Thursday, January 27, 2011

Easy, Effective DIY Dish Soap

Posted In: Green Cleaning Recipes, Green Cleaning Tips | Tagged As: , ,

I ran out of dish soap a while back and really didn’t want to run to the store to buy more.  I knew there had to be an easy way to make my own from ingredients I already had sitting around.  I was tired of paying for over-priced soap and yes, having to recycle yet another plastic bottle!  I knew it had to be easy, and my own personal concoction could be just as effective!  Besides, I like to experiment with scents from my growing collection of essential oils.

I went to my cupboard to take stock of what I had and there it was!  My trusty bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap (baby formula) was right there in front of me!  I added a little bit of water, some of my favorite essential oil and presto! my DIY dish soap was ready to be put to the test.

By now we had acquired a mountain full of dirty pots and pans (they don’t go in the dishwasher) so they were my test subjects.  And guess what?  They all passed with flying colors!  My homemade dish soap was just as effective as anything store bought!  It was easy, it saved me a trip to the store, I was able to reuse my container and no more label reading – I know EXACTLY what went into my creation!

 

Here’s the recipe:

What You’ll Need:

Directions:

  1. Add the water to a cleaned out bottle (I used my old liquid dish washing bottle).
  2. Slowly add the liquid castile soap (it may foam slightly).
  3. Add the essential oil.
  4. Slowly shake trying not to cause too many bubbles.
  5. Use as you would normal liquid dish soap (not for use in the dish washer).

NOTE: If you have really greasy dishes, add 1/2 cup vinegar or lemon juice to the water (adding the vinegar to the soap mixture will cause a terrible curdling effect).

I like lemon essential oil because of it’s stain and cleaning properties, but if you’re not a fan, here are some other variations:

Blue’s:

10 drops lemon essential oil
6 drops bergamot essential oil
4 drops lavender essential oil
2 drops orange essential oil

Citrus Fruit:

20 drops lime essential oil
10 drops sweet orange essential oil
5 drops citrus essential oil


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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

1 kay Monday, April 18, 2011 at 1:16 pm

Hello and thanks for the recipe. I’ve been testing out a few DIY dish soaps lately. I have had some interesting results though… the castile soap and vinegar make a bad reaction. I did a little research afterwards and found this article, just thought I would share.
http://lisa.drbronner.com/?p=292

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2 Lane' Richards Monday, April 18, 2011 at 2:41 pm

That’s really interesting. I’ve made it both with and without the vinegar and it’s never curdled like shown in the picture. Maybe it was the ratio used? I did notice it turned white, but never the curdling effect (and it was still very, very sudsy). What I’ve done is added about a tablespoon to my last batch and there was no discoloration at all. I do get some spotting on my pots and pans, which is why I added the vinegar to begin with. In all honesty, I just can’t see myself taking the extra step and rinse my dishes in vinegar (nor can I convince my fiance’).

As a side note: Dr. Bronners Sal Suds second ingredient is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate which is a known skin irritant. According to EWG’s Skin Deep database, it has a moderate toxicity level, but I was still surprised to find the ingredient in a Dr. Bronner’s product.

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