A decent amount of money is spent on buying detergent, rinse aid and regenerating salt for PMM. Without them, you can not get a high-quality sink and guarantee the serviceability of equipment for many years. Often the advertised “chemistry” is too expensive, so we decided to devote a review to the means by which it can be replaced. Let's make do-it-yourself pills for a dishwasher.
What make up purchases
We will make a reservation right away that we will make the tablets, and not the capsules, which should gradually dissolve layer by layer and activate the salt, detergent and rinse in turn - this will be very difficult to do. But tablets similar to Finish Classic can be “assembled” from what is at hand. To understand how to make pills, you need to disassemble as part of purchased analogues.
Some tablets simply consist of a powder without impurities of salt and other components, while others include a whole complex of active substances. That is why on store shelves you can find promising packaging with the inscriptions "3-in-1", "7-in-1", "All in One" (All in One), etc.
The composition may include such components:
- Sodium citrate. You could see this supplement in many sour foods labeled E331. In tablets, this substance stimulates foaming and disinfects water and dishes.
- Sodium percarbonate is a substance synthesized based on sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide. The commercial name for the substance is Persol. As part of capsules, powders and other detergents, persol is used as bleach. Additionally affects the pollution, splitting them.
- Sodium carbonate, known in everyday life as soda ash (linen), in the food industry - E500. Its task is to soften the water.
- Sodium bicarbonate - sodium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate or simply baking soda. Also performs the function of mitigation.
- Sodium disilicate or "water glass". This aqueous alkaline solution of sodium silicates fastens all components of the product into granules, further softening the water.
- Sodium gluconate is used not only in metallurgy, construction and the oil industry. Also found its application in the food industry and is involved in the production of household chemicals. Its task is to prevent the formation of limescale, soften water.
- Isooctyl glucoside is the main component of the rinse aid.
- Sorbitol. In the food industry, it is better known as a sweetener, and in cosmetics and household chemicals it is used to obtain a uniform transparent gel. It plays the role of a hygroscopic component and a thickener.
- Rapeseed oil methyl ester (biodiesel) reduces the surface tension of water and is also a component of rinse aid.
- Glycerin, as in the food industry, is needed for viscosity and maintaining the consistency of liquid substances.
- Acetic acid washes away scale from parts and surfaces of PMM.
- Amylase and protease are enzymes that break down protein and carbohydrate compounds.
- Subtilisin is another fat-breaking enzyme.
- Various surfactants and A-surfactants that promote foaming.
Important! Among other components, phosphates and perfumes can be included in universal remedies.
Looking at the composition, you do not need to be a chemist to ask a logical question: why are there so many water softeners? This looks especially strange against the background of the fact that softening takes place in an ion exchanger with the participation of a regenerating salt.
An aromatic additive is also useless. If it is justified to use it when washing - it’s nice to get linen with the smell of lemon or flowers, then the dishes should not smell. Most likely, this is just an advertising move.
Conclusion: some of the substances can not be used at all, and some can be replaced with cheaper and safer ones.
Replacement Store Pills: Proven Recipes
You can try to make tablets at home, using the above components and their analogues, which can be found in every home, pharmacy or hardware store.
Simple recipe number 1
Not sure how to replace dishwasher tablets? Look at the composition of the washing powder: it contains almost all the components: blowing agents, enzymes, and much more. To make a safer product from the powder, use baby powder or an ECO-free phosphate, perfume and surfactant product if possible. Instead of bleach and softener, soda ash is suitable. And ordinary water will act as a binder.
So, mix the washing powder with soda ash in a ratio of 7 to 3. Add a little water, bring to a state of gruel. Pack according to molds - you can use ordinary ice molds for this purpose. Dry the mixture, transfer to a dry glass or metal container and use!
Important! If home-made tablets give little shine to the dishes, additionally use a rinse aid. You have already saved on detergent, you can afford additional expenses.
Recipe number 2 with glycerin
The difference between this recipe and the previous one is that instead of a binder, it is not water that is used, but glycerin. So you will need:
- 160 g of washing powder;
- 40 g of soda ash;
- 5 ml of glycerin (can be replaced with dishwashing gel).
Further, the scheme is similar to the one indicated above: packaged by tins, dry and use!
On a note. Using tablets based on baby powder, choose a temperature regime of 40-50 ° C, so as not to destroy the enzymes.
Recipe number 3 with brown and citric acid
To cook one more variety of compressed capsules yourself, you will need:
- soda ash (75 g);
- borax (100 g);
- Epsom salt (magnesia - 250 g);
- citric acid (20 grams).
Dissolve the acid with water, pour into the dry mixture of the remaining ingredients. When the reaction is over, put the gruel in molds and dry in the sun or in a dry, warm place. Remove the pills - they are ready to use.
Now you know how to make cheap, practically environmentally friendly and simple analogues of storefronts at home. Just do not forget: in the dishwasher you still need to pour salt. If you want to save on it, read the article, how to replace the salt for the dishwasher.
Self-prepared household chemicals, unlike factory ones, are not suitable for washing silver, but you can alternate it with purchased analogues, without harming the quality of washing and the proper functioning of PMM. Experiment, invent your own recipes or use ours, describe your impressions in the reviews and comments on the article.