In an effort to reduce toxins in our home, I try to make as many natural home care products as possible, like my no-streak window cleaner, shower cleaner, fruit fly trap, weed killer, foaming soap, and my not-so-homemade laundry soap.
I posted a super simple Homemade Dishwasher Rinse Aid previously, but it’s been about a year (I can’t believe it’s been that long) since and I have a very important update to share with you.
And this homemade rinse aid is at least as simple, if not more so.
Why the need for an update? And how could it be very important?
Read on. Please.
You know I am always looking for easier, more natural, and less expensive ways to do things around the home, right?
Well, when I wrote that first post, I was super excited when I figured out that I could get super clean and shiny dishes and glasses just by putting white vinegar in the rinse aid compartment of my dishwasher.
And, I was pleased with myself when I thought to add food coloring to the vinegar so that I could see when it was time to add more vinegar.
I mean, who can beat saving that much money, doing it naturally and not mucking up the environment with all of those chemicals and extra packaging? (Not that I’ve ever bought rinse aid in my life — I haven’t :-).)
So–why the need for an update?
Well, here’s what happened.
My super duper homemade rinse aid was doing a great job for awhile, but then our dishes started to have some sort of gritty residue on them.
I thankfully was able to negotiate with our manufacturer to have a repairman come out for free since I had called about the issue when the dishwasher was still under warranty.
Well, I proudly showed the repairman my frugal prowess and felt I had really beaten the system with my homemade rinse aid, but I did ask him about something that had been bothering me. And I wondered if this was partly the cause of my gritty dishes. (Turns out we have slightly hard water, but that’s a different story.)
See, the rinse aid compartment was still full of green-colored vinegar even thought I hadn’t refilled the compartment for maybe 4 months or so.
Well, the repairman told me something that I had no idea about.
The acid in the vinegar can damage the rubber components in the rinse aid compartment.
Well, shoot.
I mean, here I am trying to save myself and my readers money, and I might have created a big problem instead.
Now, I am not for sure about this, but another repairman told me the same thing.
This second repairman told me that on newer dishwashers, the rinse aid compartments have rubber components that aren’t really compatible with acidic things like vinegar.
He recommended the technique that I am sharing with you today.
So—first of all, please accept my apologies for possibly steering you down the wrong road. It’s not fun for me know that I might have steered you all down the wrong road.
And hopefully I can make it up to you with today’s tip for a Homemade Dishwasher Rinse Aid that is at least as easy as, if not more easy than the original rinse aid that I shared with you.
Homemade Dishwasher Rinse Aid
1. Place small cup in your dishwasher’s top rack.
2. Fill with a small amount of white vinegar.
3. Run dishwasher as usual.
So there you have it. Super simple. You can avoid the step of the food coloring, but you do need to fill your little cup each time you run the dishwasher.
But at least it will work and you won’t be possibly damaging any components in your dishwasher.
Here’s a photo of our dishwasher for your enjoyment :-). The vinegar is in the little plastic container in the lower left.
By the way, if you are wondering why we have rubber bands on our glasses, you can read this post here.
I can’t confirm that the rubber components on my dishwasher were damaged by the vinegar, or that yours will be, but who needs to find out, right?
And I would recommend that even if you have an older dishwasher, that you use this technique.
Just. In. Case.
Or at least call your manufacturer to make sure it’s OK to put vinegar in your rinse aid compartment.
Looking for other ways to save money and detoxify your life? Here are some other posts you might be interested in:
Homemade Foaming Soap
Decongestant Chest Rub (like Vicks Vapo-Rub)
Amazing No-Streak Glass Cleaner
Moisturizing and Exfoliating Sugar Scrub
Jojoba Facial Cleaner
Easiest Baby Wipes
Do you use a rinse aid?
Hi! I am looking for alternative cleaners and right now,specifically rinse agent. Just curious if this is still working for you. I used to use white vinegar in the top rack on an empty cycle to clean my old dishwasher. Never thought of using it with dishes loaded! Do you do this every load you run? Are you still getting cleaner dishes?
Hi there. I actually have forgotten to do this for a very long time but it appears to be working for my readers. Thanks for reading!
You might want to check the vinegar issue out further. When I first saw this article, my first reaction was that the vinegar would disintegrate the rubber seals in the dishwasher. That is because that happened to me in my washing machine over 30 years ago. I was told, to get the sizing out of fabrics, or clothing, to soak them in white vinegar added to a tub of water. So, I thought it would be easier and more efficient to do it in my washing machine, than a big tub. Before too long, the rubber seals in my washing machine got disintegrated. I found out that the vinegar did that. Mind you, I put a few cups of the vinegar in the whole washing machine tub of water (and I had a large tub, so gobs of water), and even being that diluted, it eventually dissolved my rubber seals. I did this with several loads of laundry, over about a week or two to remove sizing from drapery fabric and clothes. I was not doing this every load, forever. So, you might want to research this before the seals on the dishwasher fail and you get a flood on the kitchen floor (which ruins the lower kitchen cabinets, and even gets under the flooring-even ceramic tile, and cause mold. We had a pipe break under the kitchen foundation and had a flood coming up from under the ceramic floor tiles, soaking the cabinets, etc. – 5 months later, we still in the process of getting the kitchen cabinets replaced, new floor tile, etc. and are living in a temporary home due to the mess of taking up the old ceramic tiles). I hope the vinegar won’t do that because I’m all into natural also. But, please check it out further as you don’t want a catastrophe. Bless you with all you do.
Wow – thanks for the tip. This is super confusing! Why the varying opinions?!
Great tips and recipes always…used many. Do you have a recipe for actual Dish washing soap for the dishwasher? I recently installed a water conditioner (Nuvo) which I don’t like…..my homemade dish washing soap (borax washing soda and salt) leaves a nasty film. Nuvo company says use less….tried still an issue. Currently using the vinegar in a cup on the top shelf with nothing else (no soap) but dishes don’t always come out clean. Any ideas?
Again thanks for all your great information!
Hi there – I don’t have one–yet. I tried but it didn’t turn out that well so I moved on to other things. Stick around and hopefully you will like the things I have come up with. Thanks for reading!
In regards to damage caused by vinegar…without question it does. I used a very small amount of regular strength white vinegar in the rinse water for C-Pap water containers to be sure the gentle dishwashing liquid I was using was completely rinsed off. Within a very short period of time, the soft rubber (very small ridge) sealing tightly the top to the bottom of the container started leaking. I thought it was a defect of the item. It was not. Now using no vinegar in the rinse, the unit lasts for many months to years. The vinegar was the issue. You are correct!!! Thanks for your helpful suggestions.
HI there. This is so interesting b/c many said that this isn’t a problem–you can see it in the comments area. This is confusing to me!
What these repairmen told you is TRUE TRUE TRUE! I didn’t ruin my dishwasher components, but I did ruin my Floor Mate electric mopper. Oh was I mad at myself. The day I found out about it I was rushing with company on the way from out of state and mopping was the last ting I needed to do after rain and a big dog! Oh my. The thing began leaking like a sieve! Yes…. it’s true… straight vinegar will eat away at some plastic/rubbery/gaskety/??? parts and it won’t be pretty. The only thing I ever put in that mop was warm water until the day I regretfully used vinegar…. maybe it’s because it sat with it in there for a couple of weeks, or maybe not, but either way, it was not repairable. We have had a major dishwasher leak (not due to vinegar in the internal parts, but a faulty gasket) that went undetected until it was a horrific mess. Take my word for it. Don’t put straight vinegar inside anything with plastic/rubbery/gaskety parts! lol
Oh wow – that sounds terrible!!!
Thanks Adrianne. I’m a chemist by training and enjoy playing with your recipes to see how they work. Good job. There’s one thing you missed, however, so let me point out that if vinegar rinse agent hurt the rubber parts in dishwashers (as is widely claimed), you have just disproved this in the most incontrovertible way imaginable with your rubber band ID system for glassware. Ergo : the conclusion is (almost obviously) that vinegar (unlike acetone or ammonia based window cleaners) does NOT hurt rubber. Even when heated in a dishwasher, your rubber bands just get cleaned by the vinegar rinse! So too with the parts of the dishwasher pump and gaskets (which in my unit are a soft plastic also immune to vinegar ).
Thank you! I have wondered about that myself—however, I will say that the rubber bands do get damaged after repeated washing, but I’m suspecting it’s from the repeating heating. Would you agree?
Hi, I’m trying to be a “whole-new-mom” as well here and trying to go all natural! Came across your post…thank you for the tip on the rinse aid! I’m going to try it out for sure. My question is in your instructions you write putting the cup in the top rack but your picture shows the cup to be in the bottom rack of the dishwasher. Should it be top or bottom rack?
Thank you!
Hi there and welcome! Good for you and glad to have you here! The photo is actually the top rack. You might be interested in our Facebook community–would love to have you join us: https://www.facebook.com/groups/171490083677560/
Thank you! Keep doing the AMAZING work you do!!
Awww – thank YOU!
Thank you so much for this post! Recently, I saw the tip about using vinegar in the rinse aid compartment on another website – but it occurred to me that this could possibly erode the compartment over time. So I did a quick online search and found this post. Glad I did – and I’m already a subscriber to your newsletter, yay!
Thank you so much and glad to have helped!
*And here’s a quick update: I tried it, and the vinegar in a small dish actually works better than the commercial rinse aid I’ve been using. Although the product I was using is marketed as environmentally kind, the vinegar almost certainly must be healthier for my household – and there is no doubt that it is the cheaper option by far. So thanks again!!
This is so great – thanks for taking the time to share! I’m hoping to have some new DIY home care options coming soon–for sure I will be doing more DIY beauty, but this is something I would like to do as well. Thanks again and you are so welcome!!
Hi! Can you tell me how much vinegar you use in that cup? For example, a quarter cup for a regular load? This may seem like a silly question, but how does the vinegar get used when the cup is upright? I don’t know the mechanical workings of a dishwasher, so perhaps it’s obvious but asking anyway! Thank you!
Hi there. I used about 1/2 – 3/4 of a cup I think. The water going in has it distribute throughout the duration of the wash cycle. I think that’s how at least :).
Thank you for this article. Is that a plastic cup you use for the vinegar? How much vinegar is in there?
You are so welcome – you could use whatever cup you like. I think I put in about 1/2 cup.
Excuse my ignorance, I thought rinse additive was only for the final rinse. Doesn’t the cup method add it to the first wash? Then what is the cup for?
Yes I would agree with you but it seems to help regardless. I don’t understand it. Maybe the vinegar comes out throughout the wash and rinse since it’s in a cup upright.
But why do you put the rubber bands in the dishwasher? Seems like this would deteriorate the rubber bands.
Yes you are right. I don’t recall if they were dirty or maybe even stuck? But we don’t do that any longer. They don’t last long in there!
Love your honesty and vunerability! ??
Thank you!
Is the small cup of white vinegar the only “cleaning product” you use in your dishwasher? So nothing will go in the little compartment where the detergent normally goes?
Yes, that’s correct. I have heard of people doing the other, however, if I remember correctly.
is there an alternative for VIneger considering the fact that it is not safe on rubber ?
I have heard mixed things about the vinegar – you can see that in the comments.
When do you add the cup/container of vinegar to the top rack – upon starting the wash cycle or during a rinse cycle? If the latter, how do you know when the rinse cycle begins?
I do it at the beginning :).
Very good! We will try that. We had been using vinegar in our rinse aid dispenser for some time. It no longer dispenses. We also used it in the prewash regularly, which I believe we’ll stop doing in case there is the possibility it could impact the dishwasher itself as some have said and which I have read elsewhere. I am going to assume and hope when the vinegar is placed in the cup up top, it has a chance to mix with the detergent thus reducing potential damage to the dishwasher.
Thank you for the idea of the vinegar instead of a RIDICULOUSLY expensive rinse aid as much as I do dishes for one person. I have a $1,000 brand new dishwasher. I will try this and post my results. Thanks again. Lew Gordon in Long Beach, CA!
Thank you and hope to see you around again!
That’s strange, considering that one of the key ingredients in many rinse aids is citric acid.
Note that not all acids are created equal – citric may be more friendly to the rubber components in the rinse aid tray than vinegar. However citric is MUCH better for anyone with hard water, as it’s a chelating agent.
I agree.
We have very hard water here in Long Beach, CA. Should I just try Lemon or Lime juice in a cup? Should I use this alone or with a “vinegar” cup? Thanks a million from the Sunshine State!
Why don’t you just remove your last article so as to not cause people confusion and making them do more work by reading one more article?
Good question. I have to work on whether or not to delete posts w/ my IT guy. Also the comments in both posts are very interesting and so it’s a conundrum. The back and forth on the vinegar issue shows that it’s not a clear cut answer!
We have a dishwasher from the mid 1980s that is still preforming well. We always have vinegar in the rinse aid dispenser and I always add about a cup of vinegar to the first rinse cycle after the soap is released. Absolutely no leaks or damage what so ever from the vinegar. I use vinegar for fabric softener in my laundry as well.
So good to hear – thanks!
Well, there is something about these new dishwashers, the rubber is cheaper /different… the vinegar turned the rubber strip all around the door of our last dishwasher to mush, and our dispenser stopped dispensing as well. We just got a new dishwasher and our Corningware casseroles are all of a sudden not coming clean since using vinegar and our stainless pots have grit and film all over them. I just doused our dispenser with hot water to clean out all the vinegar. I hope it’s not damaged! ? Will not be using vinegar ever again. Back to Amway products I go.
Try hydrogen peroxide instead. It was on another website as a rinse aide.
Hi, on the last post a user named Jack warned about the gasket vinegar compatibility issue. He got an answer calling him an idiot (from an anonymous user, of course). He was right all along. The point is, there are always many considerations to everything and one should not do whatever without digging a bit. And one should NEVER give advice to others without knowing for sure!! You wanna mess your own stuff that’s your problem but just leave others out of it. And people, do your homework. For this issue, it’s called chemical compatibility and you can get charts on the web easily. Cole-Parmer is my usual