Easy Dishwasher Detergent Without Borax

If you’re looking to save a little money, and help keep toxic chemicals out of your home you can’t beat this homemade dishwasher detergent. It is easy enough that even your kids who help with dishes can use it without any help.

This post may contain affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

Table of Contents

How to Make Homemade Dishwasher Detergent Without Borax

100% honest, I do not use this detergent all the time. It is what I use when I run out of dishwasher tabs. It works great, better than some dishwasher tabs on the store shelf, and it blows a lot of other homemade dishwasher detergent tabs out of the water in how well it works.

Borax isn’t a necessary ingredient in homemade dishwasher detergent, and I find this recipe works better than those that include it.

Citric acid essentially acts as a limescale remover, so is highly effective at removing the cloudiness that can build up from calcium carbonate in water, which clouds the dishes.

Why You Will Love it:

it will save you money
it’s natural and completely safe
it’s easy to put together in a pinch
less wasteful! You can store it in a glass jar that never needs to be thrown out
it actually works!

adding Dishwasher Detergent to dishwasher

Ingredients for Dishwasher Detergent

1/4 cup of citric acid
1 cup of washing soda
1 cup of baking soda
20-25 drops of lemon and orange essential oil

Then add to your storage container of choice I like using mason jars for storage in our home, using 1 tbsp at a time for each load.

If you don’t have hard water, you can always try this recipe without citric acid and see how that works for you. We do not have hard water per se, but I still like to add it for the extra shine on my glasses.

This is the best recipe I have found to work in our dishwasher. I typically made a recipe I find on Pinterest when we run out, there have been a lot of failed attempts at dishwasher tabs here.

This recipe is the result of a lot of trial and error, and I hope it works just as well for you as it does for me.