I Put Vinegar and Baking Soda in My Dishwasher — Here’s What Happened

I am currently in the midst of what I’m affectionately calling my “saving era.” Instead of getting frustrated with prices skyrocketing everywhere, I’ve decided to embrace it by making a game out of how much money I can save without making massive changes to my lifestyle. So when I recently found myself out of dishwasher pods, instead of racing to the store to buy more I turned to my pantry instead.

Not long ago I’d learned from The Kitchn that cleaning pros say you can use baking soda and white vinegar instead of dishwasher detergent in a pinch. So I took advantage of the opportunity to put the money-saving method to the test. Spoiler alert: It worked so well, I might never buy dishwasher detergent again!

My dishwasher was bursting at the seams with dirty dishes, so I followed the simple instructions from Scott Schrader, a cleaning expert at CottageCare: Put one tablespoon of baking soda in the dishwasher’s soap compartment, then place a small glass with one cup of distilled white vinegar upright in the top rack. I turned the dishwasher on and went about my day working from home.

After a couple of hours, my dishwasher had finished its cycle, and I was feeling skeptical as I opened the door to inspect my dishes. But lo and behold: My dishes came out spotless, much to my surprise and delight.

The combination of white vinegar and baking soda managed to remove grease and food residue while freshening and totally deodorizing my dishes (and dishwasher!). It’s worth mentioning that I always give my dishes a good rinse before I put them in the dishwasher to begin with, but even so, I was impressed to find that I couldn’t tell the difference between my usual detergent-pod-cleaned dishes and my vinegar-and-baking-soda-cleaned dishes. 

I’d heard of using vinegar in a bowl or cup in your dishwasher as a DIY rinse-aid, but when combined with the abrasive properties of baking soda, it managed to clean both the appliance and all of the stuck-on food on my dishes. The mixture of baking soda and vinegar can technically cancel each ingredient’s potency out, but because they’re not being mixed directly together, the extra sudsiness from the chemical reaction really wins here.

Make sure not to mix the two up, as putting vinegar in the rinse aid compartment could compromise the integrity of the compartment’s gasket. Additionally, you should always use caution when trying something new, and monitor your use of vinegar. I’ve personally had no issues since trying this hack.

And with my “saving era” in full swing, I can honestly say I have no intention of buying dishwasher detergent for the foreseeable future. A box of baking soda and white vinegar together costs just a few dollars, and I always have them on hand. Better still, this trick is totally chemical-free! My dishes don’t know the difference, but my wallet definitely does