We don't believe in indentured servitude...but don't tell our automatic dishwasher that--he won't believe you because we work him hard and relentlessly. Before my early retirement we were creatures of convenience and tried to avoid doing the dishes at all by using paper plates and plastic cups / forks. Clean-up was easy, just scoop everything into a trash bag. As we approached retirement and shifted to living on $100 / week one of the many things that we changed was to eliminate disposable dishes. That, of course, is better for the environment and much cheaper but we had a motley unmatched collection of cups and glasses that were embarrassing to put on the table. We needed to invest in new glasses but our required specifications were difficult to meet. We wanted glasses that were:
- Made of Glass - not plastic (plastic is great for durability but it gets a kind of oily gross feeling that makes it seem like it's never quite clean)
- "Durable" - some glasses are so thin they shatter when they bump something in the dishwasher
- Simple But Elegant - I'm all about utility (i.e. "Does this vessel hold liquid? Good then!") but Linda, the better-half of our partnership, thrives on aesthetics--beauty matters to her and she has the ability to create it on any budget wherever she goes--nothing gaudy mind you--simple classic beauty is what stirs her soul
- Stackable - we have limited storage space in the cupboard so stackability was important
- Inexpensive - so we could afford to buy many of them. We needed a lot of glasses because of the large extended family that all come over for meals (often have 16 or more at a time)--also, even though there are only three of us eating together regularly, at three meals a day plus drinks in between we can easily get a dozen glasses dirty before we run the dishwasher
Only trouble now is that we have a LOT of dishes to wash. Thank heaven for our automatic dishwasher! It's one of those quiet models that is also very water efficient. However we started getting hard-water spots on our glasses soon after buying it. Finally we discovered a dishwashing detergent solution called "Finish Powerball Tabs". These were very effective at getting our dishes clean, including sparkling cups, but they cost a lot. Even at Costco where you get bargains for buying in bulk it costs nearly $16 for a package of 100 tabs (i.e. 100 loads).
I researched recipes to make my own dishwashing detergent, and learned that you can get your dishes clean by using equal mixtures of Borax and Washing Soda (both are relatively inexpensive and are also used in homemade laundry detergent). However, in order to eliminate water spots you need an acidic component and the least expensive and least accessible option for that is something called citric acid.
The discovery of citric acid has been credited to the 8th century Persian alchemist Jābir ibn Hayyān who identified it as the source of the acidic element of lemon and lime juices. You could pour a lot of lime juice into each batch of dishes you wash or you can buy citric acid powder cheaply online or in the canning section of your grocery store. I bought a 10 lb bag of it on eBay for $26.99-shipping included. That is a large quantity, but I intend to make dishwashing detergent for years to come and it has many other uses (e.g. a tiny amount of it supercharges yeast breads to make them rise, I use it to make homemade baking powder, you can make a low-cost lemonade type punch etc.). This is useful stuff and worth having on-hand.
Mix all the ingredients together. Because it has no fillers you can use just 1 Tbsp per load. Each batch yields 6 cups of detergent which washes approximately 100 loads. That is the same as buying the bulk-size Costco version of "Finish Powerball Tabs" but instead of paying $15.69, my batch only cost me $3.27. Here is the cost breakdown:
One word about clumping. The citric acid causes this compound to clump. There are several ways to deal with this:
The discovery of citric acid has been credited to the 8th century Persian alchemist Jābir ibn Hayyān who identified it as the source of the acidic element of lemon and lime juices. You could pour a lot of lime juice into each batch of dishes you wash or you can buy citric acid powder cheaply online or in the canning section of your grocery store. I bought a 10 lb bag of it on eBay for $26.99-shipping included. That is a large quantity, but I intend to make dishwashing detergent for years to come and it has many other uses (e.g. a tiny amount of it supercharges yeast breads to make them rise, I use it to make homemade baking powder, you can make a low-cost lemonade type punch etc.). This is useful stuff and worth having on-hand.
Here's how to make your own Dish Washer Detergent:
- 2 cups Borax - this and the washing soda make a low-suds detergent
- 2 cup Washing Soda - NOT baking soda even if it say's "Arm & Hammer" on the box
- 1 cup Citric Acid - acidic to wash away water spots and leave your glasses sparkling clear
- 1 cup Kosher Salt - lightly abrasive to scrub your dishes
Mix all the ingredients together. Because it has no fillers you can use just 1 Tbsp per load. Each batch yields 6 cups of detergent which washes approximately 100 loads. That is the same as buying the bulk-size Costco version of "Finish Powerball Tabs" but instead of paying $15.69, my batch only cost me $3.27. Here is the cost breakdown:- 64¢ - Borax cost me $3.38 for 76 ounces so the 16 ounces used in this batch is 64¢
- 96¢ - Washing Soda cost me $3.24 for 55 ounces so the 16 ounces used in this batch is only 96¢
- 32¢ -Kosher Salt cost me $1.99 for 48 ounces so the 8 ounces used in this batch is only 32¢
- $1.35 - Citric Acid cost me $26.99 for 160 ounces so the 8 ounces for this batch is only $1.35
One word about clumping. The citric acid causes this compound to clump. There are several ways to deal with this:
- Stir the mixture up several times per day for the first couple of days (that's what we did). Once it stabilizes it no longer clumps.
- Add some rice to absorbe liquid -- this reportedly helps reduce a lot of the clumping.
- Embrace the clumping by pressing a Tbsp of the fresh mix into old egg cartons or ice cube trays. After a day or two these will solidify into your own tabs--just drop one in the dishwasher with each load.
The dishes not only get clean, but the glasses sparkle! Especially if you pour white vinegar into the rinse dispenser (forget about expensive blue rinse agent--white vinegar is just as effective and costs pennies). Why go to all the trouble of making your own dishwashing detergent? Because it works just as well as the best commercial brand but the convenience of buying your dishwasher detergent costs you almost 5X MORE than making your own.
With homemade you can wash 30 loads for $1. At only $1 / month try it out and save on the sparkle!
Joe - Have you figured out whether running your dishwasher everyday is less expensive than buying paper products? I am guessing you have, but wondered if you have the calculations.
ReplyDeleteIt is cheaper in several important ways.
DeleteFirst of all, you save out-of-pocket: With a newer efficient DW the average load of dishes costs about 17.5¢ in electricity, about 1¢ in water, and (using my recipe above) about 3¢ in detergent. That's just over 21¢ / load. We fill our DW to the brim with 20+ glasses, 20+, many utensils etc. so the cost per piece to wash it is about 1/2¢ which is way cheaper than disposables.
Secondly, if you factor in the wasted resources to make the paper plate or disposable cup the case becomes even clearer. For instance, Stanford Magazine calculated that the carbon footprint of using 10 paper plates (i.e. making and shipping them) was over 5X greater than running one load of dishes in a DW. More importantly IMHO is the use of fresh water. EVERY SINGLE paper plate requires 8 gallons of fresh water to make it (paper mills consume a LOT of water). That is about the amount of water required to run an entire load in a dishwasher. If you use 10 paper plates for a party that represents 80 gallons of fresh water which could be better used for drinking or growing food.
From a cost or an efficiency perspective disposables don't really make a lot of sense.
Thanks. It has always made sense to me to use our dishes rather than paper products if only because, to save about $60-70 a month we take out our own trash and the more trash we create the more often I have to make runs to the dump.
Deletei am going to try the dishwasher recipe - but i have some concerns about etching. no idea what's in the 'finish' that works so well that we buy at costco. except for the rare occasion, we have not used paper plates in the 38 yrs of our marriage. i do stock them in the office - the thinnest, cheapest kind - as we have no easy way to wash up after eating. we cut down a bit on the number of dishes by assigning each person a color or style of drinking glass and coffee mug - so only one per day is used. also, switched to cloth napkins which we use for 3-7 days, depending on how soiled they become. much nicer than paper, which i keep on hand for guests. we use few paper products as we cut up old clothing for rags for cleaning. we use soap buds for delicate lingerie in the washer and 1/3 to 1/2 of a 'serving' of laundry detergent - even the home made variety - unless clothing is very soiled - and cut dryer sheets into 6ths which takes care of even a large load unless it's full of synthetics. in that case, i throw in 2 of the strips (so 1/3 of a sheet). save pennies on chores so we can spend them on enjoyable things!
ReplyDeleteJD,if by "etching" you mean that the detergent would hurt your dishes in some way there's no need to be concerned. The Citric Acid is relatively weak as acids go. It is strong enough to soften the water sufficiently to rinse away the hard water spots, but it's safe. If you mean something else please clarify.
DeleteCongratulations on your long track-record of frugality. I love your ideas for "saving money on the chores". Especially the one about dryer sheets. I've used them multiple times but never thought about cutting them up...great idea!
I'm excited to try the dishwasher detergent! Are there other uses for citric acid? A word of caution, I was searching previously for a homemade rinse aid. A woman had posted about using vinegar as her rinse aid, then updated months later that she ended up having to replace her dishwasher as the vinegar had "eaten" the rubber parts in the rinse aid section of her dishwasher. Here is the link: http://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/natural-dishwasher-rinse-aid-important-update/ Thanks for all the great ideas!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip Amanda. I haven't experienced anything like that using vinegar as a rinse aid. Relative to vinegar damaging rubber I have to say that I'm pretty skeptical about what she was told by the repairmen. I've read strong opinions in both directions so it's apparently a controversial opinion. I've also ready accounts from multiple people who have used vinegar for years in their dishwashers without incident. Vinegar is a very weak acid (5%) which in the case of rinsing agent is further diluted in the water. Also vinegar is safely sold and stored in plastic containers which has similar impermiability to rubber. For those concerned enough to switch to a different approach I do like her suggestion to add a little vinegar in a small cup with each load.
DeleteLet me know how the dishwasher detergent works out. Thanks for your interest and support!
Hello Joe - do you have a good recipe for dish soap? (the manual kind, not the automatic kind!)
ReplyDeleteHi Joanne. I don't have one yet because we use an automatic dishwasher, but thanks for the idea. I'll research it.
DeleteSo excited to have made this today. The true test will be after dinner when I run the dishwasher. Since I have an almost new bottle of rinse-aid I will finish it off and then switch to vinegar. Thanks for the recipe and tips.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really great recipe, but I have concerns with the use of salt. You stated that you use Kosher salt. We ONLY use Sea Salt. My concerns are that the salt will erode my pipes. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of the salt is as an abrasive as well as a water softener. It works out to only 1/2 teaspoon of salt per load and that is diluted by an average of 6 gallons. That is a fairly low concentration of salt and is not harmful to your pipes. Water softeners send a steady stream of diluted salt through household plumbing with no ill effects. We've been using it for a long time and have seen no ill effects.
DeleteNo one ever figures the cost of repairing and replacing the dishwasher and the environmental impact of that.
ReplyDeleteThe average dishwasher is now a 500.00 kitchen appliance built to last 5 years, on average. Figure in replacing and repairing this thing a few times and paper plates all of sudden are not so expensive.
There is also the environmental impact of producing the machine and discarding it. Not all parts are recycled, and in reality, most end up in the dump.
The same goes for a washing machine/clothe napkin, diaper argument, etc.
Thanks JW, I appreciate you bringing up the TCO (total cost of ownership) relative to wash or dispose debate. There are a lot of variables when you try to do an economic comparison. Relative to the environmental impact there's an interesting discussion which concludes the dishwasher is better. Look here: http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=28827
DeleteThere is another interesting discussion about whether to hand wash or use a dishwasher (newer models favor the dishwasher) here:
http://www.treehugger.com/kitchen-design/dishwasher-vs-handwashing-the-winner.html
There is still a lot of room for debate, but my sense, after all I've read, is that the TCO-including environmental factors-still favors the dishwasher.