Home-made dishwasher freshener - any ideas?

Justcoll

I recently bought a lemon and lime dishwasher freshener which was on special offer. It worked very well but since they're over two quid a time it's difficult to justify the expense.

I wondered if any of you had/could come up with a home-made substitute?

TIA

scotrae

I asked a similar question ages ago. The simplest, most practical solution was sticking a wedge of lemon in the cutlery basket. I found this surprisingly effective, even if it wasn't a particularly fresh lemon.

InfamyInfamy

Instructions
Things You'll Need:
Borax
Washing soda
White vinegar
Step
1
Mix together 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of washing soda.

Step
2
Fill both sides of the dishwasher receptacle with the borax and washing soda mixture.

Step
3
Place 2 tbsp. of white vinegar into the dishwasher's rinse aid receptacle.

Step
4
Run the dishwasher using your preferred cycle.

Justcoll

Thanks, Infamy but I meant those things you leave in all the time and renew when they stop smelling nice, rather than the one-off things. I will however try your recipe in the future.

Love the sig btw.

ChapelGirl

Why do you need to freshen your dishwasher???

I have never used a freshener in my dishwasher and I cannot ever remember an occasion when I took the dishes out at the end of the cycle and thought "my goodness, this dishwasher needs freshening!"

This seems to me like another product which we did not know we needed until some advertising guru told us we did. I would like my glasses and plates to smell and taste of nothing at all after they have been washed. Anything else just seems bizarre.

If the machine itself is smelly then either you are leaving your dirty dishes in it for a wee bit too long or it is not functioning properly as a washing machine and you need a mechanic. Or maybe the filter basket needs cleaning?

If your son has been washing his bike in it or something then maybe you need to run it through a cycle whilst empty to clean out the salt reservoir and remove any residual grease, but other than that, I'm hornswoggled.

Justcoll

What can I say? I’m also guilty of buying fabric conditioner because I like the smell on my freshly laundered clothes and scented drawer liners in my undies drawer.


I buy scented shower gel rather than cheap soap and have several different bottles of body spray on my dressing table. I don’t actually need any of them but I like them. In the same way, I don’t actually need the freshener but it doesn't half smell nice when I open the dishwasher! :-)


I draw the line at loo freshener sprays (I hate the smell and the current TV commercial even more) and keep a box of matches in there which does the job much better!

andrinaperry

half a lemon works really well

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I'd go for leaving a lemon half that I've used for cooking, spear it on a sticky up bit and leave it until the lemon scent goes, just like your first reply - great for dealing with the lemons that haven't kept as well as I would like.

But, I would make a point of checking the pipe leading to the drain isn't clogged up with gunge, as this can happen without realising it and cause quite a few unpleasant niffs.

Otherwise, I think you probably will need to stay with the commercial products, as they are meant to linger in the way you like them to - which is great, I have lots of sprays, potions and scented liners too!

greenbee

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

I'd go for leaving a lemon half that I've used for cooking, spear it on a sticky up bit and leave it until the lemon scent goes, just like your first reply - great for dealing with the lemons that haven't kept as well as I would like.

But, I would make a point of checking the pipe leading to the drain isn't clogged up with gunge, as this can happen without realising it and cause quite a few unpleasant niffs.

Otherwise, I think you probably will need to stay with the commercial products, as they are meant to linger in the way you like them to - which is great, I have lots of sprays, potions and scented liners too!

... and don't forget to clean the filters...

Slinky_Malinky

Not OS but you could invest in one of these...

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/F/product/21849


Lasts forever so nothing to refill or replace. Should pay for itself within a few months.

jcr16

i have to agree using half a lemon is fab. if you got even a slightly manky looking lemon it still works great the heat and water of the dishwasher still bring out the lovely lemony smell.