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Liquid dish soap is a must-have in any home. It’s great for washing dishes, pots and pans, and even your hands! But store-bought liquid dish soaps can be expensive, and they often contain harsh chemicals that can be harmful to both you and the environment.
So why not make your own homemade liquid dish soap? It’s easy to do and requires only a few simple ingredients.
Here’s a quick guide on how to make homemade liquid dish soap.
Homemade Liquid Dish Soap Instructions
Ingredients:
- 3 Tablespoons grated castile bar soap (unscented or scented)
- 1 tablespoon washing soda
- 3 cups Water
Tools:
- Cheese Grater
- Measuring Cup
- Pot for Stove Top
- Spoon or whisk
- A storage container for your dish soap (I use a glass mason jar because I typically pour the soap into the dispenser in my sink. You’ll want a container with a pump if you use the dish soap on your sink top).
Directions:
- First, grate your Castille soap using a cheese grater. Use a measuring cup to ensure you have the right amount.
- Next, put 3 cups of water into a pot on the stovetop and add the grated Castille soap. Warm until it is melted into the water.
- Remove the pot from the stove, and gently stir in your washing soda.
- Optional step – add glycerin or essential oils at this point if desired. For essential oils, add 15-20 drops. Lemon, lavender, or sandalwood essential oils will work well with this DIY.
- Allow your soap to sit for about 24 hrs, and check the consistency. It will thicken over time. If the consistency is too thick, add some warm water. If it is too thin, stir in another 1/2 teaspoon of washing soda.
If your soap becomes lumpy (this is normal), you can always give it a shake or even a quick blend with an immersion blender. This works quite well to keep the soap incorporated.
Why make homemade handsoap?
This recipe can be made with ONLY Castille Soap and Washing Soda, along with water. Why are we keeping it so simple? Here are a few reasons:
One reason we make homemade cleaning supplies is to avoid the large plastic bottles in which store-bought cleaning supplies are sold. Castille soap comes in a simple paper wrapper, and washing soda comes in a paper box. So these ingredients allow our recipe to be 100% Plastic-Free!
Castile soap is a vegetable-based soap that has been around for centuries. It gets its name from the Castile region of Spain, where it was first made. Castille bar soap is saponified olive oil, which means that all of the glycerin in the soap has been retained. This makes Castille soap a great choice for sensitive skin, as it will not dry out your skin like some of the harsher soaps on the market.
Second, these ingredients are all-natural and free from harsh chemicals that we don’t want in our cleaning products. Castille bar soap comes in scented or unscented options, so you can also achieve a final product free from unwanted scents.
Third, Washing soda, or sodium carbonate, is an all-natural ingredient and is environmentally friendly. It has many cleaning applications. It can be used to soften water, remove stains and odors, and even clean carpets! This multipurpose product can make homemade laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent; so one box goes a long way.
And lastly, these ingredients are incredibly inexpensive. One box of Washing Soda is only about $7 at the store and that one box will be enough for all of the laundry detergent, dishwashing powder, and dish soap we need for months! Likewise, this recipe only uses about 1/4 of a bar of castile soap, which costs about $3.50. Ultimately, the ingredients for this dish soap (which makes about 3 cups) come in at less than $1 per batch.
Other cleaning product recipes you might like!
- How to Make Beeswax Furniture Polish
- How to Make Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent
- How to Make Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent
- How to Make Homemade Dishwasher Powder
How to Make Homemade Liquid Dish Soap
Equipment
- Cheese Grater
- Measuring Cup
- Pot for Stove Top
- Spoon or whisk
- A storage container for your dish soap
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp grated castile bar soap (unscented or scented)
- 1 tbsp washing soda
- 3 cups Water
Instructions
- First, grate your Castille soap using a cheese grater. Use a measuring cup to ensure you have the right amount.
- Next, put 3 cups of water into a pot on the stovetop and add the grated Castille soap. Warm until it is melted into the water.
- Remove the pot from the stove, and gently stir in your washing soda.
- Optional step – add glycerin or essential oils at this point if desired. For essential oils, add 15-20 drops. Lemon, lavender, or sandalwood essential oils will work well with this DIY.
- Allow your soap to sit for about 24 hrs, and check the consistency. It will thicken over time. If the consistency is too thick, add some warm water. If it is too thin, stir in another 1/2 teaspoon of washing soda.
Carrie Williams Howe is an educational leader by day and an aspiring homesteader by night and weekend. She lives on a small homestead in Vermont with her husband, two children, and a rambunctious border collie. She blogs about her family's homestead life at The Happy Hive.
I appreciate reading this. I’m a grandma helping her daughter raise kids and run our family farm. Was always so busy I never knew how all these products were made…so simple and cheap. Even I could do it!