# Dishwasher soap not working well



## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

So my homemade laundry soap works so well, but my dishwasher soap less so. It's 1 cup washing soda, 1 cup Borax, 1/2 cup kosher salt. I mix in 1 tsp citric acid with 1 tablespoon detergent when I run it. 

My dishes are not getting clean, the glasses have residue and some ground up bits of food on them. I just doubled the amount I use and put vinegar in the rinse agent section which helped some. 

My dishwasher is very old, probably 1980's? And has been tiled in so we can't replace it until we redo the entire kitchen! Luckily the kitchen is very small and circa 1974 so we are saving towards an affordable redo. 

Anyway, any ideas on formula? Something to add to it? I hate the price of commercial soap and it didn't work beautifully either, but better.


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## Tinker (Apr 5, 2004)

Ground up bits of food on your glasses sounds more like an appliance issue, not your detergent. Sounds like the food is getting sprayed on, but not rinsed off properly. Either your spray arms are getting blocked (like by plastic dishes that are light & are forced up against them), or your dishwasher is just old, and not very efficient. 

Try using Finish brand gelpacks to see if they do a better job. If they do, than it IS a detergent problem. If not, than it is the dishwasher itself.


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Our repair man told me that Cascade Complete was what they recommended. It works better for me than most of the other brands. You might try and see if the filter at the bottom of your dishwasher is clogged up.


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## Tirzah (May 19, 2006)

Linn, (oops I meant Vosey!)

We tried homemade detergent in our newer Kitchen-aid dw but still had residue and film. We tried so many brands too and still had yuck. We found out that we can no longer purchase dw detergent with phosphates out here. So we ended up ordering commercial Cascade from a restaurant supply store online and it works great with white vinegar in the reservoir for rinse agents. It works great!

http://www.restockit.com/cascade-automatic-dishwasher-detergent-85-oz-%2834953pg%29.html

It comes in a case of six, we bought ours almost 2 years ago and I just opened a box and have 3 left. You only need about a Tablespoon per batch and we do a wash at least every other day to every 2 days.

Hope this helps!


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Thanks for the tip.


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## Tinker (Apr 5, 2004)

I always use to use Cascade Complete, and liked it, but here our well water has tons of minerals in it, and the Cascade did NOT clean well. I was putting all my dishes in a 5 gal bucket of vinegar about every 3 weeks to get the mnierals off. Then I tried the Finish gel packs, and I don't have the mineral build up anymore. I have been very happy with the Finish.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Thanks all, I'll do a little experimenting this weekend. I just hate the cost of detergent, it's a long ways from here to an affordable store, so I've been making my own. But if I ordered a years worth online it would be worth it! Or maybe using the Finish packs every few loads or something. :happy2:


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Problem solved! I used twice as much detergent (2 tablespoons plus, actually filled the detergent cup) and put vinegar in the rinse compartment. The directions for the homemade detergent were for a tbls, maybe new dishwashers need less soap than old ones. Cuts down on savings but still way cheaper! 

Also possible our water has changed. We have treated irrigation water which comes right off a local river. I suspect the mineral content of the water is very different depending on the time of year.


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