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Homemade Natural Jet Dry (Rinse Aid): 2 Ingredients, 5 Minutes and .30 Per Bottle

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

February 23 by Cassie 94 Comments

Homemade Natural Jet Dry is a perfect DIY solution to the expensive rinse agent. This homemade natural Jet-Dry, which is a dishwasher rinse aid, this version is a CHEAP, EFFECTIVE, EASY, NATURAL, and SAFE alternative to use rather than the storebought stuff. I have been using this solution for close to 8 years. I haven’t purchased a rinse agent in all of that time, saving time, money and avoiding harmful chemicals. I have used this in both the plastic interior dishwashers and for the past few years, the stainless steel dishwashers too!

So if you would like to learn how to make homemade natural Jet-Dry too, I can show you quite simply in this post! You will have your own rinse agent to save money too. 

Here’s what we will be talking about. You can click on anything in the list and be taken right to that section:

  • Why Make Your Own Natural Rinse Aid?
  • The Essential Oils Brand I Use
  • How to make Homemade Natural Jet Dry, a.k.a. DIY Rinse Aid
  • What to do with the leftover rinse aid solution
  • Even works great for Stainless Steel Dishwashers
  • Video instructions for Homemade Natural Jet Dry
  • Here’s the cost breakdown for Homemade Natural Jet Dry
  • Here’s a printable recipe that you can put in your home binder
Learn the 5 minute trick to make your own rinse aid to save lots of money! This works great for both regular and stainless steel dishwashers!

Why Make Your Own Natural Rinse Aid?

Before I share the recipe for homemade natural Jet Dry, we previously shared our Homemade Natural Dishwasher Detergent for only .05 per load, which is an awesome recipe that you will want to chek out. This is the perfect recipe after much testing and tweaking. It’s great. 

BUT…there was something still missing.  It was that perfect finish to the load – rinse agent like Jet Dry! So I made up my own Jet Dry with 2 ingredients, less than 5 minutes to make and only .30 each Jet Dry bottle equivalent to end up with a finishing wash! When you combine the Homemade Natural Dishwasher Detergent and the Homemade Jet Dry, you will have beautiful wash results too. 

The Essential Oils Brand I Use

As a reminder, you may know that I use essential oils for many things, including cleaning. These are the “secret” ingredients to make these cleaners have their “antibacterial effect.”  I have used many different oils over the years. I currently use the oils from Young Living (and have been for nearly two years now) and have found that the quality does exceed that of many others. I have tried many.  Read up on my Young Living and general essential oil experience. I have been using essential oils in general for about 14 years now. I FINALLY tried Young Living after fighting it for many years. 🙂 

If you want my honest opinion, I think it is acceptable to use a 100% pure lemon essential oil for Amazon for half of the price as Young Living for this purpose as well. With the oil from Amazon, each batch of rinse aid will cost around $0.30. With the bottle from Young Living, your price is around $0.55 per batch.

Homemade Natural Jet Dry
Ingredients needed for homemade natural Jet Dry – DIY alternative rinse aid solution to cut chemicals and save BIG money!

How to make Homemade Natural Jet Dry, a.k.a. DIY Rinse Aid

Ingredients needed for Homemade Natural Jet Dry: 

  • 1 cup of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (around $0.22 for each cup)
  • 10-15 drops of essential oil (I like to use lemon, cinnamon, or lavender oil)

Directions for Homemade Natural Jet Dry: 

  • Step #1 – Add 1 cup of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide to a measuring cup.
Homemade Natural Jet Dry
Adding my lemon essential oil into my homemade natural rinse aid DIY solution

Step#2 – Add your 10-15 drops of lemon or other essential oil to the Hydrogen Peroxide.

Homemade Natural Jet Dry
Pouring my homemade natural rinse aid into my old dishwasher many years ago! Notice the homemade dishwasher soap on the left! Also a WONDERFUL homemade alternative!

Step #3 – Pour into your rinse agent compartment of your dishwasher. I have to do this about every 30 days, just like Jet Dry. 

What to do with the leftover rinse aid solution

If you have any left over, I usually use it to clean my sinks and other spots in the kitchen.  Fill-up your sink with some hot soapy water (not very much as you don’t want it diluted a whole lot), maybe about 1″ deep. Then pour your remaining Jet Dry mixture into the sink.  Let it soak for a few minutes and then use a rag and shine up your sink, oven, microwave, counter tops, appliances, etc. You can also dump the remaining in the bottom of the dishwasher and run an empty cycle for a good dishwasher cleaning too. 

Even works great for Stainless Steel Dishwashers

I have used this solution for so long that I used it for years in my old dishwasher with the plastic interior (as you can see in the pics). In 2015, we got a stainless steel dishwasher when we remodeled and upgraded our kitchen and it works EVEN better in stainless steel. Stainless steel interior dishwashers can get quite nasty, so along with making for sparkling dishes, this helps the dishwasher keep clean too!

Pouring my homemade dishwasher rinse aid into the rinse aid spot in my stainless steel dishwasher. This dishwasher is already 5 years old!

Video instructions for Homemade Natural Jet Dry

We did a live video of this process and recipe on our Facebook page. So I have included the video below in case you are a visual learner. 🙂 

Here’s the cost breakdown for Homemade Natural Jet Dry:

  • 32 oz. bottle of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide for .88 – this will make 4 batches (or 4 months worth) = .22 each batch
  • Essential Oil around $6-$12 (depending on where you get it) for a 15 ml bottle (approximately 300 drops) a bottle which will last for a LONG time (ours has lasted forever) so we will estimate around $0.28 to be conservative?

TOTAL per batch = .30 per 8oz. bottle compared to $3.50 each 8oz. bottle of Jet Dry at Walmart. But the homemade version would also be a natural option as well! 

Here’s a printable recipe that you can put in your home binder:

Homemade Natural Jet Dry (Rinse Agent) and Only .30 Per Bottle
3.9 from 22 reviews
Print
Recipe type: Homemade Cleaning Product
Author: Cassie from The Thrifty Couple
Prep time: 5 mins
Total time: 5 mins
Here's the perfect partner to our homemade natural dishwasher detergent - a natural and effective rinse agent!
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide
  • 10-15 drops of lemon or lavender essential oil (or one of the other 5 from our hot cleaning essential oils list)
Instructions
  1. Measure 1 cup of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide
  2. Add your 10-15 drops of Essential Oil
  3. Pour into your rinse agent compartment in your dishwasher (about every 30 days)
Notes

If you have any left over, I usually use it to clean my sinks and other spots in the kitchen. Fill-up your sink with some hot soapy water (not very much as you don't want it diluted a whole lot), maybe about 1" deep. Then pour your remaining Jet Dry mixture into the sink. Let it soak for a few minutes and then use a rag and shine up your sink, oven, microwave, counter tops, etc.!

See more homemade, natural and frugal cleaning products at TheThriftyCouple.com/SpringCleaning

3.1.08
Home Management Binder
Check out the household binder to help you get your home organized, which leads to better and healthier finances too!

We also HIGHLY recommend that you put this in your home binder along with many more things we will be sharing! See all of the information on this in our previous post HERE about Put Together Your Home Binder with Free Downloads.

Don’t forget to print off your shopping list to make 23 Homemade Products for around $12 that includes the items for this and the other 222 products!

Finally, use this new thrifty and healthy cleaning product as part of our Spring Cleaning Challenge. 

Join us for our Spring Cleaning Challenge to Organize and Clean for a Thrifty and Healthy Home!

Pin this image on Pinterest on your favorite household board so you don’t forget about this fast, easy, effective, cheap, natural trick!

Filed Under: Homemade Products

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lynda

    Excellent! Quite a savings!

    Reply
    • Spoon

      You have to be careful when using essential oils. Some essential oils will eat through non-organic materials. Peppermint oil for example.

      Perhaps a combination of the hydrogen peroxide dilutes it, but I would be very careful and she was only a mild Essential Oil.

      Reply
  2. Kiz

    I just poured this in my dishwasher. I am excited to push the start button.

    Jet Dri has always bothered me. . .the chemicals that are in it. Its color, its smell, what it does. And I’ve been coating my dishes with it for years.

    Thanks for WAY BETTER ALTERNATIVE.

    Reply
    • Cassie

      I know – I feel the same way Kiz and love this too 🙂 I hope it works well for you!!

      Reply
  3. Kris

    I’m curious about Hydrogen Peroxide. I guess I’ve never would have thought it healthy for use on washing dishes. What about vinegar?

    Thanks
    Kris

    Reply
    • Cassie

      Hi Kris, You can try vinegar, which wouldn’t harm anything at all…but I am not sure it would have the “sparkling dish” solution. I haven’t tried it. Hydrogen Peroxide is a safe product, and in fact, many many health experts talk about the health benefits of actually consuming 3% Hydrogen Peroxide. I would recommend Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide if you really want to do this 😉 However, for cleaning, Hydrogen Peroxide is a safe and in fact healthy product to use. I hope to post an article on our site this week about Hydrogen Peroxide as it can sound like it is alarming if it has been traditionally used for medicinal purposes. It is probably about as safe as vinegar…in the 3% dilution (which is what you buy at Walmart). Both Hydrogen Peroxide and Vinegar are a safe natural product, but both can be dangerous if they are used in the non-diluted form. Household vinegar is usually a 5% acidity dilution and Hydrogen Peroxide is 3%. Hope that helps!

      Reply
      • Kris

        Cassie,

        Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it!

        Kris

        Reply
      • Allison

        The book for my dishwasher actually says to only use vinegar once a month to clean your dishwasher. It says that it can be corrosive or damage your dishwasher if you use it too much! Stick with peroxide, not vinegar!

        Reply
      • Matthew Lemp

        Dear lord do NOT drink hydrogen peroxide!

        Reply
        • Deb

          It wont hurt you..but you’ll most likely throw up. This is a trick my niece told me to do when I thought my dog had ingested rat poison pellets, A couple tablespoons of Hydrogen peroxide and yup…my dog threw up…

        • Brian

          Mathew is right it can hurt you. Small amounts may make you only vomit but it can kill you or cause permanent damage by causing an embolism.

      • Sandra Garrett

        Vinegar is only on pH point above sulfuric acid, and can cause significant wearing of gaskets and hoses, leading to internal damage that would ruin your machine.

        Reply
      • Dianne

        Hi Cassie I’m wondering if I can store what doesn’t fit in my dishwasher’s rinse aide compartment?
        Also, I just read an article titled 10 things you should never use vinegar on.’ dishwasher was one of them. It said vinegar will eat away the rubber seal in the dishwasher. I was looking for a vinegar recipe and saw that. So I searched farther and found yours using peroxide. Thank you. I’m going to try it. My dishwasher won’t run when the rinse aide compartment is empty.

        Reply
      • Brian

        No don’t consume it. It can kill you or cause permanent damage by causing an embolism.

        Reply
  4. Bobbie

    I think this would be neat to give as part of a gift (with recipe to make more). Is this something that I can make ahead of time or does it need to be used right away?

    Reply
    • Cassie

      You could make this as a gift. Just store it in a glass or plastic jar with a cloth covering for both a fun, decorative accent, but also because Hydrogen Peroxide does lose some of it’s potency with light or heat. If you have noticed, when you buy Hydrogen Peroxide, it is in a dark bottle usually. This is to help keep out some light. But it will still work, just keep that in mind 🙂

      Reply
      • Carol Lewis

        How about using an empty hydrogen peroxide bottle to make this recipe to store for future use, of course, putting a new label on the bottle.

        Reply
  5. Kiz

    I run my dishwasher on average once a day. Sometimes twice. I filled my rinse aid container with this recipe on April 3. I used lavander as my oil.
    It is awesome. My dishes are more sparkley, and, it might just be me, but I think water tastes better.

    I recommend this to ANYONE!

    Reply
    • Cassie

      Kiz – thank you so much for letting me know your results too! I have awesome results with this, but it is nice to hear it from others too!! Thanks again!

      Reply
  6. Brenda Massey

    Just wondering what the oil is for except to give the inside a more pleasing smell…is it necessary to put it in there? I love saving money where I can !

    Reply
    • Cassie

      Hi Brenda,

      You can omit the oils and let the Hydrogen Peroxide alone shine up and bright up your dishes, which is an option that is totally fine. However, not only do the essential oils make things smell good, but they do also have anti-bacterial properties and fight germs, bacteria and kills microorganisms that cause sickness/disease. I love essential oils and use them in so many things. We do share a list of the 7 best essential oils for cleaning, you can grab one for around $6 a bottle which will last for a long time as there is about 350 drops in it and most of our recipes have around 10-30 drops. The whole group of 7 is a good price for what they will do and how long they will last. Otherwise, the expense can seem very overwhelming! Here’s a link to that post: https://thethriftycouple.com/2013/03/15/hot-deal-on-essential-oils-to-use-in-our-homemade-natural-cleaning-products/

      Reply
      • skeptickal

        you just ran your dishwasher do you really need to sanitize the dishes again with essential oils? Umm the whole point of washing dishes is to remove oils….

        Reply
        • Thaag

          Essential oils are not the same as edible fats on dirty dishes. They evaporate quickly when left to the air and leave no residue. They still don’t mix with water very well though, so if you are using them in your home-made jet-dry I would also recommend mixing equal amounts of the essential oil and polysorbate 20 before adding to the weak hydrogen peroxide solution. Polysorbate 20 isn’t toxic at home use amounts,* it’s pretty cheap, and you can use it for all sorts of DIY formulae where you have to mix oils of any sort and water.
          *You would literally have to chug it by the pint to reach toxic levels.

  7. Stephie

    I just tried this last week and I can’t believe how clean my dishwasher looks! It’s never looked this good,even after a thorough scrubbing by hand!!

    Reply
  8. Sharon H

    I have a question could this same recipe be used in our swamp cooler to remove minerals?

    Reply
    • Cassie

      I would imagine that it could! Hydrogen Peroxide is used for a lot of things like that! Give it a try!

      Reply
    • Peter P

      No, it can’t. Hydrogen Peroxide (3% H2O2) is an oxidizer which, in its simplest form, will create more oxide compounds. Most mineral oxides have very poor water solubility, which would actually contribute to buildup in swamp coolers and other areas of evaporation (like shower water spots.) Also, depending on your water source, much of the mineral buildup may, in fact, be calcium carbonate(CaCO3.)

      The simplest solution for removing CaCO3 is with an acid. In natural caves, CO2 from decaying vegetation, mixed with water, forms a weak carbonic acid solution that dissolves CaCO3 in the soil. When the water is exposed to air, the CO2 dissipates and the CaCO3 precipitates out of solution, in time forming stalactites.

      For your purposes, white vinegar (~5% acetic acid) and elbow grease with a brush, followed by clear water rinsing, is the best solution. The only economical, ongoing solution to wash away minerals is with pure water that isn’t already saturated with minerals. Have your water checked. I’ve lived in places where the utility water had as much as 220 ppm (parts per million) TDS (Total Disolved Solids) and my current utility in rain-soaked Western Washington where we have a mere 20 ppm TDS. If your water is high in minerals, drain and flush your cooler regularly, perhaps even once a day.

      I’m a little disturbed by some of the advice given on this forum, and the “science” behind the advice. While I love natural solutions, I recommend seriously looking into the science of nature to learn why something may or may not work. For example, as a general rule, low pH tends to dissolve minerals, high pH tends to precipitate minerals. A quick tutorial on the subject can be found at http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/erlinger/water/background/ph.html.

      Good luck!

      Reply
      • Judith

        Very fine information. Thank you

        Reply
  9. Denise

    Hi!

    My dishwasher tech was here yesterday and was not at all happy about me using vinegar, supposedly the acidity ruins the rubber parts. Soooo…not sure about the peroxide either….

    Reply
    • Cassie

      Hi Denise,

      First, I do know a lot of people that use vinegar instead as well. The question is always “how long” as the harsh cleaning chemicals used in commercial products as well degrade the effectiveness of the seal eventually, no matter the product. Second, Hydrogen Peroxide is an entirely different substance, so it’s like trying to relate oranges and apples. Third, when looking at the ingredients of Jet Dry, it is pretty much entirely made of acids of a harsh chemical substance, so damage to the human body as well as harsh cleaning agent used in your machine. I love using Hydrogen Peroxide as a much better alternative. However, that is a decision for you to make. 🙂

      Reply
      • Susan A. Missett-King

        I just came across your blog when looking for eco-friendly ways to clean and the question above regarding the any possible damage to the gaskets occurred to me, too. I understand the difference between vinegar and hydrogen peroxide but maybe you could elaborate on any possible interactions between the peroxide and pipes. I’m thinking about PVC and copper which are what I have. Thanks so much!

        Reply
        • Thaag

          Peroxide solution like what you get in the brown bottle at Wal-Mart isn’t going to interact with your pipes at normal usage levels. What you get in the brown bottle is ridiculously watered down already. If you’re shoving it down the drain at rocket fuel strength then sure, there’s going to be corrosion. What’s in the brown bottle is 97% water, and it will be further diluted when used as a rinsing agent in a process that uses even MORE water. AND THEN peroxide decomposes into water and oxygen.

    • Crys

      If it helps, the pH value of white vinegar is around 2.4, whereas 3% hydrogen peroxide is around 6.5. That means that there is about a difference of 10^4 (1000) of acidity levels between peroxide and vinegar. What you decide to do with your machines is up to you, and I haven’t decided if I’m going to do this or not yet, but I just was doing research similarly when I saw your reply.

      Reply
  10. Glenda S.

    I want to try this! But I also want to tell everyone that vinegar is safe to use everyday in your dishwasher. We have really, really hard water and I use it in my laundry and in my dishwasher and I no trouble at all.

    Reply
  11. Carisa

    Has anyone used the peroxide in a stainless dishwasher? Mine is a brand new Jenn-Air and the entire inside is stainless.

    Reply
  12. Eva

    Could you also use Eucalyptus or Rosemary Essential Oils?

    My counter cleaner:
    1 bottle of hydrogen peroxide
    6-8 drops of essential oil (I use Rosemary or Eucalyptus)
    Place a spray bottle topper on.

    Reply
    • Blogzilla

      Any of the essential oils would work. Tea Tree Oil is very strong in concentrated doses, even corrosive, but not at these levels. Eucalyptus is strong too. It has a pungent aroma and antibiotic properties.

      Reply
  13. Chris

    Won’t the essential oils damage the rubber or any plastics in your dishwasher? I love essential oils but I’ve had them dissolve some plastic in the car when I put some on a cotton ball and stuck that cotton ball into the vent. I would guess they might do the same thing in the dishwasher.

    Reply
    • Blogzilla

      Yes, they can do this. I’ve had this happen with Tea Tree Oil, but it only seems to happen if the plastic soaks in it for long periods of time. It will act like nail polish remover — very corrosive. And at these concentrations listed in these recipes it won’t have any hard to your dishes or dish machine

      The only reason this wasn’t mentioned in the article I’m assuming, is because they didn’t know about it.

      Reply
  14. Jacqui

    This is ok for HE dishwashers?

    Reply
    • Cassie

      It should be fine. It is not sudsy at all, just a rinse. 🙂

      Reply
    • Blogzilla

      IT’s fine, it’s dispensed in the final rinse

      Reply
  15. Carrie

    I have a Bosch which I HATEEEEEEE! I doesn’t dry the dishes. It’s recommended that Jetdry will help but I don’t like the chemicals. Do you think this will help to dry?

    Reply
    • Alex

      Hi Carrie – yes, this should help! I love this. Works well in old dishwashers (as I tried for years) and even in my brand new dishwasher, it’s awesome!

      Reply
  16. recipe natural cleaning products

    What a data of un-ambiguity and preserveness of valuable familiarity
    on the topic of unexpected feelings.

    Reply
    • Karoz

      What did these oils do to deserve to be called essential? I was reading all the post, and I had no ingredients to complete the job. But I found some glycerin and a bottle of old red wine in the back of the refrigerator, worked great.

      Reply
  17. Michelle

    Where did you buy the oils at can you use the ones at Wal-Mart that are buy the candles?

    Reply
    • Susan A. Missett-King

      My unofficial opinion is to purchase food grade oils like the Young Living. You can get them at Bulk Apothecary on line or on Amazon. If it’s going on your dishes it should probably be food grade. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  18. Sheryl

    Hi.. does this recipe work for cleaning glass also? I wanted to try the jet dry recipe to clean my windows.. but thought this might work as well… and also be a lot cheaper.

    Reply
    • Cassie

      It would work for windows too! I actually use an even cheaper solution for windows that works brilliantly: https://thethriftycouple.com/2013/04/04/best-ever-homemade-window-glass-and-stainless-steel-cleaner-cheap-and-with-beautiful-results/

      Reply
  19. Marcie

    I was researching this alternative and it seems vinager can damage the gaskets I. Your rinse aid dispenser. Will peroxide damage the gaskets? Looking for a safe alternative for my machine….

    Reply
  20. Lauren

    Will this rinse aid work fine with very hard water? Also, should I use fewer drops (only 10) if I use tea tree oil?

    Thanks for the recipe. 🙂

    Reply
  21. Rhonda

    Believe it or not, I am a dishwasher newbie.
    “Step #3 – Pour into your rinse agent compartment of your dishwasher. I have to do this about every 30 days.”
    Does this mean only put the rinse in once every 30 days? Versus adding it every time you run the dishwasher? Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • The Head

      Yes just once per month

      Reply
  22. Ben

    People who disagree with Cassie get their posts removed.
    DO NOT USE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE IN YOUR RINSE AID DISPENSER. IT WILL RUIN THE SEALS AND COST YOU AN EXPENSIVE REPAIR.

    Reply
    • Cassie

      Hi Ben, I think you are a troll spamming our comments. 🙂 We don’t remove posts from people that disagree with us. That’s what makes the world of thrifty living fun and unique is learning from others things that work and things that don’t. I actually have talked with dishwasher specialist and plumbers and they have all agreed that hydrogen peroxide would not be any more harsh than jet dry.

      Reply
    • Rick C.

      Ben, just how would peroxide ruin the seals and cause mechanical breakdown? Peroxide is not corrosive in any way, The Coca Cola, the pasta sauce, the pickle juices etc all are hundreds of times more corrosive than Peroxide is. As a matter of fact, many foods we eat are corrosive enough you can clean battery terminals with (Coca Cola) Coca Cola will also dissolve a penny size piece of raw beef liver overnight, don’t believe me, try it yourself. Peroxide isn’t able to dissolve the Liver overnight, though it does have many uses as a cleanser around the home you won’t find peroxide doing to great of a job cleaning battery terminals. Have you any idea how corrosive tomato based foods are, and all of those surely find their ways into dishwashers the world over every day i’m sure. Peroxide is perfectly safe to use in the dishwasher even if you used the entire bottle for one load. Do your homework next time please.

      Reply
      • Pedro

        Hydrogen Peroxide is an oxidizer,and oxidation degrades metal (rust) and plastic. Very rapid oxidation is called fire, that should give an idea of what happens.

        Reply
  23. Kathe

    Just wondering if the “cheaper” oils you buy at places like Walmart are safe since they say not to ingest them. Otherwise I can’t wait to try this!

    Reply
    • Cassie

      Hi Kathe, I have actually wondered the same thing! I have seen these oils and I do not know anything about them. I am guessing “no,” but this is a topic that is on my list to research because they are a lot cheaper. In the meantime, if you find out, fill me in! LOL

      Reply
      • CEH

        You do not want to buy Nd use essential oils from Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc.. They only have to have 5% oils to be marked “pure” the rest can be anything. That is why I only trust Young Living. You get what you pay for.

        Reply
    • Sara

      In general, buying anything from Walmart is a bad idea. They don’t pay their own workers fairly, and they don’t pay the companies they buy from enough to pay their workers enough. Generally those who are concerned with “natural”, also care about humans and the environment, both of which Walmart abuses. Buy them elsewhere, hopefully a mom n pop store.

      Reply
  24. Judy toomey

    The essential oils offered at walmart are not safe to be used in any way shape or form. Almost all essential oils you can purchse locally are filled with chemicals, according to government regulations as long as 5% of the bottle has “pure” essential oil in it the rest of the bottle can be filled with chemicals and the manufacture can label it as 100% pure essential oil. If you would like more information on essential oils i would be happy to share

    Reply
  25. Sher

    lavender oil is an endocrine disruptor so I’m always hesitant to use it around the house. When you have had a young person diagnosed with cancer it makes a person quite cautious.

    Reply
  26. Rick C.

    I live in Phoenix, Az and we have extremely hard water here, I was excited to try this Hydrogen Peroxide idea as I’ve never heard of it before, so I gave it a try and to my dismay and original guess, it did not a darn thing for my dishes but maybe disinfect them. I’m not sure if I missed something here or what but Hydrogen Peroxide in no way, shape or form, does anything even similar to what a product like Jet Dry does. The Peroxide would be great in the dishwasher as a disinfectant, especially if someone in the household is ill. The Peroxide DOES NOT nor will it ever prevent hard water spots from happening all over your dishes, or help make food easier to come of the dish. Jet Dry is a surfacant, think of it kinda like Scotch Guard or Teflon for your dishes. If your looking for an all natural, safe and effective alternative to Jet Dry then fill your dispenser with Distilled White Vinegar, full strength and run your machine as normal. The vinegar makes for a spot free wash each and every time with no lingering smell or taste and it is a natural disinfectant, deodorizor, and sets the hard water spots on a trip elsewhere!! You can also use a mixture of 2 Tablespoons Jet Dry into a standard size spray bottle, top the bottle with room temp distilled water and then spray lightly your clean shower tiles, tubs, sinks, shower doors etc. then just walk away if on your showers, tubs and such or lightly wipe with a dry rag, no rinsing required. This will prevent soap scum and grim from building up on these surfaces, just as with Tilex.

    Reply
  27. Shannon Barnard

    Funny. I just ran out of Jet Dry and was thinking about looking for a DIY recipe. Next thing I know, your email appears. Thank you!

    Reply
  28. Dessa

    How can you say that this recipe only costs $0.30? I agree that it is cheaper than JetDry, but not 30 cents. If a bottle of lemon essential oils costs $12, and you get approximately 300 drops of oil in said bottle, then that would cost you $0.04/drop. 10-15 drops of oil would cost you 40 – 60 cents. Add that to the 22 cents worth of peroxide for a total of 62-82 cents. Thank you for the recipe. I don’t want you to think that I do not enjoy your emails and tips. I just couldn’t shake the math on this one.

    Reply
    • Alex

      That’s a good point. I updated the post with Young Living oils per the suggestion of dozens of readers, which does increase the price. It was originally written with the price I have paid for years with the lower cost oil. I have made this for years with a $6 bottle of Lemon Essential Oil from Vitacost, but switched to YL. I will update the post with the prices of both brands. Thank you for bringing that error to my attention!

      Reply
  29. Judy Haddad

    My hydrogen peroxide works for a while and then breaks down into oxygen and water very quickly. I haven’t tried adding the essential oil yet as I just came across your article. Doe the oil slow down or stop the natural decomposition? Thanks.

    Reply
  30. Derek

    To be truly frugal one could just not bother with a sheeting/wetting agent… Jet dry is an amphipathic chemical whose sole purpose it to allow water (polar) to spread evenly over a non-polar surface (glass, ceramic) … why is this important? Water (as you read earlier in this long list of posts) contains Calcium carbonate which will concentrate into spots as water dries in droplets. If you spread the water out while it dries, the calcium carbonate will be deposited in such a thin spread out layer that your weak human eyes will no longer detect the residue and voila… your glasses are spotless. It’s all science and trickery 🙂

    Food for thought here… Hydrogen peroxide is not amphipathic … while essential oils are exclusively non-polar. Most detergents now include some form of wetting agent in their mix…

    BTW, you could use Jet dry on your car after washing it (in the rinse) and you would not have nearly as many spots … or you could be like me and not worship your car … in the end it is just a shinny metal box that moves you around.

    Keep on saving … and put me in your will 😉

    Plenty of other chemical tricks out there, but you will have to go to University to study chemistry to understand.. and besides you will be much happier in ignorance… that came out harsh, sorry … just trying (unsuccessfully) to keep the word count down 🙁

    Reply
    • Gloria Brown

      Derek, WHY are you trolling here? Were you bored today? If you don’t see the usefulness of rinse aid, go find something else to do and leave the mechanics of dishwashing to the experts, please.

      Reply
  31. Cher Hager

    Hi,

    I just tried your homemade dishwasher powder and the hydrogen peroxide rinse aid. My dishes are coming out with a light film on them. I tried using less powder, but that didn’t seem to make any difference. Do you have any suggestions for me?

    Thanks,

    Cher

    Reply
  32. Jill

    Hi,

    Excited to check this out!

    Question: what is the recommended way to get rid of the toxic products I’m replacing with these homemade solutions? I’ve got JET-DRY, Cascade dishwasher pods, etc. I really don’t want to use them but throwing them in the trash or down the drain also seems problematic.

    I realize that I could give the products to others who might use them but am on the fence about that too. If I am against them for environmental and health purposes perhaps I shouldn’t be giving them to others?

    Anyway, curious how others get rid of soap, cleaners, etc.

    Thanks,
    Jill

    Reply
  33. Carla

    I’ve been using this a little while but it runs out so quickly compared to Jet Dry. I assume because Jet Dry is thicker, more the consistency of liquid soap. I only run my dishwasher every 2-3 days and this solution is gone in 2-3 weeks, where as Jet Dry would last a few months. Any way to thicken this up? It may be cheaper by quantity but having to fill it so more frequently adds up.

    Reply
  34. Wyatt

    Lawd….this lady gives advice and some are cry on command and what not to use blah blah blah trolls lmao….people none of this will hurt your dishwashers geesh I use to pour bleach in mine by the cup fulls to kill sickness and germs and ran it like a Tonka T for 15/20 years and it didn’t hurt mine! Here a little vinegar or there a little peroxide compared to my bleach GO FOR IT! Here’s a DIY shower no rinse Dawn(few drops)-Peroxide1c-Rub Alcohol1/2c and 3 teaspoon Jet Dry Rinse Aid mix it all fill 160z bottle spray shower walk away! Glass doors too! Awesome shine if you prefer to scrub a little GO FOR IT! Removes water spots too. Another for windows spotted or glass shower doors w scum and water spots…spray some dawn and hydrogen peroxide on glass windows or showers glass doors put little elbow grease into it sparkles baby every time! Vodka and coke also works(great for glass stove tops and windows) and sounds crazy but look it up watch videos and it works just as good!

    Reply
    • Carolyn

      Bleach is bad for the environment honey & Dawn is tested on animals etc etc etc if you care at all.
      We can all do better when we know better…yes? Check out this intelligent modern mom link:
      https://wholenewmom.com/natural-homemade-dishwasher-rinse-aid/
      “Reformed” Chemical using Mom

      Reply
  35. Carolyn

    https://wholenewmom.com/natural-homemade-dishwasher-rinse-aid/

    Never mix peroxide with vinegar or rubbing alcohol or citric acid!!!!

    Reply
  36. kludwqs5

    I’m just curious what the oil is for, other than to basket random make the inside smell nicer… Is it necessary to include it? I like to save money wherever I can!

    Reply
  37. Keri Megan

    whoah this blog is fantastic i love studying your posts. Stay up the good paintings! You recognize, many individuals are hunting around for this information, you could help them greatly.

    Reply
  38. Orpha Willian

    Hello.This post was extremely remarkable, particularly because I was searching for thoughts on this topic last Sunday.

    Reply
  39. Ben

    Well I hate to be a party pooper but using white vinegar OR hydrogen peroxide WILL RUIN THE SEALS IN YOUR RINSE AID DISPENSER.
    Cassie would have you believe otherwise but she is wrong.

    Reply
  40. Cassie

    Hi Again Troll Ben, 😉

    I think you are just a hater placing comments to be an online bully. But I do agree with you about vinegar and haven’t told people to use vinegar, so I am not sure why I would say otherwise and lie to my readers. Vinegar DOES break down the seals eventually because it is a harsh. However, I did talk to a plumber about my homemade solution and he said that it would be fine and the ingredients are not any harsher than Jet Dry. But he himself says that he tells his customers to run a cycle with vinegar to clean out their dishwasher about once a month. I then asked him about the harshness of the vinegar and the seals and he said.”yes, if you use vinegar in every cycle, but every once in a while is fine and helpful to clean out the gunk that builds up, which does more damage ultimately.” So I agree with you on part and disagree on the other. Do you work for Jet Dry?

    Reply
  41. Kathleen

    Hi Cassie-

    I’ve been reading a lot of comments here and other posts and I keep wondering why people are so concerned about how “harsh” vinegar is when it’s going to be swishing around in the dishwasher with water. I’m assuming this will dilute it? Or am I missing something? I do understand that the rinse aid in the receptacle is another situation completely- is that the place where it will eventually cause the seals to deteriorate?

    Reply

Trackbacks

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