Dishmaster- No Citric Acid Detergent liquid

[eden]

I have a fairly new dishmaster kitchen faucet - with the soap & water spray wand.
Dishmaster's own dishsoap costs around $20/ bottle.

Dishmaster says you can use any liquid detergent of any brand ... but it can't contain citric acid and it must be clear liquid. Any ideas for a cheaper substitute?

Thanks!

 

[rp2813]

We used whatever liquid dish soap was at the sink when we had a Dishmaster, and back then a clear liquid was pretty much impossible to find. 

 

I wasn't aware that dish liquids contain citric acid.  I can see how a liquid automatic dishwasher detergent would, though.

 

[chachp]

We have a modern one too..

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I read the same thing in the manual about certain types of detergent.  I have been using the Dishmaster brand because of that reason.  A bottle for us lasts like a really long time like a year and they are $11.99 from the Dishmaster website.  I would be curious to know about other brands and how well they work.  I don't think their brand works that well on really greasy things so most of that stuff goes in the dishwasher.  </span>

 

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">https://dishmasterfaucet.com/collec...dishmaster-faucet-k0901-detergent-concentrate</span>

 

[jamiel]

Use anything that's not conspicuously "lemon" or "vinegar" added and you'll be fine. Palmolive or Dawn will be fine...

 

[kenmoreguy89]

To my knowledge dishwasher detergents are usually alkaline, moderately to heavily loaded. Some contains sodium hidroxide other than soda.
I think that a dishwasher detergent containing citric acid is quite weird if not as an additive to balance the pH of it. The washing solution will anyway turn out to be alkaline rather than acid. Not sure what is going on with the new non chlorinated gel forms though as they appear to be less and less alkaline but rather enzymes bombs.
Different is for citrates anyway, which have a similar name and may be a byproduct of citric acid though they are salts and on the alkaline side and are used as a builder and anti-mineral build up in many detergent especially the "natural-green" ones.
I can rather see how citric acid
could be added to a plain synth soap like dish soap.
That is to avoid hard water deposits and balance the pH. To note that dish soaps are designed not to harm ladies skin and rarely have an harsh pH
After all we have read for many years dish soap packages stating "with real lemon juice" (and yet they make lemonades with fake lemon flavour go figure )...so they may contain a slight content of the stuff.

 

[jamiel]

exactly my point...anything not conspicuously "citrus" or "vinegar" will be fine.

 

[eden]

Woops

You guys were totally right. They say you can't use anything with "real" citrus additives. There's not a mention of citric-acid. Where did I come up with that. Thanks for correcting me.

It also has to be a detergent not a soap. Is "Original Blue Dawn Dishsoap" a detergent or a soap? I don't know the difference. I initially thought dawn would be too bubbly, but maybe not? At least it's not made with fresh squeezed lemons!

chachp - they're 11$ before shipping. 20 something with shipping. So it would be great to find an alternative. I seem to go through soap rather quickly.

 

[chachp]

Shipping...ARGH!!

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Melissa,</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I always forget about the shipping!  The last purchase I made from them was when I bought the faucet and the shipping was free.  If you find one that works well please let us know.  We just don't use it that much because it doesn't do well on greasy things.  Plus we put almost everything in the dishwasher.  I like to use it for cleaning my glass vacuum pot, etc. that I'm afraid to put in the dishwasher because of its age.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Which one do you have?  We have the one with the two quart jug under the sink and when I make the solution I double the amount of soap to liquid to get a little more cleaning power.  In the old house we have one that has the soap reservoir on the top but in this house I had to compromise on something that looked more modern.</span>

 

[eronie]

Dishmaster

I have always used Dawn in mine with the best results, really cuts the grease!
And one filling of the tank last almost a year !

 

[chachp]

Dawn

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Tony, how do you dilute it?</span>

 

[eronie]

Dishmaster

I don't. Just put the Dawn in the tank straight from the bottle. Dishmaster dilutes the dishsoap itself.

 

[rp2813]

On the subject of Dishmasters

I found an Imperial Four model on eBay NIB with three different brush heads for cheap several months ago, so I nabbed it for a friend who lives in a 1960 apartment without a dishwasher.  Installation was easy, but the relatively new stainless steel sink's deck had been compromised when it was installed, giving it a downward tilt toward the sink basins, and this made the Dishmaster sit even lower than normal, with the wings on the hot and cold handles hanging into the basins when opened.  We tried fashioning shims but that presented its own issues.  We gave up and put the old faucet back. 

 

Incidentally, when Dave and I had a Dishmaster of our own (also an Imperial Four), purchased in the mid '80s, I recall the molded plastic/PVC deck mounting adapters raised it much higher than the current ones do.  My friend might have been able to accept the tilting if the old style deck mount adapters were still available.

 

Shortly after this failed installation attempt, in the housewares section at a local retailer this friend found two dish brushes with handles that can be filled with a soap solution and dispensed with the push of a button.  He got one for me and one for him.  To me, this is a simple alternative to a DishMaster, which has become seriously overpriced.  I use this dish brush on things that shouldn't be machine washed, and IMO it's an easily afforded "plug and play" alternative to a Dishmaster.

 

If anyone is interested in a Dishmaster, I'm willing to let mine go cheap.  I may post in Shoppers Square before running an ad on CL or ND locally.