Washing a mountain of dishes is a task that makes many people complain and balk, sometimes even causing family arguments. In these cases, the dishwasher becomes a more than life-saving household appliance. Just fill it, toss it and forget about it until it’s time to empty it! In addition, recent models allow significant savings in water and energy (around 12 liters of water per wash and 1 kWh per cycle) compared to washing dishes by hand (42 liters of water on average and 2 .5 kWh of energy to heat the water). The fact remains that the chemical cleaners that we put in them are not very ecological. Fortunately, you can easily concoct a very effective homemade dishwasher powder. To create this natural, ecological, zero waste and economical alternative, you just need to make the right mixtures! Grandma tells you everything.
What to know before starting to prepare a dishwasher powder
Before preparing your homemade natural household product, remember a few things. This way, you will definitely have a dishwasher powder that is effective against stains and food residue.
- First of all, be wary of biodegradable recipes that combine bases (sodium bicarbonate, etc.) and acids (citric acid, lemon juice, white vinegar, etc.). In fact, these ingredients cancel each other out and render the product useless. This is why in the recipes below, we keep the citric acid separately and add it at the last moment!
- Furthermore, no need to add essential oils (lemon essential oil, etc.) to perfume. Very expensive, their properties will also be denatured or even destroyed with the heat of the device. What’s more, they risk polluting the water and will come into contact with dishes, possibly causing allergies!
- Finally, you notice white marks on glasses or a lack of shine on clean dishes? So, don’t hesitate to reduce the doses of soda crystals in your recipes. He is often the culprit…
The benefits of homemade dishwasher powder
Comme Avant dishwasher powder with white vinegar (also designed by hand) is an exception, but otherwise, we find few ready-made formulas which are ecological and biodegradable and which allow you to clean, degrease, descale and shine dishes effectively even in a short cycle or at low temperature, all without questionable ingredients (perfumes, preservatives, colorings, etc.). It is therefore difficult to slip through the cracks of irritating and toxic products for health and the environment. Furthermore, the compositions are never clearly indicated on the productsevoking only obscure percentages of phosphonate, surfactants such as non-ionic surfactants, enzymes or chlorine (including EDTA acid).
So, if you want a powder without plastic packaging that is effective without breaking the bank, homemade remains the most convenient option. You just need to make a large quantity of powder to have peace of mind for a very long time. And of course, there’s nothing complicated about it, and we know what’s inside. Plus, all the ingredients are easy to find. in supermarkets, organic stores or in bulk!
Time for recipes to make your own dishwasher powder!
Easy eco-friendly recipe 100% powders
First, get two airtight containers (jam jars, recycled takeout boxes, etc.). This will allow you to keep your separated ingredients to avoid chemical reaction between bases and acids. In the first container, mix 3 parts baking soda, 3 parts soda crystals and 1 part coarse salt. Then in the other box, pour 7 doses of citric acid. When washing, put a generous tablespoon of each into the powder or tablet case and run the desired wash program. This detergent based on ecological products that respect the environment is very degreasing.
Dishwasher powder with Marseille soap
To make it, finely grate 3 teaspoons of Marseille soap. Then add 3 tablespoons of percarbonate of soda, 3 of baking soda, 3 more of soda crystals and 1 of salt. Keep it all in one airtight jar. To wash, put a good spoonful of it in the dedicated compartment and add half a teaspoon of citric acid.
After the powder, how to replace other products for the dishwasher?
Regenerating salt is more difficult to replace. For example, using coarse cooking salt is not ideal because of its particle size. It therefore risks melting too quickly to do its job! However, this does not mean that one cannot check the list of ingredients and choose the simplest and most economical formulas. On the other hand, it’s a different story for the anti-limescale liquid to combat water hardness. In fact, it is none other than white vinegar sold at a high price… So, don’t hesitate to use the latter to replace that expensive rinse aid against tartar and limescale. You can also make a rinse aid even more powerful adding lemon juice and salt.
Also consider using white vinegar and baking soda for chemical-free dishwasher maintenance and cleaning. And in case of bad odors, these natural products like lemon will also help to deodorize it!