Last week was GREAT! I looked through each and every link. I knew linky parties were fun, but I didn’t realize that they’d be my own little homestead library of projects. Thank you! Please send us more this week. Can’t wait to see what you made!

Deanna

Link back to us Little House Friday DIY Linky

I have spent HOURS on  this database researching all of the possible chemical formulations of dishwasher detergent and it has completely CHANGED how I make homemade dishwasher detergent!

Cleaning Power

1. NO commercial dishwasher detergents contain BORAX.

Isn’t that nuts?  I was so surprised.  I studied the chemistry and  I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a PROBLEM in the dishwasher, but I’m pretty sure it’s just not effective enough to justify the cost of including it commercially.  It’s much less effective than washing soda at water softening and raising the cleaning pH. This means it’s great for washing or boosting the cleaning on your fine china and your delicate laundry, but poo-poos for blasting the crap out of your daily dish grime.

Conclusion:  Borax is fine, but if you’re having trouble getting things CLEAN (which is not the same as deposits), replacing borax with washing soda will make it more powerful.  Don’t wash your fine china without it!

2.  NO commercial dishwasher detergents contain SALT.

It *is* a water softener, but it’s WAY weaker than washing soda.  And if you have lots of stainless steel, ingredients with chlorides are not recommended.

Conclusion:  If it works for you, great.  But if you’re having problems getting things CLEAN or getting spots on your stainless, ditch the salt and put in more washing soda.

3.  ONLY ONE contained any BAKING SODA

Baking soda is only half as strong as washing soda at softening water and doesn’t allow the cleaning pH to go nearly as high.   Like borax, it’s great for delicate stuff, poo-poos for daily dish grime.  And if you have a stronger product on hand, why dilute it with a weaker one?

Conclusion: Like salt, and borax, if you’re having trouble getting something clean, eliminate the baking soda and replace with washing soda.  Conversely, if you want to make your detergent more mild, toss in one of those.

4.  WASHING SODA IS KING!

Most commercial detergents at least 50% washing soda.  It’s twice as strong as baking soda or borax or salt.  Unless you’re washing something delicate, none of those three products add anything exciting enough to the equation to merit inclusion.  Washing soda is a super water softener and shoots the cleaning pH through the roof.

Conclusion:  Definitely a must-use.

5. SOME powdered commercial detergents use an oxygen bleach. 

Oxygen bleaches loose their poop after they sit for a while in water, so they come in powders.  But there’s no need to mix your own since they just break down into washing soda and peroxide.  If you have stained plastics, a slosh of hydrogen peroxide or a spoonful of Dollar Store oxygen cleaner will work just as well.  Borax has been touted as an oxygen bleach but it’s very weak, which is likely why it’s never found in dish detergent.

I only have the odd plastic piece that gets stained.  It’s easier and more cost effective to just deal with them individually with a bottle of peroxide than to fool with whole detergent formulations.

Conclusion:  If I have stained plastics, I’ll treat them individually with peroxide.  If you have lots of stained plastic and want it in your every day formula, the cheapest solution is to use the dollar store Oxiclean.

6. SOME commercial dishwasher detergents contain “SURFACTANTS”,

This could mean SOAP or synthetic NON-SOAP detergents.  Yes, both will foam in your dishwasher, but I think the key is type and amount.  I have done it with and without soap in the recipe.

Conclusion:  It’s up to you.  I like it in the mix.  Makes me feel good.

Now, Let’s Talk Sediment

7. Vinegar dissolves the salt deposits on your dishes. 

YAY!!!!  You can just put it in your rinse compartment, but I find that while it works fine on the glass, there’s still sediment on the outside of plastics.  The rinse compartment just doesn’t let enough out to get it off the plastic.  However, I have found that if you mist them with your spray bottle of vinegar, light sediment almost immediately disappears.

Conclusion:  Put it in the rinse compartment.  If there is light sediment when the washer is done, mist the dishes with a spray bottle of vinegar while they dry.  If there is heavy sediment, see the following options.

8.  FEW commercial detergents contain CITRIC ACID.

Citric acid helps take all those hardwater deposits and keeps them suspended in the wash water so they don’t settle on anything.  Citric acid is more often found in rinse aids and dishwasher cleaners.  If you are getting sediment on your plastics, this is where you can turn first.   It will work better in the rinse compartment than vinegar, but I have no idea how strong to mix it.

Conclusion:  Hurray!

9. CITRIC ACID reacts with WASHING SODA. 

As you add more acid to the mix, and decrease the possibility of deposits, you are neutralizing the washing soda.  This is why it’s more often seen in rinse aids, dishwasher cleaners, and other situations where washing soda is used.  To use it with washing soda, you have to overwhelm the citric acid with washing soda to make sure there’s enough left to do it’s high pH cleaning thing.   In the detergents I’ve seen, it’s at least 4 parts washing soda to 1 part citric acid.

Conclusion:  Use 1 cup of washing soda for each 1/4 cup citric acid.  If I still get sediment, I use more detergent, not raise the citric acid concentration in the detergent.

10. Almost all dish detergents contain SODIUM SILICATE

It’s almost 50% in some cases.  Many detergents are just 50/50 washing soda and sodium silicate.  Why?

• It’s fantastic for rinsing away deposits
• It doesn’t fight your washing soda like acid
• It protects the metal in your washer from corrosion
• It’s fairly hard to come by these days outside of commercial dish detergent.

This is what I believe is the main difference between commercial and homemade dishwasher detergents.  This is why some of us get sediments on the plastics, even if we use citric acid but get none with commercial detergents.  This is why manufacturers want us to use commercial detergent to protect our machine parts.  You *can* make it from potash and sand or silicon packing beads and sodium hydroxide, but it’s akin to trying to make your own lye from ashes.

Conclusion:  Bummer.

So, what to do?

• I would say, first try a spoonful of plain old washing soda.  Maybe add a little soap, if you like.  This is 100% cleaning power, no sediment protection.
• Use vinegar in the rinse compartment.
• If you get sediment, see  if it’s a matter of a quick spritz with vinegar just after the dishes finish.
• If not, start fooling around with citric acid in the detergent, maybe the rinse compartment too.

I have to use citric acid in the detergent, vinegar in the rinse, AND spritz with vinegar at the end.  Here’s my recipe:

• 1 cup washing soda
• 1/4 cup citric acid (Lemi-Shine original)
• optional 1/2 cup grated soap

Good luck!

1.  Reality Check

Do you really treat stains?  I don’t.  I NOTICE stains after they’ve been through the wash.  If you aren’t an avid stain treater, you really only need a bar of soap and a faucet.  Here’s my REAL stain routine:

1. Shoot, there’s a stain on the shirt I just put on!
2. Can I get away with it anyway?  I mean is it under the boob or something I can hide or people shouldn’t be looking at anyway?
3. Wipe it with water.  No go.
4. Rip off shirt, rub with wet bar of soap from sink (read: stain stick), toss in laundry pile.
5. Launder as usual.
6. Repeat ENTIRE process, including the surprise that it’s still there, until it’s finally gone or becomes a sleep shirt.

2.  Gather (the rest of ) your kit.

If you did our 3 Steps to Simplify Your DIY Cleaning Products, you already have these in your cleaning cabinet…

• spray bottle of vinegar
• spray bottle of alcohol
• spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide
• box of baking soda
• bar of soap, like Ivory

You will need three more things…maybe.

1. If you tend to get a lot of protein stains, like baby formula or blood, then you may want an enzyme cleaner.  The simplest solution is a box of BIZ, ZOUT, or other enzyme cleaner.  (I am experimenting with home-fermented enzyme cleaners to verify that they actually produce protease, and not just alcohol. Will get back to you. 5/23/12 update:  Red Devil Drain Maintainer liquid, and Rid-X Septic System treatment Ultra Liquid are both 100% Subtilis bacteria which is the typical active ingredient in enzyme detergents. A tiny squirt in your soak water should be amazing.  )
2. If you tend to get really greasy stains, you will need a waterless solvent.  BAD STUFF, like a dropper bottle of mineral spirits, dry cleaning fluid, lighter fluid, or my preferred option AEROSOL Shout.  I’m just not comfortable with large amounts of flammable chemicals spilling in my laundry room. (Update 5/23/12:  ZOUT has an enzyme in it that EATS oil.  It’s the only stain killer on the market I found that has lipase it.  It is a GREAT alternative to waterless solvents.)
3. If you tend to get a lot of coffee, tea, wine, juice, and other TANNIN stains, you will also need a non-soap detergent bar like Cetaphil or Dove or the liquid version, like commercial Ivory dish soap.  Tannin SETS PERMANENTLY in “real” soap.

3.  Learn the drill.

In general, here’s the combination stain routine.  Skip steps if you’re sure you don’t have a certain thing, and be sure to stop when it’s gone.  (Here’s the LHITS Simplified Stain Routine PDF) :

1.  Grease sets in water.  So if you suspect a serious grease component to your stain, start with a nasty waterless solvent.  OPEN A WINDOW.  Put stain face down on absorbent surface, apply solvent, tamp the back to transfer stain to other cloth, rinse with alcohol and tamp (which will remove ink). 

2.  Protein sets in heat.  If you suspect a protein component, then soak in cold water an hour or two.  If you’re sure there’s no protein, you can use warmer water.

3.  Tannin sets with soap.  After you’ve soaked it, rub wet garment with the bar of soap(read: high-tech stain stick) or non-soap bar or liquid detergent if it’s tea, juice, etc. and let it sit.  Rinse.

4.  Some stains dissolve in acid.  Spray with vinegar, wait, blot, rinse.

5.  Some stains dissolve in base.  Rub with baking soda, dampen, wait, blot, rinse.

6.  Some stains, like ink, dissolve in alcohol.  Spray with alcohol, wait, blot, rinse.

7.  Some stains need to be eaten.  Soak in enzyme cleaner, warm temp water, 30 minutes and launder.

8.  If it’s still there, wash in hottest water allowed with 1/2 cup peroxide (if allowed) in bleach compartment.

9.  Wear it anyway.

10.  Donate it.