Homemade Liquid Dish Soap Recipe
Homemade Liquid Dish Soap Recipe
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- 3 cups water
- 2 tablespoons grated bar soap– I used my homemade tallow soap (it’s a very basic soap–nothing fancy. *Important* See note below.)
- 1/4 teaspoon washing soda (where to buy)
- 1 teaspoon vegetable glycerin (where to buy)
- 20-50 drops essential oils — possible combination ideas below (get wholesale prices on my favorite essential oils)
Instructions:
Mix the water, grated soap, and washing soda in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the mixture is hot and all the ingredients are dissolved. (If it simmers or boils, that’s ok–just make sure everything is completely dissolved.)
Remove the mixture from the heat, and mix in the vegetable glycerin and essential oils. (If it’s very hot, allow it to cool slightly before adding the essential oils)
Pour the liquid dish soap mixture into a jar and allow it to sit at room temperature for 6-12 hours. It will thicken during this time. I like to give it a stir every couple hours (if I think of it), but you don’t have to.
When you are ready to use it, give it a vigorous stir (it might seem too thick at first, but should easily soften once you start stirring) and pour into a soap pump or squeezable container. (I repurposed an empty dish soap bottle)
Give it a shake, and enjoy doing those dishes with your very own homemade liquid dish soap! The consistency of this dish soap–it’s thick enough to stick to the dishes, and not globby.
*Important Note* Keep in mind that your results may vary a bit depending on the type of bar soap you use. Jill says, “My homemade tallow soap is quite hard. I also tried this with a softer homemade soap (containing ingredients such as coconut oil and olive oil), and I had to tweak the ingredients a bit.” For the batch using the softer bar soap, she had to increase the soap flakes to 3 tablespoons and the washing soda to 1/2 teaspoon. You may even have to go as far as 4 tablespoons of soap flakes and 1 teaspoon of washing soda. However, there is a fine line–and she found that adding too many soap flakes makes it too thick, and too much washing soda results in it separating into cloudy chunks.
Now that you have the basic formulation down, plan on doing more experimenting with different types of soap–including some “brand name” bars, so stay tuned!
Essential Oil Options:
Adding essential oils to your homemade liquid dish soap can boost its antibacterial properties, aid in fighting grease and odors (especially citrus varieties), and provide you with a lovely aromatherapy experience while you wash. You can really use any essential oil combination that you like in your homemade dish soap–the sky’s the limit!
Here are a few of my favorite combinations:
- 15 drops lemon, 10 drops grapefruit, 10 drops juniper berry (my most favorite!)
- 10 drops lemon, 10 drops grapefruit, 10 drops wild orange, 10 drops lime
- 15 drops lemongrass, 15 drops tangerine
- 15 drops wild orange, 15 drops peppermint
- 20 drops lemon, 15 drops eucalyptus
- 15 drops lemon, 15 drops thyme
- 5 drops cinnamon or cassia oil, 20 drops wild orange