Make the switch from toxic products to more natural dish soap options. Easy to find, affordable options that fit every preference and budget.

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When my family first started our natural living journey, we didn’t have the financial means to purchase lots of different products and ingredients. Money was definitely tight as a single income family. In an effort to maintain both my mental sanity and our financial stability, I had to figure out how to make the switch from toxic products to more natural options. My solution was a simple one: Embrace this makeover as a journey. A slow, steady journey; swapping one product at a time.

I personally believe the best products to start with are the ones most often used. For me, this meant first swapping my daily face cleanser, toner, moisturizer, body soap, toothpaste, all-purpose cleaner, dish soap, and eventually makeup for more natural options.Slowly, as my old (toxic) products ran out, I would search for replacements. 

Make the switch from toxic products to more natural dish soap options. Easy to find, affordable options that fit every preference and budget.

A few years ago, this process was difficult, since there weren’t a lot of options for “more natural” products like dishwasher soap, laundry soap, makeup, etc. This meant that I had to come up with homemade solutions for some of these products. I’ve shared many of these solutions here on the blog, in my cleaning book, and will be sharing more in my upcoming body book (Natural Body Care Simplified, coming December 2017).  

When I first started this journey, I wanted someone to walk alongside me. Someone who had walked the same path I was currently traveling down. Someone who could come alongside me and say, “Hey, you’re looking for a more natural replacement for ______? Cool! Here’s what I’ve tried and loved.” My desire is to be that someone for you. And I would love if you would also be that someone for me. Together, we can share about the swaps we’re making, what we’ve tried, and the products we’re using and loving.

Make the switch from toxic products to more natural dish soap options. Easy to find, affordable options that fit every preference and budget.

This is the first post in a monthly series called, Switching to Natural Products. Each month I’ll round up some of the products I’ve tested and enjoyed using in a particular category. Some of the categories will be home-based and others will relate to body care.

First up, let’s talk about cleaning the dishes. We all have them, and we all need some sort of soap to get them clean. Today, I’m going to share my favorite products, based on what I’ve tried. This isn’t an exhaustive list of every option available. If I try new products in the future, I’ll be sure to update this list.

I’ve provided some information about where to source each product, along with the Environmental Working Group’s rating for the product. You’ll notice that most brands make both fragrance-free and scented versions of the same product. The fragrance-free options almost always receive a better/cleaner score from the EWG.

Switching to Natural Products

The Dishwasher

Make the switch from toxic products to more natural dish soap options. Easy to find, affordable options that fit every preference and budget.

Tablet Option: Ecover Automatic Dishwasher Tablets 

Ecover makes several good cleaning products, including an automatic dishwasher tablet. The tablets are available at most health food stores (including whole Foods) and online. One box, containing 25 tablets, costs roughly $6-8.

Environmental Working Group Score: B, due to fragrance (citrus, yellow box). There’s also a fragrance-free option (blue box). 

Tablet Option: Seventh Generation Free & Clear Dishwasher Detergent Packs 

Seventh Generation products are sold even in conventional grocery stores, so if you’re looking to make a switch today (and don’t have a health food store in your area or a desire to order online) this is a good option. The powder soap is wrapped in a seal, which makes the packs easy to use–just like a tablet. One package, containing 45 packs, costs roughly $9.

Environmental Working Group Score: A

Make the switch from toxic products to more natural dish soap options. Easy to find, affordable options that fit every preference and budget.

Powder Option: Biokleen Automatic Free & Clear Dish Powder

I haven’t used this dishwasher powder in a while (I prefer a tablet option). When I needed the product for the photos in this post, I went to Amazon, found the product, and clicked the purchase button. I didn’t realize that I accidentally purchased the citrus-scented powder versus the fragrance-free (Free & Clear) option. The scented version receives a C from the Environmental Working Group. The fragrance-free option receives an A. Both containers are blue and white, so make sure you look for the words “Free & Clear” on the label. This option can be found at some health food stores and online. A 32-ounce container costs roughly $13.

Environmental Working Group Score: A

Make the switch from toxic products to more natural dish soap options. Easy to find, affordable options that fit every preference and budget.

Gel Option: Better Life Naturally Crumb-Crushing Dishwasher Gel 

I discovered this company while searching for natural dishwasher gel options on Amazon, and I was impressed with the A rating from the EWG. We tend to stay away from dishwasher gel (Dustin doesn’t think it works very well), but this one was impressive. It actually worked, even with our hard water. The gel is sold online, and possibly in some health food stores. A 30-ounce bottle costs roughly $11.

Environmental Working Group Score: A

The By-Hand Method

Make the switch from toxic products to more natural dish soap options. Easy to find, affordable options that fit every preference and budget.

Do-It-Yourself Dish Soap

The key ingredient in this do-it-yourself option is Sal Suds, castile soap’s super strong brother. Castile soap doesn’t provide enough grease-fighting power (in my opinion) to make a good dish soap, so Sal Suds is a great alternative. Sal Suds is highly concentrated so it needs to be diluted. All you need to add is water, and I also like to add a bit of vinegar to help with the rinse and shine. A 32-ounce bottle of Sal Suds costs roughly $13.

Environmental Working Group Score: A

Make the switch from toxic products to more natural dish soap options. Easy to find, affordable options that fit every preference and budget.

Ecover Dish Soap 

As mentioned before, Ecover may be found at most health food stores, including Whole Foods. I’ve found that a lot of “more natural” brands are only available online, which is great if you have time to order a product, but it’s also nice to have an in-store option. One 25-ounce bottle costs roughly $4.

Environmental Working Group Score: A (fragrance-free option), B (many of the scented options)

I’d love to hear from you in the comment section. Tell me what you’re working on swapping in your home, what you’ve already swapped, what you want to swap in the future, and any products you particularly love (or don’t love).

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33 Comments

  1. I have a question–what type of dishwasher do you use this with? I loved BioKleen until I bought a Bosch and now have to clean my dishes first. If you have been using this with a Bosch and haven’t had any trouble, then I will start making this right away.

    1. Hey Karin, Sorry your comment was marked as spam btw…we’ve been having issues with our spam filter. I have a KitchenAid dishwasher. I love the Eco tablets mentioned above, they work the absolute best for me–no issues with residue etc. and we have hard water.

  2. I haven’t tried your recipe, but will comment on BioKleen Free and Clear. Until we bought a Bosch I loved it–it cleaned off everything but grease. However, it is useless with our Bosch but since I bought a huge bulk amount off Amazon (2 years’ worth) I have kept using it, but have to clean everything off.

    What I didn’t realize is that really quiet dishwashers rely on the detergent to do ALL of the real cleaning work, where as traditional ones that are noisier work better (and we had a cheap contractor’s special that worked better with BioKleen).

    I have been using this product for at least 15 years–before that 7th Generation’s was terrible, but not it’s owned by Europeans and I prefer a company owned by Canadians or Americans. My concern with your recipe isn’t that it isn’t good, but how well the Borax rinses off (it’s fine if it rinses) and what type of dishwasher you are using this on.
    How well

    1. Hey Karin, I have a KitchenAid dishwasher. My favorite go-to dishwasher product is the Eco tablets mentioned above. After getting our new dishwasher, I’ve found they work the absolute best for me. I think a lot also has to do with if you have hard or soft water. We have extremely hard water. Sorry your comment was marked as spam btw…we’ve been having issues with our spam filter.

  3. It would be helpful id the plastic containers were contained in the grading system, or at least mentioned in your recipe ingredients. I am trying hard to reduce purchase of things packaged in plastic.

  4. We live in Southeastern New Mexico. The water is also very hard. We use Better Life Dishwashing Gel which works best for us. I’ve tried all the others mentioned above. I add food grade citric acid, about two teaspoons on top of the Better Life Dishwashing Gel in the same dispenser. The citric acid takes all of the markings on the dishes out. My hubby orders it in bulk from online. Just put in food grade citric acid in the search bar and choose the cheapest one.

  5. Hello! I have a question regarding pods vs powder. We live in Louisiana and have hard water. I used to not like how the pods cleaned but that was with commercial detergents. We are following your methodology of changing products out as we run out and am now looking for dishwasher detergent options. Have you found that the natural pods work better for you in hard water?
    We had switched to Seventh Generation free and clear powder as I could easily get my hands on it to try it but for some reason it is now beginning to leave a really bad residue all over the dishes. I have tried using less powder with the same result. We use distilled white vinegar as our rinse aid. We have a Bosch dishwasher. Any tips or recommendations for best hard water options are greatly appreciated.

  6. Have you ever tried making something with Sals Suds for the dishwasher? I tried making something recently that is not working very well. Just curious if you had ever made a product for the dishwasher!

    1. Hey Ticia, I find Sal Suds is too sudsy for the dishwasher. I have a dishwasher powder recipe in my cleaning book. I personally use store-bought soap because we have such hard water.

  7. I live in Switzerland and my mother has been using the ecover dish soap since I can remember. Maybe it once was a different product, made by Held, but now she uses this. When I moved out last year, it was one of the first cleaning products I’ve bought. I also ordered the dishwasher tabs last week, they arrived just this morning. Let’s see how they work.

  8. We use Seventh Generation Free and Clear tablets and Ecover rinse aid. I subscribe & save both. Seems like I made good choices!

  9. Thanks so much for your recommendations! I haven’t yet found a dishwasher soap I’m happy with, so I’m going to give the Ecover a try!

  10. OMG – you are the first person I’ve ever found that also likes the Ecover lime dish soap. The smell is the best I have ever experienced in a dish soap. It calms me and smells so so natural. And of course it works just as well as anything else in my opinion.

  11. The Better Than Life dish soap is the best dish soap I have ever used! Better than any conventional … breaks through greasy residue and doesn’t dry your hands out! I’m glad to hear that the dish washing gel works because I have been wanting to order it.

    1. I just made my first batch of dish soap today. Love it already! Now to make dishwasher,my dishwasher is apartment size so cant use tablets,has to be liquid,any ideas?

  12. I also like the Seventh Generation dish (and auto-dish) soap. It seems to work better than some of the other natural brands I’ve tried (haven’t tried Ecover yet). I made your recipe for Sal Suds dish soap and I love it! But I think I have to abandon it as it ate my hands so bad I’m covered in band aids from cracking skin, even after adding nourishing oils and some aloe.

    1. Oh no, Tamara. It can definitely dry out your hands. If you make it again, you may want to wear gloves or reduce the amount of Sal Suds even more. Seventh Generation is a good one.

    2. Oh yes, I always wear gloves! It helps me use hotter water too LOL because my hands are insulated. My favorite are the Mr Clean Bliss. I buy them at Menards or Staples. Any others I have tried do not last long.

      1. I’ve always hated wearing gloves, taking them on and off is a pain, but I definitely need to start doing it. Thank you for the recommendation! I’ll try those out.

  13. Seventh Generation unscented dish soap is my favorite for hand washing. It’s the only unscented that is truly unscented. So many still have a scent to them.