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Tuesday, May 6, 2008

What doesn't work for me: Homemade dishwasher soap

This week is a themed week for What Works for me Wednesday. It is, What DOESN'T Work for me. Well, the one thing I have tried unsuccessfully over and over to make work is homemade dishwasher solution. It does not work!

I love saving money. I love using as many chemical free cleaning supplies and I love making my own laundry detergent. You would think that I would love making my own dishwasher soap. Nope! I have tried at least 3 different recipes and none have worked.

The problems I have had, are a thick film left on the dishes, and the solution not cleaning the dishes well at all. I have tried using vinegar as a rinse aid, which is fine, but it does not help. So this frugal, natural kind of momma is sticking with Cascade! If you're thinking about it go ahead, but for me it was a waste of time.

Of course, if you have any tips that I may have looked over on how to get it to work, i'd love to hear about them. And of course for more things people have tried and found does not work for them, visit Rocks in my dryer.

9 comments:

Barb J. said...

I have the same problem! Just about every cleaner in my home is homemade, but not dishwashing soap. Every recipe I tried left a thick film on everything. I now use natural detergents from the health food store - which is not very frugal.

Hopewell said...

Same here!! I gave up. I happily put the Cascade w/Dawn tablets in my grocery cart and suck it up and pay!!! I tried them all--all worked for a day or two. Then the white stuff came back!! Ick!

Teresa said...

Yes, the film was so thick I had to really scrub my dishes to get it off.

Now, I don't know that i'll be going to the health food store to get some soap any time soon.

I just call it one of my frugal flops! :-)

Anonymous said...

sorry to hear of your cascade calamity! lol i use 1 spoonful of borax, 1 spoonful of baking soda and some vinegar in the rinse doohickey. it works for me :)

Shannon said...

It doesn't work for me either. The film on my glasses drives my kids nuts. So, along with the 2 cups of boraz and the 2 cups of baking soda I put in 2 cups of cascade. I mix it all up and put it into my box and use as usual. Works like a charm! No more film.

Teresa said...

Ok, I have heard about people mixing it up. That I might be able to try. It could stretch the amount of Cascade I use. It seems like I am always buying it!

Jane of Seagull Fountain said...

This is great to know. I've been thinking lately of attempting some sort of homemade soap, and now I will definitely not be starting with dishwasher detergent.

I buy the big bucket at Costco, but the Cascade sure is nice!

Mama said...

I know what you mean! I was a Cascade Gel fanatic, until we decided to go green. After 4 trys, I found Shaklee. It works BETTER. Believe it or not, it's true! I couldn't even use the generic Cascade gel before! I tell ya, this Shaklee stuff is amazing, saw it on Oprah, now I'm hooked!

Teresa said...

Jane, we don't have a costco here but we have a Sams. I used to buy the big things of the members mark there before I started buying mine at CVS and Walgreen's. I get them free now!

mama, I knew shaklee had a line for laundry but I didn't know they had a line for the dishwasher. Is it really expensive? I do know that their products are super concentrate.