Better Earth's Automatic Dishwashing Gel is designed to clean your dishes perfectly and leave your glasses super shiny without compromising the environment. Powered by a low-foaming, plant-based formula and scented with natural rooibos, sweet orange, and eucalyptus, it cuts through baked-on grease with zero need for additional rinse aids or salts. By choosing this gel, you are actively displacing toxic, mass-market dishwasher pods from our water systems and keeping virgin plastics out of landfills through our already-recycled PCR plastic bottles.
About Better Earth: The "Better" Principle
We don't do greenwashing, eco-guilt, or fake perfection. We just make uncompromisingly effective cleaning products that respect the planet.
- Radical Honesty: No hidden nasties and no petrochemicals. We tell you exactly what is in our bottles and why it works.
- The Power of Displacement: Every time you choose Better Earth, you actively displace the bad stuff. You are keeping toxic, mass-market chemical waste out of our earth and water systems, and stopping virgin plastics from piling up in our landfills.
- Tough but Safe: We believe you shouldn't need a hazmat suit to clean your bathroom. Our natural formulas work incredibly hard so you don't have to compromise on cleanliness to be kind to the earth.
The Better Principle in your Dishwasher
We applied our Triangle of Trade-offs to formulate a dish gel that actually cleans your plates without leaving a residue of harsh synthetic chemicals on the very things you eat off of. Conventional dishwasher pods and powders rely heavily on ethoxylated ingredients, sulphated surfactants, and artificial fragrances. We prefer to leave those unnecessary nasties on the laboratory shelf.
Instead, we harness the hard-working power of Decyl Glucoside (a highly effective, low-foaming surfactant approved by Ecocert and BDIH) to quickly cut through heavy dirt and grease. Made by combining a fraction of palm or coconut oil with glucose, it degrades into its natural components in just 4 to 8 hours. The result is brilliantly clean dishes achieved with simple, earth-safe ingredients.
The Facts (Why It Works)
- The All-In-One Solution: Super tough on grease and leaves glass super shiny without the need for additional rinse aids or salts (unless you have very hard water).
- A Natural Scent: Scented purely with natural rooibos leaf extract, sweet orange peel oil, and eucalyptus oil-no synthetic perfumes that leave a chemical taste on your glasses.
- Skin and System Friendly: Free from harsh sulphated surfactants, parabens, animal products, colourants, and synthetic fragrances.
- Earth and Animal Approved: 100% biodegradable, greywater safe, and septic tank friendly. Proudly endorsed by Beauty Without Cruelty and The Vegan Society.
- Local Impact: Manufactured right here in South Africa, keeping our carbon footprint as low as possible.
How to use
Always shake well before use. For best results, scrape off food scraps before loading (your machine's filter will thank you) and load items with dirty surfaces facing the centre of the bottom rack. Use 10ml or fill up to the first line of the dispenser. There is no need for salts in most areas, but you can add them if you live in a region with very hard water. Clean your dishwasher regularly. Store in a cool, dark place. If ingested, please seek medical help. Keep out of reach of children. Note: Because this is a completely natural product, slight inconsistencies in color or natural settling might occur - just give it a quick swirl.
The Complex Bit
Here is the full, unfiltered list of exactly what goes into our bottles.
Water (aqua), glycerin, sodium silicate, lauryl glucoside, hectorite, coco glucoside, citric acid, sorbitan oeolate, decyl glucoside cross polymer, sodium borate, benzyl alcohol, citrus sinesis (orange) peel oil, disodium cocoamphodiacetate, sodium gluconate, xanthan gum, eucalyptus globulus (eucalyptus) oil, aspalathus linearis (rooibos) leaf extract.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I have residue on my glasses, or why did my roasting pan not get cleaned properly? Let's talk about the physical reality of dishwashers for a second: they aren't magic portals; they are essentially just heated boxes with propellers spinning soapy water around. Even the most toxic, mass-market chemical pods can't blast away a thick layer of heavily baked-on food! If your big pot didn't come clean, it likely just needs a quick scrape before going in. You'll also want to make sure the dirtiest surface is directly facing the centre of the bottom rack where those water jets are the strongest. If you are seeing a cloudy residue on your glasses, it usually comes down to one of three easy fixes:
- Check your dosage: More is not better! Overdosing can leave a soapy film. Stick strictly to 10ml or the first line on your dispenser.
- Check your water hardness: If the dosage is right and you still see white spots, your municipal water is likely very hard. Adding standard dishwasher salts will solve this.
- Check your machine's filter: If the filter is clogged with yesterday's lunch, that dirty water is just circulating right back onto your clean dishes. Give the filter a quick rinse and you'll be back to crystal-clear glass.
Can I just pour this straight into the dispenser instead of using a pod? Yes, absolutely! In fact, that is exactly how dishwashers were originally designed to be used. Those squishy, plastic-wrapped pods are a relatively new invention built purely for convenience, and unfortunately, they dissolve microplastics right into our water systems. Your machine's detergent dispenser (the little cup with the flap on the inside of the door) is built specifically to hold liquids and powders. Just pour 10ml of our gel straight into that dispenser, snap it shut, and the machine will release it at the exact right moment during the wash cycle-completely plastic-free.
Do I really not need a rinse aid or salt? For most households, no. Our formula is designed to leave glass shiny and plates spotless on its own. However, if you live in an area with notoriously hard municipal water, adding standard dishwasher salts can help prevent mineral buildup in your machine.
Will it foam up and flood my kitchen? Absolutely not. We specifically use low-foaming natural surfactants like decyl glucoside, which cleans the dirt while preventing water droplets from foaming and staining the dishwasher. (But never use standard sink dishwashing liquid in your machine!)
Why does your packaging sometimes look slightly different? Because we use already-recycled PCR plastic. The colour and texture of recycled materials can vary slightly from batch to batch. We view this inconsistency as a badge of honour-it is physical proof that we are actively displacing virgin plastics rather than prioritising a "perfect" cosmetic look.
What's in the box
1 x Better Earth Dish Washing Auto Gel - 1 Litre
