We've been using white vinegar for a few months and definitely agree that it works better than any rinse aid, assuming that you live in an area with hard water.

I read that the vinegar solution is also much better for the interior workings of the appliance than any commercial Jet-Dry type of product, and can help protect the longevity of your dishwasher. Not sure how credible this info was, but I think it came from an appliance repair dude.

I've been making my own dishwasher soap. I learned from this article over here: http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/nh-living/make-your-own-dishwasher-detergent-for-pennies.aspx

So far it's about a quarter of the price, and really easy. It cleans better than my store bought soaps, too.

Sounds great, BUT..... when I googled borax to see if I can buy it here in Germany, I found that it shouldn't be used in the household because it's classified as "toxic for reproduction": it can affect fertility as well as the unborn child.
Apart from that, it's not as if it doesn't affect the environment (like all cleaners).

I tried to find some information in English:
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/05/borax-is-it-safe.html

http://greenlivingqa.com/content/borax-cleaning-product-not-ver

As for cheapness, it might still win over commercial products, of course. I just wanted to utter this word of caution....

This may sound weird, but we use our dishwasher to blanch corn on the cob before freezing. Just fill all space with the corn - run on a regular cycle with the highest temperature you can and no dry cycle. Your corn will be ready to package in freezer ziplock bags or seal-a-meal bags and frozen. It really saves so much time not having to blanch it all on the stove in a large pot.

I love the corn tip!

Borax is a naturally-occurring substance that's been used for hundreds of years. It isn't a cleaner per se, although it can boost the effectiveness of detergents by altering water chemistry. I wouldn't recommend drinking it, although it's certainly less acutely-toxic than detergent.

I've tried running borax thru the dishwasher, but I find it can leave a film on glassware.

I recommend using unscented Oxyclean instead. It breaks down into baking soda and peroxide on contact with water, both of which are fairly harmless and rinse completely away by the end of the cycle.

It says three tips, but there are only two. I'm greedy for home hack tips, I guess.

Hmmm, the title is a bit misleading. I was expecting some alternative uses for the dishwasher.

This was more how to save money on the costs of your dishwasher.

I work alot and late, so I choose to cook once a week after I shop at my SAMS club for the week or more. I go home and cook all the meat weighing or measuring everything into recipe sizes or serving already to just heat up. I then run my dish washer once to clean all the pots and pans. Through out the week I use my storage containers i rinse and place in dishwasher also. This way I only mess up the kitchen once and run it twice....

And don't forget to use the crock pot while yu cook, letting it cook chilli, soup or sauces and with removable bowl place it int he dishwasher also....

Borax has been used safely as a cleaner for a long, long time. It's not supposed to be used in food (although it used to be used in noodles in Asia, primarily). You're also supposed to avoid giving babies eye washes with it (who gives a baby an eye wash?). Here's the toxicity information on it:

http://pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC34355#Toxicity

http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/boric_acid_tred.pdf

The second link has a discussion of the potential impact to testes, but the likelihood seems rather small. Uptake is via breathing it in or consuming it. It doesn't pass through the skin, unless you have a cut I imagine.

Overall, it's been field tested for generations and there is only a slim chance of issues.

Question for you vinegar users, I have crazy hard water where I live and just use JetDry in the rinse aid section of the washer- do you just fill vinegar in there (it only releases a teeny bit each time) or just throw a cup in before the wash?

@jmorri26, I've just filled my rinse dispenser with vinegar - it works great! sometimes I'll also throw some vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher to clean the appliance itself. there are great tips on this site about how to do that.

@jmorri26 - if your water is really hard fill a small cup up with vinegar (about 3/4 cup I believe?) and leave it upright in the upper portion of the dishwasher. It will be kinda gross after the cycle is done but all the other dishes will be spot free. Our water isn't so bad so we just pour the vinegar directly into the rinse aid dispenser.

You can also clean your dishwasher using a couple packets of lemon flavored unsweetened kool-aid. Make sure to use the kind that you need to add sugar to if you were making it to drink and check the label for citric acid. It's probably the cheapest and easiest way to find citric acid. Pour several packets into the soap dispenser cups and run on the hottest, longest cycle (no dishes of course) to clean hard water gunk off the interior of your washer. If you check the label of most dishwasher cleaners, the main ingredient is citric acid.

A borax solution of some sort was used to rinse the eyes of newborn babies back in the fifties. Not sure when they stopped that...but thank goodness they did. Borax powder makes a great pesticide, especially for cockroaches. Put it in one of those red ketchup squirt bottles and squeeze it into cracks and crevices.

We have very hard water and were using white vinegar in the rinse compartment. However, we found Earth Friendly brand rinse agent to work much better (and it's still mostly natural!).

http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Friendly-Products-Dishwashing-Eliminator/dp/B00269ROP2

When I moved into my new home, I found that the water was harder than my old home (socal vs nocal) and my dishes looked awful. They were filmy and cloudy. I called the service repair number for my brand and was told to try a product called LEMI SHINE. I did and I love it, my dishes look amazing,and so does the inside of the dishwasher!
http://envirocontech.com/products/Learn-More-about-Lemi-Shine.html

I use vinegar and occasionally lemi shine and we have super hard water, too. Those two do the trick!

Dishwasher isn't any fun to use?????? I YEARN for a dishwasher! What I wouldn't GIVE to have room in my kitchen for a dishwasher! How much time would we save if this mundane task were automated! How tidy our kitchen would look if we could keep the dirty dishes in the dishwasher! etc.

M'elizabeth has the right idea: dishwashers are great, and I feel lucky to have one. It saves water, is more sanitary and keeps the kitchen more tidy-looking. We rent so we had to get a portable one, and though it is a bit of a pain to have standing in the midst of our galley kitchen walkspace, It wouldn't give it up by choice. I also use its top as extra counter space. Love it!

Been using vinegar for years. My little rinse aid dispenser kinda sucks though, so I now just do what another Apartment Therapy person suggested and put some into a cup or bowl turned upwards on the top rack.

I wish I had a dishwasher :(

If your water heater is a long way from the kitchen like ours, run the HOT water in the garbage disposal (or catch it in a watering can) until the water actually comes out hot. Then the dishwasher doesn't have to heat up the cool water so it uses less energy.

no no no!!! The people who lived in our apartment before we moved in used vinegar in our dishwasher, and there is a HUGE rust stain on the inside. It's gotten rust all over our brand new silverware (we just got married!) and we can't get the stain out.

Maybe they were using a different kind of vinegar, or vinegar+something else, but vinegar has not been kind to us :(

Additionally - anybody know how to get the stain out? Thanks!