Have you ever stopped and wondered about the health hazards of the dishwasher detergent you use in your kitchen? Well, here’s the bomb. These detergents contain dangerous chemicals that can have dire effects on your body if consumed or gets in contact with your skin.
But here’s the good news. You can avoid these harmful effects by switching to non-toxic dishwashers. In the following post, we’ll review the safest detergents we have selected to help you choose the best natural dishwasher detergent for you.
Best Non Toxic Dishwasher Detergent (natural and eco friendly)
1. Cascade Complete ActionPacs Dishwasher Detergent
Our list kicks with this competitively priced detergent from Cascade. It’s rated as the best non-toxic dishwasher detergent due to its composition of toxin-free ingredients and its ability to do its job perfectly well.
It’s easy to use since you don’t need to do any pre-measuring. And it comes formulated with a grease-fighting power of Dawn. It makes it a highly effective detergent that will knock out tougher than a backed-on mess. It’ll effectively remove the stubbornest excess you can think of to give you a complete clean.
The easy-to-use Action Pacs are super easy and convenient to use. They right away unleash a cleaning powder early in the cleaning cycle. They’re safe for septic systems. The complete package features a total of 78 pods at a great price, giving you value for money!
Highlighted Features:
- No pre-wash needed
- Removes tougher than baked-on mess
- Easy to use; no pre-measuring needed
- Formulated w/grease-fighting power of Dawn
2. Nature Clean Automatic Dishwasher Pacs
Here are 96% natural dishwasher pacs you can get today at a fair price. Featuring a total of 24pcs, this made in Canada detergent enjoys its place among the best eco-friendly dishwasher detergent pacs.
It boasts of up to 96% naturally derived ingredients from minerals and plants. And this means it won’t cause any chemical burns to your body or cause skin irritations.
The automatic dishwasher pans are for high-performance results. They work on your dishes to eliminate any baked-on mess, grime, residue, etc. They also leave you with super-clean and residue-free dishes.
Unlike other detergents for dishwashers out there, this natural dishwasher detergent comes designed without dyes, phosphates, chlorine, perfumes, and other nasty chemicals that might harm your body.
Remember that these packs come premeasured and wrapped in individual water-soluble films to prevent and make them incredibly easy for you to use.
Highlighted Features:
- 96% natural ingredients
- Biodegradable dishwasher
- Packs come premeasured for easy use
- Removes tough baked-on foods
- Doesn’t contain harmful chemicals
- Fragrance-free dish pacs
3. Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent
Seventh Generation is also a popular choice for many homeowners who have switched to toxic-free detergents. This chemical-free dishwasher detergent features a powerful formula made of plant-based ingredients that work together to leave your dishes streak-free and sparkling clean.
The detergent’s high-performance formula is rich in enzymes that easily cut through grease and food to power through all the dried foods, stuck-on mess, etc., leaving your dishes, pots, and pans perfectly clean.
And yes, you find any dyes, phosphates, chlorine bleach, or fragrances in this detergent—making it a safe option for your body and the environment.
Just like your dishwasher is designed to make your life easier, this detergent will give you an easy dish cleaning experience. It does not require you to do a pre-rinse for your dishes. You toss your dirty dishes right in without pre-rinsing, and you can expect excellent cleaning results.
Don’t forget that the new tub packaging with this detergent is fully recyclable and designed with freshness and storage in mind.
Highlighted Features:
- Features natural plant-based ingredients
- Enzyme-rich formula for perfect cleaning results
- USDA certified
- Free of fragrance
- Contains no harmful chemicals
- Designed for compact, easy storage
4. Lemi Shine Booster Natural Lemon Dishwasher Detergent
Are you looking for a dishwasher detergent that can work on those ugly spots formed by hard water on your dishes? If yes, consider using this natural dishwasher booster alongside your dishwasher detergent. The reasonably priced detergent is best known for knocking out the most demanding hard water spits and film.
The secret to this booster’s powerful cleaning performance comes from its powerful citrus extracts formula. This formula contains 100% natural ingredients (potent citric extracts) that effectively remove hard water spots, films, stains, lime, iron, calcium, and other mineral deposits.
Besides cleaning, this detergent also deodorizes your dishwasher to leave it smelling fresh. It’ll also optimize the cleaning performance of your machine by balancing the hard water pH.
The non-toxic dishwasher booster has undergone to ascertain that it’s indeed an all-natural product. It features UL certification, an assurance that it’s biodegradable and doesn’t contain harmful chemicals like phosphates, chlorine, artificial fillers, and other toxins.
Highlighted Features:
- Made in the USA
- Features100% powerful citric formula
- Cleans and deodorizes your dishes
- Tough on stains, film, and spots
- Leaves sparkling clean dishes and glassware
- Biodegradable, eco-friendly dishwasher detergent
5. Nellie’s Dishwasher Powder
The Nellie’s Dishwasher detergent comes in powder form. It is designed to power through food particles, grease, and other tough stains, leaving you with spotless cleans dishes, pans, and pots.
Like our previously discussed detergent, this one too is an all-natural, plant-based formula that contains only safe ingredients that won’t harm your body in any way. The dish powder is 100% biodegradable, so it’ll make the perfect choice for cleaning your dishes if you’re environmentally conscious. It’s also septic safe and phosphate-free.
We also like that this dishwasher powder comes packed in a reusable tin, further helping you achieve your goals of keeping the environment clean.
And unlike the perfumed detergents that leave smells on your dishes, this is an unscented dishwasher detergent to keep your machine and dishes odorless. The powder is also free of artificial dyes, paraben, chlorine, etc., and will not deposit peculiar tastes on your dishes.
The complete package comes with up to 80 scoops to enable you to enjoy its cleaning for an extended period.
Highlighted Features:
- Biodegradable; environment safe
- Phosphate-free detergent
- Comes in a reusable tin
- No artificial dyes or fragrances
- Works with hard water
- Powers through toughest baked foods
Is dishwasher detergent harmful?
A dishwasher is harmful if it comes with toxic chemicals. Just looking at the composition of the ingredients of any given detergent will tell you whether it’s safe or unhealthy for you.
Most of the detergents out there are made of ingredients that have adverse effects on human health. A good example is chlorine bleach, which is known to affect people with respiratory issues such as asthma negatively. The dishwashers also come with scents that can be harmful to your health, given that the fragrance comes from different chemicals.
These chemicals can also be a hazard to your little curious kids as well as pets.
These are just a few examples of harmful chemicals manufacturers use in dishwasher detergents.
To be on the safer side and avoid these adverse effects of dishwasher soaps, we encourage you to switch to natural detergents.
These are simply products made using 100% natural ingredients obtained from plants and minerals, making them entirely safe for you and even the environment.
And unlike the myths surrounding a nontoxic dish soap, it does its job of cleaning your dishes perfectly well. It leaves you with spotless and sparkling clean dishes and pans, balancing safety and exceptional performance.
Buying Guide For Newbies
Now that you have decided that you’ll only be using non-toxic dish soap in your home, here are our helpful tips to ensure you get the best natural dishwasher detergent worth your money.
Ingredients list
Now that it’s clear you’re looking for non-toxic dish soap, we believe that the first thing you should look at is the ingredients used to make the soap.
You want to ensure the soap you get doesn’t contain any harmful chemicals with adverse effects on you or the environment.
We suggest that you look for soaps made using natural ingredients extracted from plants and minerals. Be on the lookout for harmful substances such as dyes, phosphates, chlorine bleach, fragrances, phthalates, and masking agents.
The ideal natural soap should be free of all scents and fully biodegradable (environmental-friendly).
Cleaning performance
Once you have established that the soap contains only natural ingredients and no harmful chemicals, you should check its performance.
An excellent natural soap should be able to do its job perfectly well. It should feature a formula that enables it to power through the toughest stains, stuck-on mess, baked-on foods, food residue, etc. It leaves you with sparkling clean dishes that don’t need any rewashing.
Ease of use
You’ll also need to look for a detergent that’s easy for you to clean your dishes. You’ll need to check the type of soap you order, as different varieties come with varying degrees of ease of use.
The most common types include powder, gel, and pacs.
As much as possible, we advise you to go for pacs/packets/tabs/tablets. Why? It is simply because these soaps come as single-dose units of conveniently premeasured amount of detergent for a whole load of your dishwashing machine.
The premeasured packs make your work easy as you don’t have to do any measuring. Plus, they eliminate the guesswork as to how much soap you should use for perfect cleaning results.
While still at the soap performance, we advise you to look for detergents that don’t require you to pre-soak or pre-rinse your dishes. Such detergents are even easier to use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the safest dishwasher detergent?
The safest dishwasher comes without harmful substances. If you want to check if you have a safe dishwasher detergent, start by checking if it comes with any fragrance as this is a source of harmful chemicals. Also, check if it comes in bright colors; this points out to use of artificial dyes in the soap.
Going through the complete list of ingredients will help you different a toxic soap from a non-toxic one.
Q: Can you run the dishwasher without detergent?
Sure! If you’re only using your dishwasher’s rinse cycle, you won’t need to use any detergent. If you’re using both the wash and rinse cycles, then you’ll need to use a detergent in the wash cycle.
Q: Can dishwasher soap make you sick?
The standard liquid household soap might not cause any severe issues to your body if you consume it accidentally. However, detergents that come as pacs or tablets, however, might cause damage to your esophagus as they’re more concentrated.
If swallowed accidentally, you might experience pain and/or swelling in your throat, on your lips, tongue, and mouth. You may also experience gastrointestinal distress that leads to repeated vomiting. In some cases, you might even vomit blood.
Q: Can you use baking soda instead of dishwasher detergent?
Absolutely! If you run out of dishwasher detergent, you can turn to baking soda as an excellent alternative for cleaning your dishes. The substance is sodium bicarbonate.
It features gentle abrasive qualities and will not only produce great cleaning results but also help control odors.
Q: What does vinegar do for the dishwasher?
The acid in the vinegar (distilled white vinegar, to be precise) helps disinfect your dishes, promoting your body health. It also helps boost your detergent’s cleaning performance by removing any residue that might cause spotting.
Final Verdict
If you have decided to switch to natural dishwasher soap, this guide will help you easily choose the perfect toxins-free detergent for your unique dishwashing needs.
To ensure you buy the best nontoxic dishwasher detergent, always go through its list of ingredients to see if it contains harmful chemicals. Ensure it produces perfect cleaning results, is easy to use, and is biodegradable.
All the top detergents included in our list above are 100% natural and will deliver excellent cleaning results without endangering your body’s health.