for household items.
How do you convert from liquid castile to the bar? The liquid here is not easy to find.
i cannot wait to try this one. i always forget to buy the dishwasher soap and when i do remember, it is not on sale!:money1:
i just bout the ingredients for the laundry sauce last night, and they are waiting for me on my kitchen table, even as i write this. i can’t wait to make it and see what it will do. it is my first time making my own anything that i usually buy ready made from the store.
(like soaps and such) and as soon as i can, i want to give this recipe a try too!
thank you for your amazing money-saving recipes!
i am just making this recipe! i can;t wait to try it out! i don’t know if you have ever tried this before but did you know you can make your own liquid castile soap with just 1 bar of kirks castile soap(1.13) and water.
Making it with homemade liquid castile soap bring the cost WAYYYY down to .009 cents a load which is even more of a deal!
Hope it works great! Here is a link to the instructions on how to make your own liquid castile soap! you can make half a gallon for $1.13!!!!
We actually tried Kirks while we were testing recipes. When we used kirks in place on Bronners, we noticed a Film on the dishes. It doesn’t have the same composition & Ingredients and doesn’t work as well in the dishwasher.
thanks so much!
i can’t wait to try the real recipe then!
ok, i made two batches one with dr. bonners castile soap and one with my homemade liquid castile soap. neither of them have gelled the whole way through and i let them sit over night. they are partly gelled.
i followed the directions to the t.
the only other thing i can think of is maybe it’s my homemade washing soda??? any suggestions??? i can’t wait to try it!
Unfortunately, that is Exactly the issue. Homemade “Washing Soda” is made by baking “Baking soda”; While this is a widespread rumor on the internet that it’s the Same thing and will yield the Same results, this is false. The amount of time you would have to bake this to get it to “convert” to Washing soda, is far from cost effective.
Stick with the $3 box of washing soda and save your electricity/ or gas. Unfortunately, I don’t think the batch of dishwasher detergent can be salvaged as adding washing soda to it will simply make it more
going to walmart in 5 min. Well maybe 30 min. I have 2 kids and 2 Grandkids to get ready.
Y’all know I’m excited to make this because I NEVER take the kids anywhere without my husband.
i will try this…seems like a good deal. tired of paying store prices for dishwasher soap. thanks for the recipe!
ok i have done two loads of dishes with this great stuff and i love it. i did use a rinse agent that was already in my dishwasher .
what a thrill to be able to save money and have results this great. i also made a batch of fabric softener ,shampoo and conditioner and i have been making and using the detergent for a year.
i am sure water is different in many areas of this country but we have hard water with a water softener and all of these work great for my family.
do you have a version for a liquid dish soap. don’t have a dishwasher but am trying to cut the chemicals i use
bought ingredients today, will be making this soon if not tomorrow!!
making this today and made the laundry sauce a few days ago. i just had a quick question. how do you know that the amounts of soda wash and castile soap are enough to kill the bacteria that might be growing on dishes?
just thinking of a mythbusters type thing. washing dishes with this homemade sauce leaves “xyz” amount of germs on dishes vs using store bought brand leaves “abc” amount of germs. i love that show and was just curious.
They wouldn’t need to, they only need to remove food particles, your dishwashers water settings only need to be set to “Sanitize” to heat the dishes enough to kill the germs. That’s kind of the point of having one 😉
I made this dishwasher soap following the directions. I used it and it left a white film on all my dishes. I had to scrub the film off everything.
What happened? I used Hard Water. Would softened water be better.
I made the laundry sauce and I loved it.
the laundry super sauce was the first article i saw from this site. i made it immediately and love it. will be making this in the morning.
i have made 2 batches of this using the exact stuff listed and following the direction, they have both turned crystalized the next day and they leave a heavy film on my dishes. Any suggestions of what I might be doing wrong??
2 things.. either you have extremely hard water (in which case you need to Double the Amount of Castile soap in the recipe)
or you’re not using a Rinse Aid in the dishwasher, you still need to, generic cheap walmart brand works fine.
Other issues that we’ve seen that will cause this:
i made this last night and i have one question, i was careful and followed directions carefully, still at the end of the process, i come out with about an inch of water in the bottom of the jar. what am i doing wrong. i have all the correct ingredients
can i use any scent of the 3 Tbs Bronners Liquid Castile Soap (Peppermint is nice!) because I saw on Amazon that they have a lavender scent as well. Is there a reason you prefer the Peppermint?:jar::jar::jar:
how do i mark the recipes that i am interested in making?? i have done the awesome home made laundry soap and tried it and even gave some to my girl friend to try because i was so wowed. i am trying this when i get home if i am able to find the page again as i am out of town right now.:jar:
I saved it to Pinterest. Or you can save it as a bookmark on your browser.
you really need to add a like section to the comments and i can not for the life of me figure out how to save the recipes to anywhere on the site.
i am making this right now and i see that its been an hour after i shook it the second time and it is some what gelled and there is some clear liquid around the gel. i wonder if i have to wait longer for it all to gel or is that good? its getting close to my bed time but i don’t want to mess it up lol!
my sauce did not get the smooth thick texture. i have white runny stuff (lol). is there a fix for this?
okay got it to become a cream and will use it for the first time today, cant wait to see the results. thanks.
i made this the other day and have used it a few times. i’m impressed. i have well water that i think is soft, and even without a rinse aid (becuase i forgot to put it in 🙂 ) my glassware came out great.
i love all these recipes for myo laundry and dishwashing sauce.
thank you so much.
btw, i also made the laundry sauce, and absolutely love it. i’m going to try the laundry bombs next.
i was very excited to try this, but three cups of water and 1 1/4 cups of washing soda made a HUGE mess as the soda caused the water to overflow my quart jar that I had gone and bought specifically for this purpose. Perhaps you should suggest using a larger jar? I now have a quart full to overflowing and a 1/4 cup or so in another container I had to pour it into so I could stir it up.
(shaking was not happening, as the jar is too full to shake). Big mess on me and the counter. I sure hope the detergent is worth the hassle.
Next time I use a half gallon jar.
really disappointed in this recipe. it didn’t clean the dishes, even the ones i prewashed before had, left food particles and a heavy residue on them. i wish i hadn’t spent the $15 on the castile soap as it was a waste.
I do love the laundry soap – that works wonderfully!
Wow, what kind of castile soap did you buy? Did you use Bronners?? Do you have hard water or high mineral content in your water?
I have been making this for several weeks and it’s working fantastic for me. You do still need to use a rinse agent in your machine, I use the cheap store brand kind “Great Value”.
update: i went back one more time and remixed the mixture with the blender. it all of a sudden exploded with the scent of the peppermint and when i ran that load, it was beautiful. i have no idea why it gave me the problem the first two times but it works wonderfully and i wanted to let every one know that it is well worth the time and dollars to make this.
You can use it for just about anything. I use straight Dr bronners for my laundry with vinegar for softener. Works great.
Completely agree. I stuck to the recipe and it did the same to my dishes. Two days now I have been soaking them to get the stain out.
It is a pain in the butt. 🙁
i’m wanting to make this but my blender parts don’t fit on a mason jar. i don’t understand how it changes the concentration of the mix by using a larger jar. i was thinking of just making it in my blinder then transferring it to a jar.
will this not work?
When you change the size of the jar, you are whipping it more or not whipping it enough. People are reporting that they ended up with 6 cups or more using a blender. The recipe only makes 4 cups, which means that it has been severely diluted (with Air). That’s why we say, use the proper size jar.
I went ahead and made it in my blender then transferred it to a mason jar. All but about 1 tablespoon fit into the jar. If it all fits can I asume that I didn’t mix it too little or too much?
and that the concentration is correct?
so which measuring tool are we supposed to use?
well i used a dry measuring cup the second time because the first batch had too much water… it wasn’t whipping up like the picture up there. and i have the same amount of space in this batch that i had in the first one.
i really do not like wasting product 🙁
If it didn’t whip up it’s not because it had too much water it’s because it DIDN”T set long enough to Gel properly.
ok. i’ve let the second batch set since last night. when my mom gets up, i’ll see if this batch will whip up.
it still has a lot of liquid that is seperate from the gel.
Just make sure it’s upside down, my first jar coagulated at the bottom of the jar and I could NOT get it off. I literally had to chisel it out of the jar. I’ve never had one that separates in layers before, it usually gels as one cloudy looking white gel. Do you have hard water or minerals in your water? Are you using Arm & Hammer Washing Soda or Homemade Washing Soda?
i have city water. it didn’t completely seperate, if i moved the bottle on the side the gel part help it’s shape with liquid around it. i whipped up the second batch and it’s smooth and creamy.
i used a&h washing soda. thankfully i did have it upside down lol. there was a think layer that was hard at the top.
GrrrrrYou’re making this so much harder than it has to be, you literally just dump washing soda, bronners and water into a jar, seal it shut, shake it until the washing soda dissolves, flip it upside down and leave it alone overnight. Next morning, whip it. That’s IT.
Seriously. This is as basic as making ice cubes.
If you’re overflowing your jar:
A. The Jar is Too Small
B. You have too much water in the jar
This isn’t rocket science people, it’s a detergent recipe and it’s extremely Simplified! I really don’t understand all of the hoopla over the measuring cups, etc. :shame:
I’ve made this a couple of times already, it’s really no big whoop to make.
I’m all about simplicity! =) So when you say this throwing it all in a jar and shake it, are you using boiling water to disolve it, or are you just relying upon regular temp water and overnight is what is helping it to dissolve? Thanks!
By they way, is there a recipe for regular dishwashing soap (not for dishwasher), that you like?
I’ve made this a couple of times already, it’s really no big whoop to make.
followed the recipe exactly and my dishes absolutely sparkle. gave batch to my daughter in law and she is excited to try too. great recipe.
thank you
i made this soap, following the directions, and my dishes all come out with a film. i actually think it is because of my dishwasher though. i rent my house, the washer came with it, and i just don’t think it works very good…
That can also happen if you’re using too much detergent.
can’t wait to try this! all of my dishes now come out with a film and i hate it because it’s so gross and looks like they are not clean….
just made it very easy even i could do it. looking forward to see how it does!
i found the bronners castile soap at my market basket near the hand soaps and it was only $9.99 for 32 oz. Now thats a great buy!:party1:
if mine is gritty after whipping, does that mean it didn’t gel long enough? will that make it leave a film on dishes (mine filmed up big time!!)…and is there anything else i can use the gritty soap for as i don’t want to waste it….or can it be salvaged somehow??
i made this yesterday and the end result a fluffy, whipped product. today it is a solid, crystallized thing in my mason jar 🙁 where do you think i went wrong? i have hard water and used tap water to make it, i also was called out when i was making it so it was about 4 hours before I whipped it.
Which one of these may have impacted the end results? Next time I will use bottle water. Any other ideas?
i couldn’t wait to try this cuz i love my homemade laundry detergent but never had good luck with homemade dishwashing detergents…they always left a film after 3 – 4 uses. I read through the posts and it appears that I should have used a 1 cup measuring cup for my water. I used my pyrex measuring cup and ended up with a much soupier concoction.
but it still did a great job. I’m going to try to dissovle more washing soda and add the last bit of Dr. Bronner’s that I have. I’ll let you know what I think after using it for many uses.
thanks!
i made this exactly as stated. it whipped up beautifully last night but this morning it is hardened in the mason jar…crystallized. any ideas on where i went wrong?
in reviewing other’s comments i think it might be tap water…thoughts?
i have had difficulty finding the bronners soap. i happened to pass a stocker in our local target and she asked if i needed any help finding something, i immediately thought of the bronners soap and asked. to my surprise she walked me right down the aisle she was stocking and showed me the soaps.
they were on the lowest shelf below other natural beauty products (an aisle i seldom travel in any store because of allergies and mixed scents. i haven’t purchased it yet because i want to comparison shop with walmart. i haven’t found it in that store either but now i know a new place to look.
i wanted to let anyone unfamiliar (newbie like me) know so they can find it without the fuss. can’t wait to try the recipe.
morning all!! does anyone know how this works on plastic food storage containers? mine always come out with a haze on them or a sticky substance on them no matter if i wash them by hand or dishwasher.
at any rate, will try this on my dishes. thanks!!
i made this a few days ago and it came out perfectly. i am doing the first load of dishes in the dishwasher right now. will report back when they are done.
winging it here i can not do a few thhings but i improvise when needed
hello, i was wondering if it is possible to substitute for another scent of the bronners soap? i have tried it and love it but was just wondering for my future batches 🙂
Yes, any bronners will do.
currently washing my first load of dishes with this stuff! just got the castile soap last night and it smells amazing! i love this website and hopefully this soap will help us save lots and lots of money
too late?
i have gritty can i fix? it?:didimiss::lightning::puppet::shame::sew::sew:
Nothing to fix, it should be slightly gritty. If you mean you didn’t invert the jar and it’s a solid chunk, you can’t fix it. If the texture of the soap is light and fluffy with a slight grit or little crystals in it, it’s perfect.
No I did invert the shaking I could not do very well today it looks like
bad & gritty cottage cheese
my 75 yo DH is so against non-store bought anything
He grew up with lye soap etc. and has decided
only big companies know how to make stuff.
hello all,
i have hit a roadblock with the recipe. it works wonderful on glass but when we cleaned out a freezer and washed plastic dishes they all had to be washed and wiped again. i have read all the comments and taken everything into consideration.
i really feel like i have hit a major roadblock that i may have a problem moving forward from. i felt like that i would not have a problem since the dishwasher compensates for any temperature discrepancies in temperature that may occur. i am not complaining just seeing if there is anything i might have missed.
otherwise i am dead in the water on this recipe. all opinions and recommendations are appreciated.
have used this a few times and unfortunately, it has not worked for me. when i made it, it looked exactly like the picture. once i do the dishes, i have a major film on all of them and the dishes do not come out clean.
it seems to get worse the more times i use it. i did use filtered water to make the recipe so not sure what is happening. any ideas?
i love this stuff but i have a weird question if that is possible. when i fill 3 cups of water with the Castile soap and the washing soda, I don’t have the head space I see in the first picture. I am using a Quart mason jar and the dry cup measure but it seems to fill it a lot more than the pictures on here.
i’m sure going to use this! i’ve never heard of dr. bonner, would that be at my drug store?
i absolutely love love love the laundry sauce and have used it for a few months now. my clothes are really clean. talk about saving lots of moolah!
i just now made this dish soap. can’t wait. by the way, i use only the large jars and the immersion stick with absolutely no problem at all.
just to let you know. i am buying the smaller mouthed jars an a blender. but large jars work fine.
i’ll just remove soap, blend and stick back in. perfect. thanks for saving me $$$$
can this be used for handwashing dishes or do you have something geared more toward that. i do not have a dishwasher.
i know this must be a stupid question as nobody else seems to have this one but do you stir to dissolve the washing soda or just put a spoon full in and leave for a bit? mine doesn’t seem to be dissolving if left alone.
thanks!
i used this & the first time was amazing. however, the 2nd time I used it, I got a film on my dishes & re-washed everything & put vinegar in the rinse aid dispenser. Should I expect a film if I’m not using some type of rinse aid?
Do you have Hard Water?
Do you have Soft Water?
What is the temperature set at for your dishwasher? Most dishwashers require the hot water tank to be set at 135F-140F in order to work properly. A film on the dishes is generally an indication that the water temperature is not correct.
Are you using ONLY 1 Tablespoon?- using more of the detergent may result in a film.
If you can’t fit it all then use 2 cups water when mixing, then before blending add additional water to bring it up to just below the neck of the jar before whipping.
Dr. Bronners can be found in the cleaning supplies aisles of most grocery stores, walmart, target, local grocery chains, etc. Or online at Amazon (see link in post)
Your Welcome! I’m glad this one worked out well for you.
Yes, this will work fine for handwashing.
Use warm water or stir it with a spoon to dissolve it. If it’s not dissolving you may have minerals in your water (either hard water or soft water)
Yes, Any and All detergents Require the use of a Rinse Agent.
i love this recipe but for some reason it doesn’t seem to become a smooth “sauce”. i thought at first that i didn’t let the washing soda dissolve enough, which is why it was more granular at the end. i have a batch of 2 jars inverted right now that I mixed together in a bowl with hot water hoping that will do the trick of dissolving the washing soda entirely.
The ingredients separate A LOT when inverted and never seems to gel. Any ideas? Even with it being granular, it still works although I need to shake the jar because the product continues to separate, even after blending.
Looking for suggestions!
will this clean cast iron pots/pans that i don’t put in the dishwasher?
NO! You don’t clean Cast iron with ANY Soap or detergent!!
Here’s a how to for cast iron:
https://www.budget101.com/tips-n-tricks/249922-how-do-you-clean-cast-iron-pot.html
i made this on saturday but haven’t had to use it until today. when i opened the jar this morning to add to dishwasher i was met with a big block of hardened gel! (i scraped it off to wash a load if this works i’ll use it this way.
but my question is what did i do wrong?
i used a 32 oz jar
used the exact ingrediants (my jar turned warm to the touch after the first shaking-is that normal)
I have treated water but it tends to leave a film on its own- did the water cause all this?
I had to let it sit longer than indicated-
I noticed that later that night after I blended it (At this point it looked like yours) their was a seperation in ingrediants.
Does any of this make sense?
i made this and it was a little grainy. i must not have let the soda dissolve completely. i spooned it into ice cube trays and let it solidify and placed the “cubes” in a bag.
each cube fits in my dw soap dispenser. cleans the dishes great.
do i have to make sure all the washing soda is dissolved in before i turn jar over to sit?
i have seriously been shaking this jar for 20 minutes & the washing powder still hasn’t dissolved! Help!
You’re trying too hard. Put the cover on tightly, flip the jar upside down and leave it alone until morning. In the morning, flip it over, attach the blender blade and whip.
update…i have made this recipe three times..the first two being an absolute disaster nasty film on everything. the third time i added (and don’t laugh) two packs of unsweetened lemon koolaid. i still had a slight film, but it was nothing near what it was.
i think im going to have to add a little vinegar to the rinse as well. but all in all im happier with the results
Our brand new dishwasher (not even a year old) came with specific instructions of what to use, and I am a little nervous about veering away from this, but i hate spending the money on these special items when they can be made…can anyone tell me it’s going to be “ok” or “not ok?” thanks! =)
i just collected all the ingredients, including the blender and am in the process of making my first batch. i had a little trouble finding the dr. bronners, trying in both my regular grocery store and walmart but did find it at a whole foods store. i paid a little more $6.90 for an 8oz bottle including tax.
It is still way less then commercial dishwasher detergent and I have to admit I run my dishwasher a lot, so I am planning on making a few batches.
got my dr. beginners today, gonna make a batch this weekend
well, i’ve got my dr.bronners, had a hard time finding it locally, so i ordered it from amazon. they didn’t list a smaller bottle so i ordered the 32 oz bottle. It came in yesterday.
Went to Walgreens this morning and what was the first thing I see as I’m walking down and aisle? YUP!! Dr.Bronners, 32 oz bottle, just like what I ordered, just $9 cheaper.
The story of my life, lol! So now that I have 32 oz of liquid gold, lol, what do I use the rest of it for? any ideas?
hi all, i read through all of the comments to see if anyone else mentioned the same issues i had with the sauce. mine came out thick, white and gritty after blending. i measured exactly 1 T.
for each of the 3 loads in which I have tried the Sauce. I have noticed that there is a powdery residue left on my dishwasher door and my DH noticed it on a plate. Is that what others are calling a “film”?
Was my A&H washing soda not dissolved enough? How do I eliminate this powdery substance? I’d hate to have to buy a rinse agent as I’m trying to simplify.
(I’ve never used a rinse agent with commercially-made dishwashing detergents, and never had an issue.)
Thanks!
i found dr. bronner’s liquid castile soap at target.
i have a question. what is the difference between dry cup measure and liquid measure.
i’m 75 and have never heard of dry cup for a liquid.
i researched uses for castile soap. it sure is versatile.
i used it to replace my body wash and shampoo this week.
surprise! the dry skin i have been fighting all summer is gone.
my skin is soft and smooth.
i love this website.
thanks for being there.
omg! im so excited to try this recipe, im going to pick up the ingredients tomorrow
i made the dishwasher sauce, following the directions, except i couldn’t find peppermint dr. bronners. i still used dr. bronners, but it was the orange instead, and i wanted to know if it would have affected the consistency of the soap? my soap is separating, became really thin, and got little crystals in it.
it works great, but i don’t know what i did wrong. i noticed the recipe doesn’t specify what the temperature of the water should be, so i used warm. do you know what could’ve caused the liquid separation, thin soap, and crystals to form?
i can still use it if i shake it up really good and it still works great, but it bothers me not knowing what i did wrong.
can this be used as a hand soap? i’ve tried some of the other hand soap recipes out there and they all come out feeling and looking like boogers. yuck!!
just received my castile soap from amazon can’ wait to try this
when i read through the explicit notes indicating what products to use and why you shouldn’t substitute any of the ingredients, i thought – wow! this recipe has been really researched well and the instructions were articulated so well. then i perused many of the comments being left by people who were interested enough to give it a try for themselves.
there were countless numbers of individuals who changed up the recipe in some way or another, didn’t get the results they expected and are looking for answers as to where did they go wrong. huh? they should be asking “how do you fix stupid?”
making this and my laundry sauce today! hope i love it as much as the laundry sauce
is this safe for high efficiency washers?
i just made some of this- so simple!
i cant wait to try it!
thanks for the great ideas & recipes!
made this and did a load of dishes, i was surprised by how well it works, i’m sold.
i tried this recipe without an oster blender but used an immersion blender. the consistency seemed fine and i did get 4 cups’ worth. My first attempt, I used 1 tbsp in my dishwasher and not rince agent: the glasses all had a heavy powdery/gritty film.
2nd attempt, used same amount of dishwasher sauce but filled up the rinse agent cup with Jet Dry Finish rince agent. Still had a heavy film.
I live in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada region and not sure whether we have hard or soft water. Anyone out there from my region have any suggestions?
i tried this recipe. i added the washing soda slowly. it didn’t dissolve fully.
so, i left it overnight upside down, after shaking it well. the next morning, i shook it well again and left the jar upside down. after that when i opened the jar, a solid mass was on the lid end of the jar and gel at the bottom end of the jar.
i pushed it in and fit the blender blade and tried to whip. but, the solid crystallized part didn’t whip and the jar exploded and broke and splashed all over. i cut my finger in the process :(.
when looked at the contents of the jar, it had a solid crystal. what could have gone wrong
1. Is it absolutely necessary to dissolve the entire washing soda before leaving it over night?
2. Why was there a solid crystal, which didn’t even break.
It was so solid. Could it be something wrong with the water?
Please do let me know. Thanks.
Yes, you must COMPLETELY Dissolve the Washing Soda. As you discovered, washing soda crystalizes, also, you should NOT be leaving this overnight, it only needs 1-2 hours to gel. If the washing soda does not dissolve, it does not gel, it crystalizes.
It’s possible that you have hard water or treated water which may have interfered. You might want to try bottled water to see if it works better for you.
i will try filtered water, as i have a counter top water filter. can i use hot water to dissolve the washing soda or can i stir it up to get it dissolved? i read some of the comments and decided to not dissolve it fully and left it overnight.
i will try it one more time, with fully dissolving. i somehow thought, leaving it overnight, will make it gel better.
You can try hot water to dissolve it, dissolve about half of it, then add the other half. Make sure that you already have the bronners in the jar first before adding the washing soda. The stuff is picky about dissolving.
i did add dr.bronners before i started adding washing soda. from what i understand, i must completely dissolve it, before i proceed to the next step of shaking the jar vigorously and leaving it for 1-2 hours, correct? This is something which I missed when I made the first time.
Oh what a mess it created!
i have a couple of questions…i made this yesterday, and when i went to do the blender stage, my mixture was crystallized in the mason jar. i followed the directions as written, though i did stir a bit as i added the washing soda. i went ahead and used the crystals in the dishwasher just to see what happened, and my dishes came out very clean with no spots.
but i can’t figure out where i went wrong. do you have any ideas? thanks!
i haven’t tried this yet, but plan to. can you get this bronners soap at walmart?
hi, i’m a myo newbie and i tried to make this last night. i couldn’t get the washing soda to dissolve. i used distilled water since we have well water with a water softener.
i added the washing soda 1/4 cup at a time and I just couldn’t get it to dissolve. I tried stirring it as I went and then just put it all in and shook the jar for awhile and it was still lumpy. I went ahead and inverted the jar and let it sit.
I shook it a couple more times before I went to bed and could tell it was getting more solid. This morning it was pretty hard and crystalized but I was able to break it up and it get blended, I think. It is creamy but also gritty.
My questions are: Is there a trick to getting the soda to dissolve? Do you stir, shake or just let it sit until it dissolves. Should it be a little gritty once you get it blended?
Also, I need some clarification on FAQ #7. It says to use bottled water to make the Sauce if you have hard water, but then it say to reduce the soda and increase the Bronners. Do you make the changes to the recipe only if your using hard water to make it or do you make the changes because your using hard water to actually wash the dishes?
I think that covers it all. All suggestions are appreciated. Thanks
i made a batch of this for my son. it separated and he gave it back to me.
any idea what i did wrong.
is it supposed to be a cream or is it supposed to dry up a bit? i did everything to a t and thought it was supposed to be a creamy soap but today when i went to go use it for the first time is a grainy paste (in words of my husband) help?
i’m from canada, is there any other brand other than arm and hammer washing soda works? we don’t have the here. i would love to try this.
hi!
i am working on a 4-H project and would like to use your recipe to do a comparison with a purchased product. Do you care if I use your recipe and do a display for a fair to show the results? Thanks very much for your time.
Sincerely,
Carter
so we started using it as we recently and while we trust that our dishes are clean, it’s leaving a dust on everything. sometimes there are noticeable streaks, and sometimes you can polish an item and go, “oh! it’s…
cloudy!”
we’re wondering if we did something wrong.
followed everything perfectly except the attaching of the jar to the blender. we don’t have either that fit. we used an hand blender to whip it into a luxurious cream…
so the only time we had a gel was after we let it sit initially.
i think there must be something to the water chemistry that makes it almost impossible to disolve the super washing soda. by the way, is there a difference between washing soda and super washing soda (arm and hammer brand)? i use bottled water because we have a water softener and when i put the washing soda in it literally clumps up and cements together.
i’m talking like a tablespoon full and it is not possible to dissolve it. any ideas on what else i could try? i just trying stirring it in while heating it but i’m not sure if that is going to work.
i’m also doing it in a plastic 1 quart container. Does that make a difference?
this looks awesome. i’ve made the laundry sauce and fabric softener. if i do this my hubby is gonna think i’ve lost my mind!
but i found ways to save money along the way to the loony bin! lol!
this is going on my to do list and i am going to have to check out the dry version.
ok. so i followed this recipe exactly. i even used bottled water.
but when i first put the water in with a dry measuring cup, the water level still came up to the 3 cup line of the mason jar. I thought the idea of using a dry measuring cup is because it isn’t the same measurement. My sauce is still in the process of gelling but I have like NO head space.
And my mason jar is warm to touch. I’ll probably have to take out a spoonfull so I have enough room to whip it. Hope it turns out ok.
it turned out the right consistency! however, when i washed a load it left a film 🙁 liss, in all of ur testing did u ever add citric acid to the mix? as u state,we are not chemists so i don’t know if there would be a reaction.
have you ever heard of a product called lemishine? it is virtually citric acid. my thought is to use 1 cup washing soda and 1/4 lemishine.
Let me know ur thoughts! Thanks!
I’m getting a film, too. We’re pushing through and going to use all of it. Hopefully the next batch will turn out better.
i have found that market basket spaghetti sauce jars fit perfectly on the blender. they are smaller but i have managed to use them without any problem. they are only 24ozs.
but worked great when making the Super Laundry Sauce. Using the smaller jars allowed me to gift some and still have plenty! I’m going to try using them with the dishwasher soap now!
i love the laundry sauce but both the laundry sauce and the dishwasher sauce are grainy. i can’t use the dishwasher sauce because of the terrible film. my rinse compartment door is gone so i have to use the hanging baskets of rinse aid…they don’t take off the film.
i too have wondered about adding lemishine or just lemon juice but i don’t want an explosion. any ideas?
this is totally a guess, but i have been making a dry detergent for years that uses washing soda and lemishine, so i am guessing it would be okay. i do not see a castile soap as being reactive in a chemical way, so my guess is to go for it, but don’t be too upset if it does not turn out. it is, after all, an experiment.
:balloon:
and, i am getting ready to run a load with my first batch of the original formula of this detergent, with lemon eo’s and i use lemishine rinse aid, so we shall see…
heidim
i was so excited to try this wonderful “dishwasher sauce” and went immediately to find bronner’s castille liquid peppermint soap. followed the recipe to the letter and end result was this lovely creme. wow!
next evening pre rinsed all my dishes [as usual] and loaded dishwasher. used 1 Tbsp in dispenser, added Rinse Aide and turned it on! When it finished I was right there to see the results.
Not so good………..There is a film on the dishes and at first I thought the dishes were etched. Luckily they were not and the film washes off with Dawn and wash cloth. :learncook:
help quick…. i am in the process of making this now. my jar is full and i mean full.
can i still blend this without a mess or should i remove some?? thanks for quick response. kat
Remove some, it should NOT be above the shoulders of the Jar or the jar could explode. It needs room to expand.
i have all the things on my list to make the super laundry sauce and the automatic dishwasher sauce. i’m super excited about making them!
is this sauce supposed to be crunchy? mine is very gritty, is there a way to fix it if it’s wrong? or should i start all over again?
washing a load now with it, but i got a feeling that texture isn’t right. your pic shows it should look as smooth as laundry sauce, but big difference on my end. only thing i did different was i used dr. bronners’s citrus orange flavor.
i also am the one that my jar was full to the top. i just blended in the blender jar. thanks for the help on that, by the way!
i tried to say thank you, but said i have to use the thank you button and i couldn’t find it. thanks now for any help later! kat:dontknow:
i made this and the laundry sauce yesterday. the laundry sauce came out perfect! the dish washing sauce looked like it should have and was a whipped consistency last night, woke up this morning and it was a crumbly hard powder consistency???
i went by the directions exactly. how long should you mix on the blender, maybe i blended in too long?? can i still use this?
help!
so after having much success with the laundry soap, i decided to give this recipe a whirl. my first jar started off super gritty. so i decided to experiment and start a second jar but i added the washing soda first, then the castile soap.
my first jar gelled and was thick. second jar very fluid not so thick. first jar blended smooth, second jar blended smooth just a little more thin.
ran a load of dishes with my first jar. perfect success. i didn’t have any trouble with not having enough room in my jars.
didn’t have any problems with the mixture, though i won’t add the soda first next time. i also had no trouble with film on my dishes. i also scooped the mixture into my blender and was careful not to go over the four cup measure on my blender.
love it! totally enjoying this site!
something to beware of: by the way, this recipe is great and really works. i’ve made it twice. the first time i had no problems. the second time, when i started the blender, i could hear something banging inside the jar, so i checked the blade to make sure it was attached correctly and it was fine.
i started it again, the banging continued, but this time the jar broke and i had to clean up gritty detergent and broken glass. the arm & hammer washing soda had formed clumps after sitting for a few weeks. i noticed them when i added the soda to the water, but i assumed they would fully dissolve in the three hours before blending.
well, they didn’t, and they were hard as a rock inside the jar. that is what caused the jar to break. my suggestion: if your soda is old and has clumps, press the clumps with a fork or bean smasher before adding it to the liquid.
Ugh, Yes, the clumps turn into little concrete Balls. We’ll add a note to the recipe to watch for this.
for those who are getting a gritty solution, make sure you follow the directions: shake and invert the jar. most importantly, blend until creamy. it takes about a minute.
i haven’t had a problem with it being gritty.
i did try an experiment with the super laundry sauce which also contains arm & hammer washing soda. i wanted to see if it would work without blending, so i tried one jar with just shaking the contents. it was very gritty, so blending is the key to getting out the grit.
i made this last night, inverted the jar for 2 hours and shook it every hour. I whipped it in the jar as stated for 1 minute. It looked and smelled beautiful.
I pulled the jar out this morning and it is a solid chunk. Luckily the jar didn’t break! Am I supposed to store the jar inverted as well?
I also used a plastic lid instead of metal.
could you post a video on youtube? :dunno:
Can anyone help me? Ever since using this in my dishwasher I have this white film all over my dishes even when I switched back to my normal dish washing gel. I’ve never had this problem when I used my regular automatic dishwasher gel.
But since trying this MYO now I can’t get rid of this white film. It’s like it’s maybe inside the mechanics of the dishwasher or something now?? Any advice on getting rid of this nasty white film?
Thank you 🙂
i have the nasty white film too. even after switching back to my regular dishwasher gel. i’m thinking the myo stuff is stuck in the mechanics of my dishwasher now ughhhh!!
never had this problem prior to using the myo dishwasher sauce. if anyone can advise me on how to get rid of this white film please please let me know. in the meantime i didn’t want to just throw away an entire jar of the myo dishwasher sauce, so i cleaned my bathroom sinks & toilet with it.
worked great & left a nice peppermint scent in the bathroom!! 🙂
i have made this 3 times, and each and every time it works , but crystalizes and doesn’t stay in a creamy state. WHY? I use Bronners, and dry measure and whip it up right away.
( not leaving it overnight) Do I need to add glycerin? It is in a container that might not be air tight, but other than that I have no idea what I am doing wrong. Please help, I have made 3 batches and don’t want to gift this stuff,if it isn’t a good finish.
when you say to attach blender blades to the mason jar what do you mean? can i just use a cake mixer?
i made this today and it turned out perfect!! dishwasher is running now and will post results once done! i did a couple of things a little differently, though i did use the exact ingredients.
i used the regular mouth quart size jar. this was perfect. the water has to be measured in a dry measure cup(like one you would use for flour) and i used hot water from the tap.
i added the castile soap then 1/4 cup of the washing powder at a time using a serving fork to stir in between each add. Once I shook and inverted I left for 45min. Then I shook again and inverted and did the same every half hour until it gelled.
Total time was about 2.5 hrs. If you still see liquid just shake again and invert. That mixes the water in.
Then I added my blender blade to the jar and blended and wallah! Perfect dishwasher soap. I also made the laundry detergent.
Love it! I will be giving some of these away to family in nice jars as gifts. Love these homemade recipes!
help! i have made two batches of this and have been plagued with the dreaded “white film”. i tried lemon juice as a rinse aid in one load and vinegar in my last load, still a film, so i will try a regular rinse aid next.
with my second batch of sauce i used warm bottled water; it looked more like the pictures during the process and came out with a beautiful texture. today i went to scoop some out only to find that it had hardened overnight! yikes!
what could have caused this and is it repairable/useable?
update:
i used this last night and the dishes turned out clean. only issue is this morning i checked the jar and it was crystallized. has anyone found the answer to the crystallizing issue?
i had the same problem.
did you ever find an answer on ow to fix it????
i just finished making this homemade dishwashing detergent. it was really simple to make. i just have to try it out on my dishes now!
maybe someone can help me out there, i followed the directions to make the dishwasher soap and everything seemed fine until i saw my dishes after the first time i used it in the dishwasher. they came out really cloudy 🙁 so, i’m hoping i either used too much for the washing cycle or…. i don’t know, any thoughts?
do you “have to” use a rinse additive in order to get rid of this issue? i’m nervous about doing another load of dishes because it took a few washings to get the cloudy film off my dishes. thanks!
i just tried to make this, but to matter how “clump free” my washing soda was, it still ended up all clumpy in the water and i could not get the clumps out even when i tried to smoosh them with a spoon. i added it slowly as the instructions said. i don’t know what i did wrong.
well, i am pleasantly surprised. i made the automatic dishwasher awesome sauce, and well, the name says it all !! i worked wonderful.
i used a splash of vinegar on the bottom of the dishwasher, and there was still a little of the rinse aid left, and my dishes were clean and spotless. some even went in with spaghetti sauce on them, and came out sparkling! completely sold 🙂 thank you thank you thank you :cloud9:
going to try it this weekend. been looking for one that you didn’t add some sort of lemon aid mix. i was afraid it would stain my dishwasher.
hope it works.
my dishes came out cloudy, but my result looks the same as yours. what could i do to problem solve. i followed your ingredients / directions and made no changes.
i tried this recipe and now i have a white residue all over my dishes?
ok so i tried. 1 didn’t set like yours, did not have that consistency. 2 it didn’t separate like the pictures…
The water I used was hot tap water I had tried several recipies today. And I used a small drink mixer to help dissolve the soap. Oh and I also had to dump the ‘mixture’ into a bowl to blend it.
I don’t have a blender to put on the jar and my stick blender thing wouldn’t fit in to the mouth of the jar.
Help?
i made this but the next day (after whipping it) if was solid! what did i do wrong?
just wanted to let you know – this also does an awesome job at cleaning & shining up pennies. i’m doing crafts for vacation bible school & wanted my pennies to be nice and shiny. after some research, i settled upon trying out the vinegar & salt method.
while soaking the pennies loosened up the grime, it left a film on all of the pennies (even the previously shiny ones). so i soaked them a second time in a fresh solution & still wasn’t happy with the results. light bulb moment – i thought i’d try my super awesome dishwasher supreme sauce …
and voila!!! i put some pennies in a jar with some of the dishwasher sauce, shook them up for a minute, let them sit for 10 minutes, and rinsed them off. they were better than the ones i had double-soaked in vinegar/salt & scrubbed with a toothbrush!!!
(hey, at 40 pennies per child, I did not have time to scrub each one with a toothbrush)
made my batch over a month ago (live in new hampshire, city water). the mixture whipped, but remained gritty, which from reading learned was ok. also, the jar was nearly totally filled with no wiggle room.
used nearly all of it by now, but have decided to go back to buying dishwasher powder. i was never impressed with how this recipe cleaned our dishes and my silverware was turning black or always looked like a black film on it. now i have all this leftover bronner’s castile soap and need to look for other recipes to use it up.
sorry, was very disappointed in this particular home-made cleaner. i use other diy cleaners that do work, but not for the dishwasher. i am bummed!
i have been using dishwasher tablets forever and have been trying to save money but darn…. then i found this website……. then this this works so much better than the store bought stuff and you cant beat the price….
it took less than 10 min to make (not counting the couple hours gel time) super easy.. super awesome…
ok i have kirk’s castille bars i was going to experiment with for the laundry sauce- trying to get away from the chemicals in the fels naptha. you said you tried kirks but was it liquid or bar converted to liquid? i am wondering if the formulation is different enough that the bar might work better?
i may try a batch and see before i buy bonners!
this is the best recipe ever. so glad to have tried it. i give it 5 stars.
i made this today and my dishwasher just turned off. i am very pleased! i’ve always had a problem with film and water spots, even using jet dry and vinegar.
i switched a few weeks ago to a tablet diy detergent and my dishes just kept getting more filmy than when i first switch. hoping it won’t happen with this recipe. i did see finish has a booster you add to each cycle that is supposed to reduce hard water, which i have excessively hard water, and to help with cleaning the machine and tough stains.
i did clean my machine twice with the manufactures instructions to use vinegar. i’m going to get some and see if that helps too. not that i want the extra chemicals or the expense but my glasses look gross and i scrub them just to have them turn out the same in a few weeks.
i wonder if i can put calgon water softener in before starting a wash??? i was using a borax & washing soda recipe and that made the nasty film worse which i found odd because borax is supposed to be a water softener. oh well.
it is cheaper to make this and then buy the booster. so i’ll still be saving but not much. thanks for this great recipe!!!
i never he’s anything but cascade complete bug if thus works i will be very happy ! i use the super laundry sauce and it’s great ?
question: i read thru the instructions a few times but am still quite confused on what you mean when you say,
“attach your blender blade and gasket right to the mason jar, (we use a cheap oster blender for this), and whip for a minute or so until all the ingredients are well blended and smooth and creamy. it will look like this:”
i went to amazon and don’t know what you’re talking about. do you have a link?
thanks
Yes, I think this will explain it a bit more clearly: Budget101.com – – How to Use Mason Jars on your Blender | Homemade Bullet Blender
The crystals wont hurt anything, that’s fine.
i ended up buying lemishine and putting it in my pre-wash compartment and it really worked great with this detergent. i still have vinegar as my rinse agent because i wasn’t sure if i could put jet dry in it with vinegar. so i hand scrubbed my glasses and washed with all three and they came out perfect!
that’s with very hard water. and i did reduce the washing soda by the 1/4C and increased the castile soap by 2 tablespoons. I have to say thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe!!!
No more powdery film, gritty silverware or film coated spotted glasses!
this stuff is indeed awesome!!. i will never buy dishwasher soap at the store again. in addition to being very inexpensive, it is not as harsh on your dishes and glasses.
very simple to make, came out perfect just like the pictures show. i did put white vinegar in my rinse aid compartment as well as adding lemi shine to the wash compartment to reduce spots and clouding. we have hard water and the lemi shine has made a world of difference in reducing clouding.
i plan to check out the link to make your own castille soap next.
i am on my third batch of this stuff since i started making it. (i swear i wrote a question here after the first, but can no longer find it). i really like the simplicity of this recipe, and have been trying to get it to set just right..
the only problems i have are after being blended, the next day and the weeks afterwords, it is crystallized and begins to separate. i just give it another shake, and scoop out what i need and put the lid back on.. lol my dishes have always been cloudy on this recipe, and i’ve started buying the great value rinse aid (never needed it with the great value dishwasher detergent).
i now have a super large white streak down the door of my dishwasher from the cup to the basin under the trays. i have used a dishwasher cleaner, but that doesn’t seem to remove it. it does not clean peanut butter off of the butter knives very well 😉 but it seems to clean everything else off.
my silverware seems to getting less and less clean, however, and i feel a grime on them when i take them out of the dishwasher. not a grit, but like a greasy grime. i love not having to run to the store when i run out of detergent because i can make some, but after spending $16 on the Dr Bronners, plus buying dishwasher cleaner, and rinse aid, I’m not sure I’m actually saving any money..
lol
I have a portable dishwasher, not sure if this makes a difference or not, but using the great value detergent I never had to buy the rinse aid or the cleaner in the 6 years I’ve had the dishwasher, but it could just be getting old. We are moving in a week or so and I will have a built in dishwasher then, so I will try it there and see if it makes a difference.. otherwise, I will probably go back to buying it.
Like I said, I love the convenience of not having to go buy some when I’m out, but the added expenses for me negate the savings.
I REALLY love the laundry sauce and brag about it to everyone who will listen, even made some and gave it away to convert more people.. lol But this dishwasher stuff just doesn’t do it for me. 🙁
even with several different types of rinse agents, this recipe left a gritty white residue all over the dishes and silverware. oh well, worth a try. reading more, castille soap does not really rinse all that well where you have any minerals in the water.
eastern pa here on public water, not super hard, but hard enough i guess.
fwiw, found recipes that utilize sal’s suds have worked much better in the dishwasher.
so what went wrong? i stuck to the recipe and used it three times so far. the first time i was happy to see it had completely cleaned all my dishes.
the second time i was completely shocked, it ruined my stainless steel bowls and tupperware. all is cloudy and completely spotted.
so does this magic stuff not work on either of these items? what did i miss?
when i attempt to print something i always get a message back to resend. what am i doing wrong?
:approved1:This stuff truly is awesome. Works great. I added vingegar to my rinse compartment and dishes come out great.
Will not waste money buying dishwasher detergent ever again.
i love this stuff. i used the castile orange and the whole kitchen smelled wonderful.
uh oh —- i used 1-1/4 Cup of Washing Soda…. I printed out this exact recipe a few weeks ago, and the sheets called for more than it says here. Does anyone else have this recipe with the extra 1/4 cup on it?
hmmmmm
hi! i am currently in the process of making this i was wondering if there is a difference in washing soda and super washing soda because i have the super washing soda and it isnt dissolving… should i stir it at all?
hello all! i made this recipe, however it did not get the gel stage – will this be a problem?
mine jelled right away should i skip the wait time
just made this! 2nd batch forming now. 1st one came out just as pictured.
I used a food processor to whip it and it worked great.
I have a small countertop dishwasher and do a lot of dishes between running a childcare and having 2 teens at home.
Last homemade version I tried, I did not like.
Left cloud on dishes, etc.
Thrilled to find this version and was fun to make and smells yum!
1st load came out nice and clean!
when i use the laundry sauce (first time i made it) it leaves a film on my dishes that i can rub off, like powder. i have followed your instructions perfectly and used all ingrediants suggested. i put a tablespoon in the soap dispenser a little in the pre-wash and leave the rest on the spoon.
am i using to much? do i add it to the soap dispenser or straight in the tub? :jar:
The Laundry Sauce recipe is NOT Meant for Dishes, it is only meant for Laundry.
lol, sorry i ment the dishwaher sauce. oops. the laundry sauce works great!!
when i use the dishwasher sauce (first time i made it) it leaves a film on my dishes that i can rub off, like powder. i have followed your instructions perfectly and used all ingrediants suggested. i put a tablespoon in the soap dispenser a little in the pre-wash and leave the rest on the spoon.
am i using to much? do i add it to the soap dispenser or straight in the tub?
OH! lol, well now, that’s a whole different ballgame then. (Sorry, I should’ve asked, we actually HAVE had people use the laundry sauce on their dishes!)
I think you may be using too much, try cutting the amount in half. Are you still using commercial rinse agent in the rinse dispenser?
As far as the soap dispenser, most of the time I just “fling” the dishwasher detergent into the bottom rack of dirty dishes, run hot water in my sink until it’s very hot, shut the door and start the dishwasher.
Some dishwashers take up to 15 minutes before they circulate hot water.
i tried the sauce tonight and was disappointed to find a white film on the utensils and especially my plastic containers – they are a mess. i always use a rinse agent so i don’t understand why everything had a film. i’m going to try it again, using less and see if i get a better result.
if not i will go back to finish gel packs. any ideas of what i can do with the remaining quart of this stuff? i would hate to waste the money by just throwing it out.
p.s. i used bottled water because we have hard water, and i adjusted the recipe as recommended. it appears to have made no difference at all.
ok, i have read all the posts… i followed everything to a tee. i have about 1/4 of an inch of room at the top of my inverted jar.
It is already gelling (almost an hour in time) but am afraid that it will not have room to blend. I used bottled water as I have hard water. I used a dry measure cup (I have two and tested them out – both the same amount of liquid) then adding the Bronnners and the 1/4 cup (not quite looking like it is dissolving but looks like your picture) of A&H super washing soda (as that is all I could find).
I added the A&H slowly and stirred. If this doesn’t come out correctly I am taking some of the water and dissolving the washing soda first. Now… back to the 1/4 of an inch of room – did I add too much water?
Even thought I measured correctly? Mine came out to just under the three cup mark on the jar. Pyrex not used!
i tried the first batch for hard water with distilled water, 3/4 c washing soda and 7 tbsp of peppermint bronners. first i did not have any empty space in the jar after i shook it up–yes i used a dry measuring cup.
i made this the other night for hard water, using 3 C distilled water, 3/4 washing soda & 7 tbsp of pepperming Bronners. First, I had no room in the jar after I shook it up–yes i used a dry measuring cup. second it was gelled in 20 minutes and I could not shake it again, so I went ahead and whipped it with the blender–no problems there.
Washed the first load of dishes and they did not completely clean and had a chalky film on them. I added rinse aid and just ran again, still chalky. Ran a 3rd time with a Cascade pack and rinse aid and they still came out chalky.
Ended up having to wipe everything with a damp washcloth.
So I’m trying it again with following the “regular” recipe and again, I have no room in the jar and the mix was gelled after 20 minutes. HELP!!! I love the laundry sauce and really want to make my own dishwasher sauce too!
ok, i tossed out the first batch – didn’t all dissolve. took a cup of the water and dissolved the 3/4 of a cup (hard water version) put the other two cups then seven tablespoons of Dr. Bonners, let it gel up. 2 hours later, whipped and smooth!
Running dishwasher right now!!!
to get the lumps out of the washing soda, pour it into a ziploc bag. zip it up and squish all the lumps out with your fingers. then snip a corner off the bag and pour it into the jar slowly per directions.
wow, so the load i just ran – came out so clean. this is the first site i have ever used for diy myo. love it!!!
laundry sauce is awesome too!
my dishwasher has a dispenser with two parts. one for the first wash cycle and the second the lid flips open for the second wash cycle. do i use 2 tablespoons for my washer?
(one for each wash cycle ) Or do I put 1/2 tablespoon in the open washer and one half in the second?
does not clean dishes adequately ������ what a disappointment. I used twice the amount of suggested dosage a second time. Dried food does not come off.
i have two compartments for dishwashing detergent in my diswasher. which one should i use with this?
i made this recipe today – i used the dr bronner’s unscented castile soap, and my mix was ready to blend after the first hour of resting – it wouldn’t shake again. i found a few quart ball jars at a local thrift shop, and bought a new oster blender at kohls using coupons and kohls cash (no luck finding one used) – the ball jar fit the blender perfectly! my mix came out great – and it worked exactly as advertosed!
i had dishes sitting for a few days waiting for me to get this mix made, and the cooked egg yolks were dried on a few – they came out beautiful!! love it! thanks so much!
can’t wait to try the laundry detergent next…:purr:
i just posted my rave review, and forgot to mention – i noticed in your budget breakdown you costed out 3 TBSP of castile soap, but the recipe calls for 5 TBSP – my own breakdown came to about .03 per load (my washing soda was a little more expensive, but I bought the larger size of castile so I think I saved more per ounce on that). Let me know if it should only be 3 TBSP in the recipe, maybe that’s why my mix gelled after 1 hour? I sifted my washing soda 3 times to make sure no lumps, and it didn’t actually dissolve – I had to stir while adding so it wouldn’t sink to the bottom and lump up.
Thanks again – it is great stuff.
Our original Dishwasher sauce recipe we called for 3 tbs, which worked well for us, but many weren’t able to get it to gel properly, so we decided to increase it to 5 Tbs, which garnered better results overall. On the Washing soda, it’s a bugger to dissolve, even with boiling water and can take some persistence. It will also take on a crystal-like appearance the next day (& the longer it sets). But it still works fine. Sifting it is a great idea, not sure why I didn’t think of that, lol.
Thank you for your review, very glad to hear that it’s working well for you. On the Super Laundry Sauce, we recommend the NO COOK version!
my dishes came out cloudy and only used a half a tsp. used a commercial rinse agent. help
What do you mean by dry measure? I used a classic Tupperware 1 cup stacking measuring cup (not a Pyrex glass with the outside marks), but 3 cups looks like a LOT more than what is in your picture and it nearly overflowed when everything was added (yes, a little at a time) did you mean 2.5 or do you only fill the 1 cup 3/4 full? 3 actual dry cups of water is nearing the shoulders of a qt.
Kerr jar. Very confusing for someone trying to follow it exactly.
Also it would have been helpful to note or link different directions for extra hard water, like you did for soft water. I didn’t find out about using less washing soda and more Castile until it was too late, when I went back to read all the comments and FAQ after I got poor results.
Mine almost instantly gelled there was no shaking after a half hour. I used distilled water, because I get it for free, and since I have such hard water I thought that would be helpful at least for the recipe to cut out minerals. I don’t know what difference that would have made, if it did.
What do you mean by dry measure? I used a classic Tupperware 1 cup stacking measuring cup (not a Pyrex glass with the outside marks)like you said, but 3 cups looks like a LOT more than what is in your picture and it nearly overflowed when everything was added (yes, a little at a time) did you mean 2.5? or do you only fill the dry 1 cup 3/4 full?
3 actual dry cups of water is nearing the shoulders of a qt. Kerr jar. Very confusing for someone trying to follow it exactly.
You should know scientifically speaking they are exactly the same if you fill it to the brim and dump it into a liquid cup and vice versa. So be specific and say 2 and a quarter cups not 3!
Also it would have been nice/helpful to note or link different directions for extra hard water, in the original directions, like you did for people with soft water to only use 2 tsps. I didn’t find out about using bottled water, less washing soda and more Castile until it was too late, when I went back to read all the comments and FAQ after I got super filmy sucky results. I had to dispose the entire jar full and start over.
Mine almost instantly gelled there was no shaking after a half hour. I used distilled water, (because I get it for free,) and since I have such hard water I thought that would be helpful, at least for the recipe, to cut out minerals. I don’t know what difference that would have made, if it did.
Is there any reason you can’t dissolve the washing soda into the water and then add the Castile? It would be waaaaay easier.
By the way this puts it at .06¢ per Tablespoon/load and I can get “subscribe and save” + AMAZON mom, Finish brand for .09¢ a load with no work and far superior results… So I’m kind of on the fence with the value of this.
I’m making a new batch now with the changes hoping it goes better… I’d really like a reply, thanks!
hello, i am not the official moderator, just another user like you.
not sure how you are doing the math but at least here the washing soda is dirt cheap and every now and then you can find the castile soap on sale.. but keep in mind for this to work properly you are likely going to need a rinse aid. see # 5 in the FAQ.
Without rinse aid dishes will have a very thick white film on them! Maybe your fist batch is still fine… I had the same problem you did as far as instantly gelling, so I just used a kitchen knife to cut through and re-stir a few times before blending.
Mike came out a little grainly as a result, but perhaps hot water might work better? Just make sure you invert it afterwards or blender will never dig in enough to get the blend started.. Also dry measuring cut is not the pyrex, it’s designed to measure flower and stuff like that.
It all fit just fine for me.. Good luck, best to you!
Hi Liss
My question is for you, as well as others I guess, but I am noticing no one is including any bleach in the dishwashing detergents. The ones in the stores all have it, and I prefer to have that in my dishwasher detergent, especially since I do not use the heat cycle for drying. Is there anyway to incorporate some dry bleach into any of the recipes?
I really prefer it, it is one of the benefits of using the dishwasher for me.
Thanks for your response and for this site, I am new and just learning it, so I am sure I will have more to thank you about later:):2cents:
I have been using this and it started out great but am now noticing my dishes are no longer clean, have really bad spots (no matter if I used vinegar and lemon shine, just lemon shine or just vinegar
). Very disappointed. Any other suggestions?
I did use the hard water recipie.
Yes, read # 5 in the FAQ.. She is using rinse aid.. It’s that little reservoir in your dishwasher most folks don’t notice is even there.
Solved the problem for me.. Here’s an example but you can buy it locally..
http://shop.seventhgeneration.com/rinse-aid.html
Good luck..
I tried ri se aid as well, same results. So sad because this lasted way longer that any others I have tried.
I can’t wait to try this! I have hard water where I live, and I have found a combination of dish washing soaps that work but its seems to be taking a toll on my dishes :dontknow:
Once this is complete, can it be transferred to another container? Would it work in a pump (like a soap bottle) or laundry bottle with dispenser? It seems like it would be much easier to dispense that way.
Also, wondering the same about the Super Laundry Sauce. The dishwasher is ok, but there is nowhere near our washer for a glass jar.
Really can’t wait to try this. You had me with the picture of the clean coffee cup! I carry the same cup around all day as I really drink 6+ cups a day.
The dry tablets I made doesn’t clean the patina ring and does leave a film. Woohoo, really clean dishes again!
ok, here’s my update, first round i used hot water thinking it would dissolve better, don’t know if it made any difference or not, but there was super thick white film on everything in the washer! then i took the time to re-read the article and noticed the part about the rinse aid! i made a new fresh batch according to directions, and it came out a little grainy using cold water, but with the rinse aid filled up in the dishwasher, results are excellent!
couldn’t be happier. coffee cup rings still don’t wash clean but they never have even with regular dis washing detergents.. i am already used to pre-cleaning coffee cups before i put them in the dishwasher, so no big deal there…
i am so very happy and grateful i finally got this working, i absolutely hate wasting money on dish-washing detergent that kills our environment.. and the price of the rinse aid was only 5 bucks and will last for 75 loads.. I bought the eco brand rinse aid btw, but any will probably work.
next time i will try seventh generation as it’s non toxic..: ) huge thanks for pioneering this method, you rock babes!
When I made my Super Dishwasher Sauce it did not gel and started to harden-so I whipped it up approximately 3 hours after mixing it all together (I did shake after 1 hour and let it sit upside down for 2). It came out fluffy and gritty. I was excited to try it out and gathered as many dirty dishes I could and used 1 Tablespoon (along with a rinse agent-not vinegar) and my dishes came out with a white film.
So the next day I used 1 teaspoon and 3 drops of liquid dish soap, my dishes came out clean and not filmy. The third day I used 2 teaspoons (with no liquid dish soap) and my dishes came out covered in film like the first day. I would be very careful with adding liquid dish soap-I have been spending quite a few hours looking for home made dishwasher soaps and ran across a couple of people who add 2-3 drops to their myo/diy recipes.
it all depends on the type of water you have, this just happens to work for me.
I forgot to mention in my other comment that I used non-concentrated dish soap.
I forgot to mention in my other comment that I used non-concentrated dish soap.
This is awesome! thank you so much for sharing this recipe! i am fortunate to have a heavy duty mixer/blender (bosch) and i placed all my ingredients into the blender and volia!
i had a wonderful, smooth paste. i put the paste mixture into my mason jar and closed it. i just want to add, i also used my blender to get the hard lumps out of my washing soda and it worked well.
i did use it in my dishwasher and the dishes came clean, to my surprise! wonderful! i can’t wait to be completely done with all my dishwasher tabs.
this is definitely at keeper! again, thank you!
I apologize if this has already been posted, but I just tried this recipe, not having either a quart mason jar or a hand blender. However, I have a Vitamix in which I placed the castile and water first, then on the LOWEST speed, I slowly added the wash soda (like one would do for old-school polenta recipes) and blended until it seemed gelled and well-incorporated. Upon pouring it into a quart measuring cup, it measured out beautifully!
(Just in case this may help anyone :)). Thanks for the recipe- to be honest, the dishwasher is running now, as a test to this detergent, chock full of glass, glazed plates, pots, and tupperware (my nemesis).
I tried this but dishes came out cloudy, even with rinse aid. Disappointed, but using it up as a prewash detergent with regular in the soap dispenser.
Well I want to apologize for my previous enthusiasm for this recipe. I really really wanted this to work and did not want to give up! i made the recipe 2 times, followed instructions exactly to the tee, added a rinse aid, tried using more, less, adding vinegar..
etc. but over time i realized this just does not go a good enough job, finding dirty dishes over and over, even though i pre-rinse all my dishes so there is no food on them. the cloudiness got better with the rinse aid, but will not remove even the slightest stains like tea in tea cups.
hated to do it, but went back to liquid store bought. maybe she has a better dishwasher than i do, but just does not cut it for me unfortunately. love the laundry sauce recipe though, that works fantastic!
give it another try…i read in one post somewhere about using a few drops of dawn hand dish detergent to the soap dispenser. it made a big difference for me; however, do not use dawn ultra. i am actually re-washing the dishes again …
it doesn’t work the same as regular blue dawn.
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I have had great success in the laundry version. Does the Castile soap have to be peppermint or can I use another scent?
The one I have is not peppermint and don’t want to have to buy more.
I can’t wait to make this! I tried a different dry detergent and didn’t like it at all! It left my dishes filmy.
This sounds like what I want. I will try it this weekend. I just have to find the liquid castile soap.
I am also interested in regular dish soap for the dishes I wash by hand.
I have 2 questions:
1. My batch gelled immediately. I used a fork to dissolve the washing soda.
I was able to make an air gap with a long spoon which allowed the blender to whip it smooth. Concerned if it gelling so quickly is an issue or if it is okay as is.
2. Can it be stored right-side up or should it be stored up-side down?
Thanks!
I went to the thrift store and picked an blender for 5 bucks. I use to make my laundry and dish soaps with.
I made the recipe following the directions very carefully, with the brands specified. It turned out well, but it leaves a film on the dishes that can be scratched off. We do not have hard water.
Commercial rinse aid was used. I reran with Eco-friendly commercial dishwashing detergent and the film came off. Any ideas why there’s a film?
Mine also did that. I think it’s the commercial rinse aid. We used to always have the rinse aid filled with it years ago and had the same problem, and it finally went away when I filled the rest of the compartment with vinegar to sort of dilute it, and then stopped using the rinse aid.
I’m about to do the same thing again. I think it’s because we don’t have hard water so the softeners are just sticking to the dishes because they have nothing to do.
You also might want to use less of the soap if the above fix doesn’t work.
Hope that helps.
Hey!
I made it and I LOVEEEE it! It definitely cleans dishes, and I got my supplies a bit less expensive than yours, and my water is softer, so I’m teetering around $.01 for each use! Amazing!
But…
I think I did something wrong so I want to ask you before I try and fix it on my own. First, I wanted to know how you get rid of the lumps in your washing soda? Mine was about the texture of find sand when I poured it out, and I poured it into the mason jar using a strainer so I wouldn’t put the lumps in, but it took forever.
So, when I finally got it all in there I don’t think it mixed in very well. The rest of the recipe worked out fine (it gelled, whipped up, etc), but now my jar is speckled with hard crystal lumps of what I assume is hardened washing soda. It dissolves fine in hot water, but I don’t want to run the risk of clogging pipes in the dishwasher.
I was thinking next time I would run the washing soda in the food processor for a minute, let it settle a long time, and then use hot water in the mason jar to help it dissolve (your recipe did not specify so I assumed I should be using regular room temperature water).
Would you please give me your thoughts on this before I get around to another batch? (Which might be a while because this is awesome and lasts a long time!) I would love to get it perfectly creamy because I put it in an old squeeze bottle so that I don’t have to dig it out of the jar and it’s been difficult to squeeze with the hard lumps.
Thank you so much! This has really been so helpful to find!
For those that cannot find washing soda you can make it using baking soda but remember this is only if you have exhausted other options to obtain washing soda https://www.budget101.com/do-it-yourself/how-make-arm-hammer-washing-powder-4879.html
I was getting clear shards in my ‘sauce’, then I added an extra tablespoon of the Castile Soap by accident and viola – grittiness and shards are gone, so I now use 6 tablespoons instead of 5. The quality of the rinse aid makes a difference on the film issue. I use Oxy-clean rinse aid and it solved any film issues.
I had tried the store brand one time and had film. And I am not a name brand, loyalist type of person, usually whatever is on sale works for me, but not in this case.
feralmonkey4, I think somewhere in these pages it recommends against making your own washing soda, I can’t remember why or what the difference is, but it doesn’t work as well.
For those that asked about getting lumps out of the washing soda – I pour the cup of soda in a plastic bag and crush them out by hand or with a rolling pin, usually by hand works for me.
HTH
Can this be used to hand wash dishes?
I am sorry but I must say this stuff is horrible! All my dishes are covered with a white powdery film that can only be removed by hand washing. I did use the store bought rinse aid, Finish!
I just had to let people know, don’t waste your time on making this one. Sorry
This is the best recipe I have used so far!! I’ve tried a handful and NOTHING has worked as well as this! Thank you.
I know that the recipe is asking for ‘washing soda’ and not pure baking soda. But there are two types of pure baking soda in the market. One is mainly for baking and the other one is for cleaning purposes.
Can I use the pure baking soda mainly for cleaning to substitute washing soda in the recipe?
Made this this morning and mine came out perfect. The only trouble i had was the first load was cloudy,so, i added 3 drops about an 1/8 of a teaspoon to the detergent tray and it did perfect. I will be using this for now on.
I have been using this recipe for the last 3 years. It works as well as any store bought product.
Sometimes the sauce turns out perfectly smooth and other times gritty. But it always works the same.
I have shared this recipe with several others and they love it to!
I love, Love, LOVE this dishwasher cleaner – I have been using it for about 5 months now and my dishes never have a film on them and the come out super clean!!! I don’t rinse my dishes and since there is only 2 of us maybe 2-3 days before I run it but when I do they come out super nice and all clean!!!! Thanks for the recipe!!!
I love this recipe! I have hard water and was noticing a film when i first started using it. So i made a new batch (using your hard water instructions) and still got a film.
It left me scratching my head and questioning whether or not making my own soap was really worth it. Then i read some where to add lemishine to the main wash and put the detergent in the bottom (i do it the opposite; lemishine in the bottom, soap in the main wash; produces the same results). Problem solved!
With that being said, i wondered if there’s a recipe out there that incorporates the lemishine; my life motto is, “work smarter, not harder”, i am trying to eliminate that extra step. Since i prefer liquid gel over tabs or powdered, it’s been impossible to find a recipe like this one that includes lemishine. The recipes are either powdered or tabs and almost always include borax (which i refuse to use due to skin allergies and other reasons).
Anyway, my question is, is it possible to replace the 1/4 c. Of washing soda eliminated with lemishine while still using the extra Castile Soap added for the hard water recipe? I intend to experiment but want your opinion before doing so.
Could I substitute a Lemon Castile soap or Citrus Dr. Bronners for the Peppermint?
Why not a wide mouth jar?