Saving Money on Dishwasher Soap?

Susan Sanders-Kinzel
Diamond Feedback Medal for All Time! 1,023 Feedbacks

June 23, 20040 found this helpful

A few years ago I learned the the dishwasher could do just as well using only half of the detergent that I thought was required to clean them. Now I fill the cups only half way full and save alot of money doing it. I do rinse the dishes off before loading them though. I never have to rewash anything. Try it and see what you think.

Kathy C.

Jessica

June 23, 20040 found this helpful

I do the same thing (use 1/2 the detergent) and I add about a teaspoon of borax powder to each of the detergent dispenser cups. The borax helps the dishsoap cut through grease, and it makes my white cafe-style dishes shine like new.

That huge box of borax costs $2.99 at Target, and I can use it for cleaning nearly everything, so it's a time and $$$ saver.

I mix Borax, washing soda and baking soda, works great and cheap.

Be really carefull about ingesting borax. It can cause seizures, etc. I really don't recommend it as a dishwashing detergent, but for anything else that doesnt' get eaten it is a fantastic natural cleaner.

Borax should not be used as a dishwashing detegent ingredient. It can be deadly and cause seizures. Please do research on this. But it is probably the best natural cleaner for anything that will not be consumed or hold anything that will be consumed.

I use only 1 tablespoon dw soap in each cup of my dishwasher. I keep a 1 Tbsp. meas. spoon in the dw soap box (I have poured the soap into a scoopable container).

Susan Sanders-Kinzel
Diamond Feedback Medal for All Time! 1,023 Feedbacks

November 5, 20040 found this helpful

Sprinkle Baking Soda on top of dirty dishes, add some on bottom of dishwasher too. The soda will serve as detergent on the first wash. You only need detergent on second wash.

By Gladys H.

Elizabeth

August 22, 20050 found this helpful

I don't put any detergent in the prewash cup at all. If I run low anyway, I put about 1/2 detergent and 1/2 baking soda. I have used the 1 part detergent, 1 part baking soda, and 1 part borax recipe, but I'll have to research the borax thing...I thought it was all natural and harmless.