Homemade dishwasher soap tablets are an easy to make recipe and are very inexpensive at 3 cents a piece! I’ve been using this recipe for years and love them. This continues to be one of my most popular recipes year after year!

Homemade Dishwasher Soap - DIY Tablets Recipe

Providing financially for a family of 8 is always a balancing act. When my older kids were babies, I couldn’t believe how much money it cost to provide for their basic needs. If only I could go back to those cheap days! Babies don’t even compare in cost to teenagers and college students.

*KA-BOOM*

That is what happened to my budget once my kids hit high school. College made a sound that is only audible to creatures in another realm.

As a result, I am always on the search for simple ways to cut my expenses. You already know how much I love obsess over my DIY cleaning and laundry products. Yes, they are extremely cheap compared to the store bought stuff, but the fact that they work great has me permanently converted.

I am proud to introduce you to my newest DIY product that I have added to my repertoire. Homemade dishwasher soap in tablets! I decided to give them a try because I already had the products on hand from my other recipes. What could it hurt, right? I am now converted and have I mentioned they only cost 3 cents each! I think that beats the enormous price I was paying for my tablets before 🙂

This homemade dishwasher soap mixes together really quick and I learned through experience that you need to be sure they are wet enough to form or they fall apart. Also, to keep them from sticking to your hands, I have found wet hands makes it so much easier. If you have sensitive skin, you might want to wear disposable gloves when forming the tablets. When forming your first tablet, be sure it fits into the dispenser of your dishwasher. Flat rectangles work for mine, but every machine is different!

Want more great DIY cleaning products? Here are our favorites!

Homemade Dishwasher Soap Tablets

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Print Recipe

Make your own tablets at home that are inexpensive and easy to make!

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Yield: 22 tablets 1x

Ingredients

Scale

1 C Borax
1 C Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1/2 C Epsom salt
3/4 C lemon juice

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Instructions

1. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Add the lemon juice and mix completely. You want the mixture to be wet enough to mold without falling apart. Add additional lemon juice if needed.
2. These dry very quickly so working quickly and one at a time, portion out a tablet around 2 tablespoons. I used a small cookie scoop. With wet hands, form the tablet into whatever shape needed to fit the soap dispenser in your dishwasher. Place on a sheet of wax paper and let dry for a few hours before putting in a storage container. If a tablet happens not to fit into the dispenser, just toss it in the bottom of your dishwasher.

Author: Carole Jones
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Category: Cleaning
Method: No bake
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 tablet
Calories: 0
Sugar: 0
Sodium: 0
Fat: 0
Saturated Fat: 0
Unsaturated Fat: 0
Trans Fat: 0
Carbohydrates: 0
Fiber: 0
Protein: 0
Cholesterol: 0

106 comments

That is a bummer Debi! I have hard water as well, but we do use a softening system so maybe that is why it worked so well for me.

How did you get the cost per tablet so low? Do you buy the components in bulk? I just priced this out buying from my local grocery store and it’s almost $0.20/tablet.

Sandy – I bought my ingredients from my local Wal-Mart. I calculated the cost of each measure of the ingredients, added them together then divided it into 22 for each tablet.

How do ya’ll store them?

KJ- any airtight container or zip style bag would work great.

I use these, LOVE them. I did get the white dust and film the first few tries. Your tabs are too big for them to dissolve all the way before the rinse cycle. Try breaking them in half and putting them in the bottom of the dishwasher, not in the little dispenser cup. This solved the problem for me.

I am so goi to try these! The only thing I need is Epsom salt. Do you mind if I share on my blog and link back to here?

Absolutely Mary!

Thanks so much !