Published: · Updated: by Carole Jones · 106 Comments
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Homemade dishwasher soap tablets are an easy to make recipe and are very inexpensive at 3 cents a piece! I’ve been using this recipe for years and love them. This continues to be one of my most popular recipes year after year!
Providing financially for a family of 8 is always a balancing act. When my older kids were babies, I couldn’t believe how much money it cost to provide for their basic needs. If only I could go back to those cheap days! Babies don’t even compare in cost to teenagers and college students.
*KA-BOOM*
That is what happened to my budget once my kids hit high school. College made a sound that is only audible to creatures in another realm.
As a result, I am alwayson the search for simple ways to cut my expenses. You already know how much Iloveobsess over my DIY cleaning and laundry products. Yes, they are extremely cheap compared to the store bought stuff, but the fact that they work great has me permanently converted.
I am proud to introduce you to my newest DIY product that I have added to my repertoire. Homemade dishwasher soap in tablets! I decided to give them a try because I already had the products on hand from my other recipes. What could it hurt, right? I am now converted and have I mentioned they only cost 3 cents each!I thinkthat beats the enormous price I was paying for my tablets before 🙂
This homemade dishwasher soap mixes together really quick and I learned through experience that you need to be sure they are wet enough to form or they fall apart. Also, to keep them from sticking to your hands, I have found wet hands makes it so much easier. If you have sensitive skin, you might want to wear disposable gloves when forming the tablets. When forming your first tablet, be sure it fits into the dispenser of your dishwasher. Flat rectangles work for mine, but every machine is different!
Want more great DIY cleaning products? Here are our favorites!
Homemade Dishwasher Soap Tablets
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Make your own tablets at home that are inexpensive and easy to make!
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 22 tablets 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 C Borax
- 1 C Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
- 1/2 C Epsom salt
- 3/4 C lemon juice
Instructions
1. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Add the lemon juice and mix completely. You want the mixture to be wet enough to mold without falling apart. Add additional lemon juice if needed.
2. These dry very quickly so working quickly and one at a time, portion out a tablet around 2 tablespoons. I used a small cookie scoop. With wet hands, form the tablet into whatever shape needed to fit the soap dispenser in your dishwasher. Place on a sheet of wax paper and let dry for a few hours before putting in a storage container. If a tablet happens not to fit into the dispenser, just toss it in the bottom of your dishwasher.
- Author: Carole Jones
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Cleaning
- Method: No bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tablet
- Calories: 0
- Sugar: 0
- Sodium: 0
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 0
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 0
- Cholesterol: 0
About Carole Jones
Carole Jones is an Arizona-based cookbook author & food blogger. She's authored The 30 Minute Cooking From Frozen Cookbook and the self-published Take 5: Chicken e-cookbook. For the past 15 years, Carole has shared her culinary adventures cooking and baking for her six brutally honest children here on My Kitchen Escapades. Hot, crusty bread is Carole's love language, but her two adorable grandchildren are a close second. Yes, second. Don't judge.
Reader Interactions
Comments
Patricia @ ButterYum says
What a wonderful idea – I’ve got to try these!
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Carol OurSearsKitHome says
I’ve got all these things from making laundry detergent. I’m pinning this!!
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Anonymous says
Just ran out of epsom salt 🙁 I think I will just pat them into a pan and then cut them into small rectangles.
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Carole says
Let me know how that method works for forming the tablets! They do dry quite quickly so work fast or it will become too crumbly.
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Anonymous says
I have a similar recipe ….it says to form them in ice cube trays and let it sit overnight to harden. Then use in washer with two or tree drips of liquid dish soap.
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Unknown says
I am so excited to try this. I have seen recipes for liquid soap or dry powders but not tabs. I seriously need to get on the ball and start making my own cleaning products. We are doing fine financially now, but we have twins coming! I’m sure we are going to need every extra dollar we can find!
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ccledbetter says
Is Arm & Hammer washing soda the same as baking soda?
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Jenny says
Arm & Hammer washing soda is NOT the same as baking soda. Look for it in the detergent aisle.
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Carole says
cc- it is different. My local walmart sells it in the laundry section. My other grocers also keep it in stock in the laundry area. Good luck!
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Anonymous says
Do you know if it changes anything to substitute ACV for the lemon juice?
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Carole says
I don’t know. Sorry.
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Amy Whitfield says
My dishwasher has 2 little dispensers (one that closes and the other that stays open). Do I put one tablet in each or just one in the closed one?
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Carole says
Amy-it would go in the larger one that closes or just toss it in the bottom of the dishwasher.
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lpeck says
Do you worry about the borax not rinsing completely? Isn’t it toxic if ingested?
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Bart and Lace says
I tried making these and I love how they clean but the leave my dishes with horrible spots. Any suggestions?
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Kathleen says
Use vinegar as a rinse aid.
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Carole says Thanks for the tip Kathleen!
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Carole says
Do you have a rinse agent in your dispenser? If not, you can use just plain white vinegar. I haven’t had trouble with spots.
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The Manning Family says
Hi Carol.
I made this today, but yet to try it. How much did your products cost you, because my costing per tablet worked out to 18 cents per tablet. I live in Australia though, so assuming your ingredients cost a fraction compared to me.Thanks Natalie
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Trisha says
I googled it and found out if you put your baking soda in the oven @ 400 for 30 mins to an hour it turns it into washing soda! Which is awesome because the baking soda is a lot cheaper and easier to find!
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TommyG says
Until you add in the cost of the natural gas, propane or electricity you used to turn baking soda into washing soda. Then it might not be cheaper.
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MamaNatural says
@lpeck No, borax is only as toxic as table salt. It is actually good for you! Look it up. My husband and I use it as a supplement.
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Tommy G says
Borax can be toxic! It depends on the dose. https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+328
It is also a skin, eye, and respiratory irritant.
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Carolyn says
It CAN be an irritant, true.
Remember you can also injest too much water.
All things in moderation.Reply
Patricia @ ButterYum says
for those who are skeptical – according to the borax website – it can be used safely to clean dishes and improve the performance of the dishwasher so I look forward to giving this recipe a try.
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Debi says
I recommend making a small batch first…just to make sure you like it. I made these (with the ice cube trays) and they left a horrible white powder on everything. I did try and run it through another wash without detergent and it wouldn’t come off. I had to rewash everything by hand. Someone else commented that they thought it was because of hard water.
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Wendee says
Add white vinegar to the bottom of your dishwasher if you have hard water….vinegar is a natural softner. Apple cider vinegar can even be used as a conditioner for your hair.
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- Carole says
Awesome tips Wendee! Thanks for sharing them – Carole
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Carole says
That is a bummer Debi! I have hard water as well, but we do use a softening system so maybe that is why it worked so well for me.
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Sandy says
How did you get the cost per tablet so low? Do you buy the components in bulk? I just priced this out buying from my local grocery store and it’s almost $0.20/tablet.
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Carole says
Sandy – I bought my ingredients from my local Wal-Mart. I calculated the cost of each measure of the ingredients, added them together then divided it into 22 for each tablet.
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KJCollins says
How do ya’ll store them?
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KJCollins says
How do ya’ll store them?
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Carole says
KJ- any airtight container or zip style bag would work great.
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Davi P. says
I use these, LOVE them. I did get the white dust and film the first few tries. Your tabs are too big for them to dissolve all the way before the rinse cycle. Try breaking them in half and putting them in the bottom of the dishwasher, not in the little dispenser cup. This solved the problem for me.
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Mary Sanchez says
I am so goi to try these! The only thing I need is Epsom salt. Do you mind if I share on my blog and link back to here?
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Carole says
Absolutely Mary!
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Mary Sanchez says
Thanks so much !
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Dawn | The Crispy Sage says
I just made my first batch. They’re drying as we speak and they look amazing. Can’t wait to give them a whirl.
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Britney says
How did I mess up? I only put 1/4 C lemon juice and it was so wet, the tablets wouldn’t stay formed. I added more borax and within two minutes it was back to being too soft.
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Carole says
Britney-I honestly have no clue! Mine always end up on the too dry side so I am stumped!!!
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Morgan says
I just made these today, so easy and so great to know I’m not using toxic chemicals! The vinegar in place of the Jet Dry worked amazing as well! Thanks for the great recipes!
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Marcia Stellpflug says
I really really wanted to like these. But I have tried them several times and there are a few things that just do not get clean. It doesn’t remove the tea stains from cups. And we microwave scrambled eggs in ramekins for the kids. And no matter if it is top or bottom rack neither of these come clean with these tabs. They work great other than that so far, and I will probably keep some for when we don’t have tea or egg residue on the dishes.
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As the Abel's Turn says
I made these last night and I can’t wait to use one tonight after dinner for the dishes.
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Anonymous says
adding white vinegar during the rinse cycle will take care of the water spots/film!
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Rochelle Barlow says
Awesome! Found you via KathrynTallandStrong. I am excited to give these a try! 3 cents each = amazing!
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Kathryn Tall & Strong says
I love this post and have had it saved on Pinterest for a while now. I’ve just referenced this post and your blog in my blog today and wanted to let you know! Thanks for the amazing information!
https://kathryntallandstrong.com/2013/07/19/frugal-friday-household-edition/Reply
Still Jill B says
Mine worked great! I had them in an airtight container – but they ended up a gritty liquid after a few weeks (disintegrated out of tablet form). Then I tried re-forming to re-air dry but seemed to actually dissolve grit into pure liquid, so I put into molds on low-heat in oven, and they totally melted into liquid with crusted-over top. At that point I was afraid of the chemical compounds I might have made, so I tossed and am about to re-create. Any thoughts? I’m thinking “half” the recipe so I use up before they disintegrate, perhaps put them in dehydrator when I form them to pull out as much moisture as possible, and store in something I can easily pour out of if it happens again (and not try to “fix” it). But do you have other suggestions or pointers?
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Carole says
I’m not quite sure!!! I have some under my sink that have been there for over a month. Wish I had some ideas for you!
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Andrea says
Is the lemon juice you use lemon juice concentrate?
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Andrea says
This comment has been removed by the author.
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Ebony Clewis says
Carole! I used this mixture as was recommended by my friend Tiffany Holland from Indiana! I decided to place the mixture in an ice tray where the molds were made like stars!! The ice trays were from Walmart and were an unbelievable price of $0.50 for two. Then I went to the dollar store (Dollar Tree), and purchased a heavy weight star shaped clear glass bowl to put them in just yesterday. I made the mixture yesterday also. I am still waiting for it to completely. I was so anxious that I tried to see if the tablet would come out easily and they slid out like ice cubes would! I put them back in because again, they are not completely dry! I can’t wait to try them but I am going to get more bowls and make more to give away as Christmas presents! What a cool idea! Thanks a millions!
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Oton Tooh says
Hi, this is beautiful , thank you. Instead of epsom salt , can i use citric acid? or, all of the ingredients, plus the citric?
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Carole says
Oton – Since I have never tried it with citric acid, I really have no idea. The epsom salt is there to help soften. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
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Nancy says
My friend and I followed this recipe and it was really watery. We had to add more of all the ingredients except the lemon before we could form them???????
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olsenfam6 says
I don’t see that anyone asked already, so I was wondering if you used real lemons or like a concentrate?
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Carole says
I used the stuff from a bottle but either would work!
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Jessica Iaquilino says
Made a small batch as an experiment, it worked SOOO much better than the Finish tablets I’d been using. I have an apartment sized (18″) dishwasher so I toss the tablets into the bottom, no residues, no more stuck on foods, it’s great! I do not have hard water so I didn’t really need to make any alterations. I am molding them in an ice cube tray which measures out perfect for my dishwasher, larger ones might need to use more.
Just a tip as I’m seeing that larger batches seem to ‘separate’ over time, I am pre-mixing all the dry ingredients into baggies to add the lemon juice to later, from there, just pour it into the trays to mold, no touching required!
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Lisa says
Tried this recipe and I loved it! Do you mind if I link your page to my blog? I have a DIY section and I’d love to include this (crediting you, of course!) Thanks!
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Carole says
Glad you liked them Lisa and I would be honored to be on your blog. Thanks for your comment!
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Lisa says
Thanks so much! Here’s my post, if you’d like to read it: https://shoestringmom.com/2013/08/07/homemade-dishwasher-tablets/
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Anonymous says
For those that asked…ACV cannot be substituted for the lemon juice. You can use vinegar (any kind) to help with the spots, but you MUST have some form of citric acid (aka the lemon). I’ve made a dry mix with lemon kool-aid before, and it worked fine. Anything with citric acid will work.
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Anonymous says
In Germany you cannot buy borax for personal use anymore because it might be harmful for the unborn. Maybe one should consider this, at least if someone’s pregnant?!
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Carolyn says
More harmful than alcohol?
I’d l8ke to see studies on that. It’d be good to know. Even though 8m WELL past that t8me in my lifeReply
Carolyn says
Siiiigh, I’m sorry I didn’t proof that better. It’s hard to see the tiny letters (and numbers apparently) in the reply box.
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E.M. Williams says
I like this idea im gonna try it, but why couldn’t you just use like a small-ish ice tray or something similar and mash the mix into the cube slots… does this make sense to anyone else?
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Anonymous says
I tried this yesterday and it was way too wet to form. Woke up this morning to dried tops, but the bottoms were super mushy. I took the link back to the original recipe and it calls for 8-10 tbsp. of lemon juice instead of 3/4 of a cup, so I will try that next.
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Alicia F says
I just tried this last night and this morning I went to put them in a container and they crumbled… what did I do. I did use parchment paper not wax could that have done it?
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Ouisher says
I just made these & mine too were really wet. I just kept adding
equal-ish amounts of the borax and washing soda & 1/2 amount(s) of epsom salts. (Per the recipe). It finally got to the point where I could form them. Assuming I make these again, I will use 1/2 the amount of lemon juice & just add more little by little if necessary. Hope they work!Reply
Anonymous says
I made them and also found a white film on dishes. I also used white vinegar in the rinse cycle. What do I need to do?
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Anonymous says
Made these they looked great. But left a white film on dishes. I also used white vinegar in the rinse dispenser. Except for the film no problem.
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Auntie Stina says
I assume that these take the place of dishwasher detergent?
How do they compare with liquid dishwashing soap? (we get the costco kind)If you put them in the closing dispenser of the dishwasher, do you put something in the open section?
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Carole says
Yes, these can go in your compartment or you can just toss one in the bottom of the dishwasher as well. Nothing goes in the second container.
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Anonymous says
I made these wonderful tablets and they turned out great. I also use white distilled vinegar as a rinse and my dishes were to filmy and dirty to use. I also tried the citric acid in place of lemon juice for a powdered form and same results. I had to wash again with 1/3 jug of vinegar and no soap to get them looking half way decent. We do have hard water, but the ready made tabs worked just fine. I did want to save money……
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Anonymous says
I made these wonderful tablets and they turned out great. I also use white distilled vinegar as a rinse and my dishes were to filmy and dirty to use. I also tried the citric acid in place of lemon juice for a powdered form and same results. I had to wash again with 1/3 jug of vinegar and no soap to get them looking half way decent. We do have hard water, but the ready made tabs worked just fine. I did want to save money……
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Anonymous says
I too made my own using this recipe but I have to say as much as I wanted this to work, over time my dishes looked horrible. I couldn’t get the white film off of plastics and other things unless I hand washed it afterwards. My dishes didn’t look clean and the glassware started to get a cloudy, filmy look over time. Yes, I used vinegar in the rinse compartment. I also tweaked the recipe by trying TSP, additional water softener and also citric acid powder but to no avail. I have now went back to using store bought detergent and my dishes are once again clean looking. I really wanted this to work as I’m big into homemade EVERYTHING! But some things just are not worth the buck or two that you save…this is one of them.
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Jennifer Simas says
Just made these! Didn’t get all the stuff off dishes… 🙁
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Shannonshannon says
Add a bit more salt into the compartment and try that.
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Sue B says
Is 20 the amount that this recipe makes?
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Carole says
If you look at the recipe Sue, it shows that it makes about 22 tablets.
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Anonymous says
My mugs are left with the tea stains after dishwashing. How do you solve this problem?
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Lynda Benson says
I have everything but the borax…this is pure genius and can’t wait to try 🙂
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Anonymous says
This recipe is absolutely fabulous. I subbed kosher salt for the Epsom and it worked great! I used a 1T cookie scoop and plopped them into ice trays, shook to flatten. This was in the morning. By that night, they were ready. I used one tonight and the dishes came out sparkly clean with no residue. Love this recipe!, thank you!
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Callie says
I made these last night and used one today. I packed the mixture down into ice cube trays. They set really well over night and got hard. Then I just popped them out. Easy Peasy. I made them a little smaller than the Finish tabs bc I was afraid of the residue others talked about. It worked GREAT!! No residue and much cleaner than with the Finish tabs. Thank you so much for this idea.
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Anonymous says
you need to add vinegar when it in the ice cube try, this will stop the residue on your dishes. also add Lemi Shine to your recipe, this wills top the spotting. Mavis of One Hundred Dollars a Month has a really good recipe for these.
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ramas samar says
Your articles don’t beat about the bushes these are actually exact t to the purpose.
Your writers are extremely fantastic that have made easy to understand everything for us.
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Jennifer says
I would be very concerned about the use of Borax. According to EWG, it is rated an F for toxicity. High concerns for reproductive development and some concern for respiratory/asthma and skin allergies. Here’s the link: https://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/2507-20MuleTeamBoraxNaturalLaundryBoosterMultiPurposeHouseholdCleaner
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Carole says
Thanks Jennifer. I will check it out.
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melissa says
Carole, you are a GENIUS!!!! I made my first tablets today….I used my little cookie scoop and ended up with the exact number you said. But more important than that, THESE REALLY WORK!!!! They are SUPER easy and quick to make and work REALLY well!! You are nothing short of a blessing to all of us Moms out here that are desperate to save money for our large families. Keep up the good work and THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Missy:)
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- Carole says
So glad you love them Missy! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience -Carole
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Danielle Haehn says
I love how cheap it is to make these. Unfortunately there’s a white powder/film on everything. I even used white vinegar in the rinse cycle on the first run. I done an extra rinse cycle and there is still a white residue on everything 🙁 I really want to use these. Any suggestions of what else to do?
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- Carole says
Danielle- I think those who have hard water struggle with the white residue. I’m not sure how to deal with that because I’ve never had experience with hard water. So sorry!!
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Amy says
I have had great success with these so far. I’ve made them twice. The first time I made them the 3/4 cup of lemon juice concentrate made them super watery, but the 2nd time, it was the perfect amount. It may be a matter of adding it in a little at a time.
In my case, after so long sitting in a airtight container under my sink, my “tablets” basically crumble, and stay in crumbles for the remainder of the time I use them. This has happened both times I’ve made them. Luckily, I am able to just use a tablespoon and scoop it into my dishwasher dispenser and it works just as well. But I have yet to figure out why they are crumbling. 🙂Reply
- Carole says
Thanks for your comment Amy! My only suggestion would be to press your tablets together a bit more firmly. I have some that fall apart as well, but most stay together for me. -Carole
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john says
Would there be residue from the Borax on your dishes?
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- Carole says
Some people who have hard water have said that there is a white residue left on some dishes
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Leann says
I made these and it left a horrible white residue on my plastic and glass. It also left a white film on the inside of my HE dishwasher. We do not have hard water. I was very disappointed. I had to run a cup of white vinegar through 2 quick cycles to get rid of the film inside the washer.
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- Carole says
That is disappointing Leann! I know some readers have had the white residue and others these worked perfectly.
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Shannon says
Smush the ingredients into ice cube trays and they fit pretty well into the dishwasher compartment.
I had a different reciepy that used lemon koolaide but no one sells koolaide near me anymore so lemon juice such a better idea. Also gonna add a drop or two or essential oil because I really like the lemoney smell.
Thanks I’m so making this right now.
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SiGee says
I use these and love them! Our water is hard so I do add a few drops of Dawn and half a cup of vinegar to the bottom of the dishwasher. Thanks for the recipe!
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- Carole says
I’m glad you made them work for you!
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