Every thing is toxic!
Maybe that’s an exaggeration but it sure does feel that way the more researching into clean living you do. It’s pretty eye opening when you finally realize that BIG companies do not care about you or your health, only their padded pockets. Read on for a non-toxic DIY dishwasher tablet recipe.
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DIY Dishwasher Tablet Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup Borax
1/2 cup epsom salt
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh is best but bottled does work)
8-10 drops essential oil like lavender, tea tree, lemon, Defender, orange, or any mix
Tip: Lemon essential oil is a degreaser. Depending on the brand, Defender is a germ fighter.
Instructions:
First, mix dry ingredients together then slowly add in a little lemon juice at a time. Incorporate juice into dry mixture well before adding more juice.
Juice will cause a fizz which is why you need to add it slowly steady and a little at a time then mix it in well.
Next, add in your essential oil drops and stir in well.
Then pack mixture into ice cube tray tightly with fingers. Push down hard to pack the mixture into each cube.
Note: There may be extra that does not fit into this one ice cube tray. Consider using a second tray or just using the crumbles as “powdered” detergent in your next couple of loads in the dishwasher.
Let cubes sit for about 8 hours to dry before using.
After tablets are fully dry, pop out the cubes and store in an air tight container such as a gallon glass jar with a lid.
Recipe Notes:
- Makes 16 cubes using a traditional ice cube tray. I place the DIY dishwasher tablet cube on the top rack to allow it to fully dissolve during the cycle. Also, I do this because the cube will not fit in my dishwasher’s dispenser.
- It is possible you could get a smaller ice cube tray to experiment with this recipe. Perhaps it’ll then fit into your dispenser cup.
- Rinse aid: use white distilled vinegar for a rinse aid especially if you have hard water. SEE BELOW FOR A RESEARCH ARTICLE ON HARMFUL RINSE AIDS!
- It’s actually way better to use fresh lemon juice. I’m sure there is a science behind it, one I’m not prepared to research or share right now but I do know bottled lemon juice works well too.
- Occasionally a dish or glass will have a white residue on them if I do not open the dishwasher to allow that final air drying stage after shaking the racks to allow water puddles to run off. I am okay with this as this is a salt-based detergent and contains no harmful chemical residue. I will simply rinse this particular dish by hand.
Why choose a non-toxic DIY dishwasher detergent?
There are more and more studies coming forth about the possible harm these food-blasting, grease-cutting, powerful chemical dishwasher detergents are LEAVING on the “clean” dishes you then eat your food off of.
More simply put: you are ingesting those chemicals with each meal.
Here is a link to The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology a year ago on the study. This one has studied the rinse-aids particularly as they are sprayed on using minimal water then left to dry. This process leaves a lot of the rinse-aids chemicals on our dishes that we later eat and drink from.
Consider leaving chemical rinse aids alone or swapping to vinegar instead!
My glass dishes have a white film!
Using white distilled vinegar can help with this but it may not solve the problem.
Be sure to add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of white distilled vinegar to each load to act as your rinse aid.
I don’t always remember to do this so I do have many drinking glasses and mason jars that are stained with a white cloudiness. I am okay with this because I know it’s come simply from a salt-based detergent and not harmful chemicals.
The glass jars still preserve food well even while looking cloudy and the drinking glasses still sip sweet iced tea albeit unsightly when I take the glass out of the cabinet.
Alternatively, you could choose to wash all of your clear glass items by hand to avoid the cloudiness effect dishwashers can leave behind.
Mini sacrifices for the sake of healthier lifestyle choices while using convenient kitchen helpers like a dishwasher. But you do you!
If you liked this non-toxic recipe, take a gander at these:
My family doesn’t always get it right but we do try to reduce or eliminate endocrine disruptors that are very commonly found in the products we put on our skin: Lotions, moisturizers, body wash, hand soap, makeup, fragrance sprays, and much more.
Making changes where we can to reduce the amount of chemicals we take in every day is the goal; not perfection and completely no toxins. That’s almost impossible in today’s world. But we can always TRY.
See my Disclosure Statement
These are some of the swaps we have made:
Laundry Detergent– salt based powder version, no grated soap
Face Scrub for dry skin– 3 ingredients found right in your kitchen
Hand Soap– 2 ingredients for non-toxic hand cleansing
Dish Soap– 2 or 3 ingredients for a dish soap that bubbles and cleans well without the toxins
DIY Bar Soap– for body and face, very few ingredients to make our own soap and sell some too
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DIY Dishwasher Tablets
Ingredients
Method
- Mix dry ingredients together.
- Then slowly add in the lemon juice and incorporate it well before adding more juice. Juice will cause a fizz which is why you need to add it slowly often and mix well.
- Next, add in your essential oil drops and stir in well.
- Pack mixture into ice cube tray tightly with fingers.
- Let cubes sit for 8 hours.
- Lastly, pop out the cubes and store in an air tight container.
Borax is toxic tho?
Hi Sally, thanks for reaching out. I try to add to my blog posts my Disclosure Statement that says I am not a scientist nor a doctor and always encourages readers to do their own research. Whereas I am comfortable with this recipe, others may not be. To each their own. I do have another dishwasher detergent powder recipe that does not contain borax if that’s better for you? https://johnsonhomenc.com/how-to-make-your-own-natural-non-toxic-homemade-dishwasher-detergent/
Borax is not toxic! I actually have taken it as a supplement. As long as the container it is in says BORON then it is completely safe. It is great for many health benefits!!! Arthritis, blood sugar and so much more! Boron is on the periodic table and a necessary mineral we need!
I’ve read that in my researching. No personal experience yet. Thanks for your contribution!
Hey Valerie! So the borax used in recipes like this even if it has boron listed in the ingredients is still considered toxic because it contains a higher concentration of boron which is toxic in large doses. While the supplement is considered ok when you follow the supplement instructions, Borax is a concentrated form of boron which is not a food grade substance! Hope that helps (:
Thanks for your input for consideration of my readers here. 🙂