Homemade Dishwasher Rinse Aid--3 Recipes

Dishwasher rinse aids work great, but they are pricey and loaded with chemicals you just might not want in your home. Thankfully, there are options for making your own homemade dishwasher rinse aid that call for using just a few simple ingredients. Your dishes, your wallet, and the environment will thank you!

You'll love these options, PLUS I'm also sharing what you DON'T want to use in your dishwasher. Not all recipes on the internet are safe!

In an effort to reduce the toxins in our home and environment, I've been working at making homemade cleaning products for awhile now.

Some I've made because I just wanted to, but some I've made due to a problem that I had to solve. This time it was a case of the latter.

Dirty Dishes in New Dishwasher!?

When we had to get a new dishwasher, I chose a really good model (on sale of course) and thought we'd have fabulously clean dishes as a result.  Instead, I found myself having to clean at least 1/4 of the top rack every single load.  Ugh.

Washing dishes by hand after they've gone through the dishwasher cycle is for sure not efficient and not what this already-too-busy-mom needs at the end of the day.  Something had to change.

I called the dishwasher manufacturer and they sent me a few samples of dishwasher rinse aid saying that that would help, plus they recommended a specific (expensive) type of detergent.

Well, the detergent I was open to trying, but this frugal-minded mom was determined not to spend even more money and put even more toxic chemicals into our home and the environment.

So off to figure out how to make an all natural homemade dishwasher rinse aid, I went.

I read somewhere that putting straight vinegar in the rinse aid compartment was a quick and easy DIY Jet Dry alternative.

So I tried it.

And it worked.

However, soon after making this "genius" discovery, a dishwasher repairman warned me of the dangers of doing just this, saying that the acid could possibly at away at the seals of the compartment. Yikes!

Instead, he recommended the first super simple homemade dishwasher rinse aid technique that I am sharing today. It's my favorite because--well--it's SO simple and it works.

IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT DIY RINSE AIDS

Before we get to the recipes, however, there are some very important things you should know about other homemade rinse aids on the internet. Not all of them are safe and here's why.

Don't Mix Acids with Peroxide

There are some recipes online for DIY Rinse Aid made by combining citric acid with peroxide. This is apparently NOT a good idea.

Also don't mix peroxide with vinegar. Or with any acid. Mixing peroxide with acid makes a super strong oxidizer that can etch metal. NOT a good idea. (source)

Be Careful with Essential Oils

Essential oils don't mix with water. So if you put essential oils in with peroxide or with water and citric acid, the oils will sit on top and likely will end up creating gummy residue in your machine that might cause a problem.

Don't Use Rubbing Alcohol

There are also some DIY Rinse Aids that recommend using rubbing alcohol as an ingredient. This might ruin your dishwasher that I know of, but it's pretty noxious and rubbing alcohol's fumes are flammable and should be kept from any heat source.

I don't think that the dishwasher's heat source would necessarily be a problem, but better to be safe than sorry and I think that the fumes would get pretty intense. Since rubbing alcohol's fumes aren't considered the best to be exposed to, let's just not do this. (source)

Now here are the 3 Easiest Rinse Aids you can make. So easy, you'll never go back to buying it again!

Vinegar Dishwasher Rinse Agent

• Place a small cup in your dishwasher's top rack.
• Fill said cup with a 1/4 - 1/2 cup of white vinegar.
• Run dishwasher as usual.

I mean, who can beat saving tons of 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 :-).) White vinegar is soooo cheap!

Here's a photo of our dishwasher for your enjoyment :-).   The vinegar is in the little plastic container on the lower left. By the way, if you are wondering why we have rubber bands on our glasses, you can read this post here.

Now....I know it seems crazy, but this really did work for me. You'd think that the action of the dishwasher would cause all of the vinegar to be diluted greatly before it could help, but it didn't.

I'm sure the effectiveness of this method will depend on the position of the dishwasher arms in your dishwasher.

If this doesn't work for you, another option is to pour a 1/4 - 1/2 cup of vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher when the rinse cycle starts. Of course, you have to keep an eye on the dishwasher while it's running to do that.

So here is that Super Easy Rinse Aid plus two other options that are basically just as simple!

Peroxide Dishwasher Rinsing Agent

• Hydrogen Peroxide

Instructions

Pour some peroxide in your dishwasher's rinse aid dispenser and run the dishwasher as usual.

Genius Tip: Add a few drops of food coloring (natural preferred) so you can see how much is left if you have a compartment that holds a lot of rinse aid.

Pitfalls of this method

Peroxide can bleach cloth, so take care to not get it on your clothes or kitchen linens.

Citric Acid Dishwasher Rinse Agent

• 2 Cups Citric Acid
• 5-10 Drops Essential Oils

Instructions

Mix ingredients and store in a jar.
Place one tablespoon of mixture in rinse aid compartment prior to each load of dishes.

Pitfalls of this method

Citric Acid can get clumpy if you live in a humid environment. If this happens, you can place a tablespoon or so of bentonite clay in a baby sock or small cloth / rag, seal it with a rubber band, and keep it in the jar with your citric acid blend to absorb moisture.

Other Homemade Healthier Home Products

Looking for more ways to save money and detoxify your life?  Here are some other DIY green cleaning formulas to try.

Easy Homemade Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent
Homemade Shower Cleaner similar to Soft Scrub®
Homemade Moisturizing Foaming Soap
No-Streak Window Cleaner
Homemade Shower Cleaner

How to Clean Your Dishwasher

To help your dishwasher rinse aid work even better, try these tips.

If you have particularly hard water, try running your dishwasher with vinegar or citric acid every so often or even once weekly to clean it. Simply put 1 cup of vinegar or 1/4 to 1/2 cup of citric acid, or 1 cup of lemon juice either in the bottom of the dishwasher or in a container of the center rack before running it.

With these tips and recipes, you'll have your dishwasher running great, spotless glasses and silverware, without breaking the bank or spending a ton of time!

(Note this post was originally published on September 11, 2011. It was republished with loads of new information. This is the original photo for reference.