If there is one thing I love to do, it is experiment with different homemade and natural cleaners. The last time we ran out of dishwasher detergent, I was determined to find a way to make my own.  It seems like every time we run out of dishwasher detergent it is the only thing on our list, or we are ordering it online, meaning it won't be here for another two to four days.  Since I cook all of our meals, I consider this completely unacceptable, especially since my kitchen in this apartment is tiny!

This backup homemade dishwasher soap recipe works fairly well and gets you out of those messy situations where you have no dish soap.  From what I have seen, making your own homemade dishwasher detergent is very easy and seems to work better than many natural dishwasher detergents I have tried in the past.

For those who are willing to make the jump to making your own detergent, this is the best recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent that I have found to date. It doesn't leave spots on your dishes and even gets out some of those sticky messes in your pots (such as burned rice). 

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

1 Cup of 20 Mule Team Borax

1 Cup of Washing Soda (any brand)

1/2 Cup of Salt

1/2 cup of Sure Jell Fruit Pectin

1) Mix all the ingredients above. Stir them for about 2 to 3 minutes, to make sure everything is mixed well. If you don't, it will clump and not clean properly.

2) Put 1 Tablespoon of the power in your dishwasher in each area where you normally put detergent.  I usually just put it in the closable area and call it a day. 

3) Store in an airtight container.  Label it to make sure no one confuses it for Stevia or flour.

Below, are some before and after pictures of how well this homemade dishwasher soap works. As you can see, it does an excellent job with dishes!

Before 

(I tried finding a worst case scenerio to give you an honest look at how this homemade dish detergent works)                                                        

After 

Based on the amount I made for this recipe, I predict it can run about 30 to 40 loads of dishes, depending on how much soap you need to put in your dishwasher.  In our apartment dishwasher (which is a bit old) I’ve found I need to put in two scoops of soap for some loads.  For the times when it lasts 30 loads, it costs me about .21 cents per load. It will likely be cheaper for others who make homemade dishwasher detergent, however, since everything costs more in the northeast, something I can vouch for having moved from northern Kentucky.  If nothing else, this recipe is a fantastic way to save money and give you options if you run out of dishwasher detergent!

About Susan Bewley

Susan Bewley is a professional writer and blogger who has been writing content online and in private print format for the past decade. When not writing for Budget Earth or Mew Review, she can be found busily working at her professional copywriting company - The Muses Pen.