Citradish Dishwasher Detergent Review

Do you have certain things in your kitchen that you just can’t live without? For me, I can’t live without my stand mixer or a dishwasher.  Having spent part of my life without a dishwasher, I can’t imagine going back to cleaning all of my dishes by hand.  While I have washed dishes on rare occasions since, my husband would rather see how many ways he can balance them in the sink than wash a dish with a good old fashion sponge and soap.

Before moving to New Jersey for my husband’s contract job, we purchased a wonderful dishwasher for the house that I absolutely loved and did an excellent job cleaning dishes. I truly felt spoiled since it did such an excellent job.

Once we moved to the barn, however, it was a completely different story.  Our dishwasher was at least fifteen years old, small, and did a terrible job washing dishes.  To be honest, I was close to washing dishes by hand once again since nothing seemed to work. The closest thing I could find was my homemade dishwasher detergent.

While I do like that detergent, it just couldn’t handle some dishes and I was worried the borax may take off the finish on my non-stick pots. Just when I was about to give up, I started searching on Google for green dishwasher detergents and found Citradish.  Having found quite a few great reviews on this product, I decided to try both the powder and gel versions of this dishwasher detergent to see what I thought of this brand of natural detergents.

Citradish Automatic Dishwasher Detergent

Unlike many other dishwasher detergents on the market today, Citradish is chlorine bleach free and contains no phosphates, EDTA, NTA, or synthetic perfumes or dyes.  With its biodegradable formula, you can feel confident that you aren’t hurting the environment when washing your dishes.  As well, their products always come in recycled packaging, and are 100% septic tank safe (important, if you are living away from a sewer system!).

Now, being the animal person I am, I am also always concerned about animal testing.  I do not like supporting companies that support animal testing or harm animals through the process of making products.  Citrasud, the company that makes Citradish, does no animal testing. It proudly is certified by the following programs and companies –

• Leaping Bunny Certified
• PETA Animal Treatment Assessed
• Green America Seal of Approval – Gold

Citradish Dishwasher Detergent: Effectiveness

Currently, Citradish offers two types of dishwasher detergent – a powder and gel.  I have to admit, the power and gel forms of Citradish are like night and day.  The powder form is absolutely amazing!  After using the normal wash cycle on our dishwasher, our dishes sparkle and are absolutely spotless. Even the worst stains, such as spaghetti, come out of the dishwasher looking like new. I had never seen a natural dishwasher soap work as well as the powdered Citradish Automatic Dishwasher Detergent. For those who loved phosphate cleaners before they were largely taken off the market, I can say without a doubt that Citradish cleans just as well as these old detergents, as long as you get it in its powdered form.

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for Citradish’s automatic dishwasher gel. This petrochemical free gel comes out of the container looking like Jell-O that hasn’t completely set. It’s a terrible, watery mess! Even the bottle is made out of a cheap plastic, and we had the top break on the bottle after three times opening it, making it a very interesting experience every time we were using this detergent afterward.  I can also say without a doubt that this is one of the worst dishwasher detergents on the market.  We would rather wash dishes by hand than use the gel Citradish, since we ended up needing to anyway – which is sad since we love the powdered Citradish.  How could two products made by the same company be so different?

 Citradish Dishwasher Detergent: Smell

As you have likely guessed, all of Citrasud’s products have citrus scents. The powdered Citradish Automatic Dishwasher Detergent smells like fresh oranges, while the gel smells like Grapefruit.  Personally, I think both of these scents are amazing, but I am partial to the oranges.  Whenever I finish washing dishes and open my dishwasher, the whole kitchen has this very subtle orange scent.

Citradish Dishwasher Detergent: Overall

After trying the powdered Citradish Automatic Dishwasher Detergent, I cannot imagine using anything else! I have not found anything else on the market that works as well as this detergent. It makes me feel even better that this eco-friendly dishwasher detergent out performs its synthetic competition. I do not feel guilty at all giving this powdered detergent an A+.  The only thing I can stress is do not purchase the gel form of this product. It is nothing like the powdered form and will leave you very disappointed.  Once you have tried the powder, I’m sure you will agree that there is nothing like it and won’t go back!

Note: Budget Earth & its writers did not recieve compensation or products from said company for this post and it’s completely the opinion of the writer.

About Susan Bewley

Susan Bewley is a professional writer who has been writing content online & in print format for over 10 years. As well, she is an alumni of the University of Louisville with a Masters Degree in Special Education. When not working as an online business consultant or ghost writing, she can be found writing on Budget Earth, on her own novel, or working with various entities in the pet industry.