We absolutely need rinse aid here, even with a water softener. But we make our own with ethanol and citric acid. For us works just as well as the pricey stuff and costs us…. A large bottom shelf bottle of vodka (sorry, don’t drink and don’t buy this enough to remember) and about $0.50 in citric acid will last me 6 months.

[Several citations needed]

Not only is there an extremely small amount of rinse aid that is dispensed in the final rinse, but even less of it would be present once the dishes are dry. The paranoia over it theoretically affecting your gut lining in the amounts used as directed is hogwash.

Without rinse aid your dishes will never be even remotely dry unless you manually wipe them dry yourself.

There are rinse aid brands which undergo independent tests to ensure they don't contain problematic things but you can also pretty successfuly make your own with a combination of some food grade acid, alcohol and water.

The guy in the video disagrees with you. From his other video, 23 mins in,

> next, rinse aids. use them. this isn't a scam.

I'll trust the dishwasher expert until there's some proper citations.

You have to realize that every time you sip a glass or eat off a surface that's provided by a commercial entity, you're getting items that have come in contact with industrial appliances that dispense rinse aid.

I have a difficult time believing that something so ubiquitous is as harmful as you claim, but I'm open to being convinced.

Do you know of any dishwasher powder (not pod) that's both effective and less likely to cause gut issues?

Do they make a powder?

> damages your gut

what does that even mean?

Any citations here?

Edit: i see the linked pubmed in a child comment now. But it seems to be not in humans, so saying it "damages your gut" is not an appropriate conclusion.