Homemade Jetdry
While you don’t have to use Jet-dry at all it does make your dishes sparkle and leave your glasses streak free. To save some money we tried 2 different solutions.
First up we have one of our favorites, white distilled vinegar. While this works fine for many some have voiced concerns about the acid in it eating up the rubber seals. Distilled white vinegar has 5-8% of acid. While this might do some damage over time, we are diluting that with the water being used by the dishwasher. I think it would take a long time to damage to rubber seals and if it did the manufacture should consider using a different type of seal. The rubber chemical resistance chart online shows 13 different types of rubber and only 2 of them (Polyurethane and Polyacrylate) have problems with a 5% solution of acetic acid. I feel safe in using it and it works well.
Next up is Hydrogen Peroxide
We are using what you find in the pharmacy which is 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (the rest is distilled water).
So I looked for information on how rubber seals are effected by Hydrogen Peroxide, and found that the same rubber materials mentioned above were also effected by Hydrogen Peroxide. My findings don’t mean much as we are talking about a 3% solution and then diluting it. In my opinion either solution is safe to use.
If you have a Jet dry view window you can add a drop of food color to your vinegar or hydrogen peroxide so you can see when your running out.
You can add a few drops of essential oil to add a fresh scent. Lemon and orange work well.
So while both work, I prefer using vinegar and think the dishes are a bit cleaner.
A last word of caution I feel I have to mention. You should not mix vinegar and hydrogen peroxide together as the mixture can create a corrosive gas. They both work well as a cleaner and you can use them together separately, but it is not recommend to mix them together. In our case both used above are diluted quite a bit but I still would not recommend combining them.
I have been buying generic for years, and looking for larger volume. My new dishwasher doesn’t go through it as fast as the previous model, but it’s tough on the upkeep. I will have to give this a shot!