Dish Liquid

DIY Dish Liquid was one of the first things I wanted to try out when I started going low-tox DIY with my essential oils. I was no longer fooled by that sudsy, bubbly stuff that required copious amounts of rinsing to get off my dishes. Sometimes you could still taste it on the plates and bowls. My family and I were ingesting that stuff, and I just knew that it can’t be good for you.

I tried a few DIY Dishwashing Liquid recipes which never quite hit the spot. So, I experimented and used trial and error, and came up with this fabulous, quick and easy to make recipe.

I personally use a dish wand for most of my dishes that don’t go into the dishwasher. This recipe is perfect for the wand, or putting direct on a sponge. You will get lots of bubbles and find it cleans really well. If you don’t use a dishwand, and are a ‘fill your sink and give it a squirt of dishwashing liquid’ kind of person, you will find that the bubbles will disappear from your sink of water pretty quickly. HOWEVER, you need to wrap your head around the fact that cleanliness is not related to ‘bubbly-ness’. This recipe may not give you lasting bubbles in your sink, but it does clean your dishes super well. It’s cheap-as-chips, plus, it’s so quick and easy to whip up a batch when you run low. And hey, as a DIYer, Castile Soap will be a staple in your laundry cupboard and will always be on hand!

DIY Dishwashing Liquid using essential oils

Dish Liquid

Castile soap is a staple of low-tox DIY and is amazingly effective at cleaning and cleansing. Add your choice of essential oil to this dish liquid recipe, but citrus is usually best as it cuts through grease. Lemon is simple and cheap, or try doTERRA's On Guard blend if you want the added reassurance of a protective blend.

4 from 10 votes

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Total Time: 3

Makes: ml

Equipment

Jug/s with measurements
Small whisk
Measuring Spoons

Ingredients

250 ml castile soap
200 ml boiled water warm enough to dissolve salt and washing soda
½ tsp washing soda
½ tsp salt

Essential Oils

20 drops Lemon essential oil or any citrus oil

Instructions

Add salt, washing soda and boiled water into a jug or bowl and whisk until dissolved
1/2 tsp washing soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 200 ml boiled water
In a separate jug or bowl, add essential oils to castile soap and stir to combine
250 ml castile soap, 20 drops Lemon essential oil
Add water mixture to castile soap and stir. Mixture will thicken
Pour into 500ml pump bottle

Notes

The salt is what makes the castile soap thicken, so if you are having consistency issues, it can be easily rectified. If the liquid turns out to thick, just add a splash more water. If it's not thick enough, add a teaspoon of salt to a splash of water to disolve it and pour in slowly while you stir until your desired consistency is achieved.
To be honest, the thickness hasn't mattered too much for me as it still works just as well - I just notice if it's too runny it goes through the dishwand more quickly.