Homemade Liquid Dish Washing Soap

Do you get tired of going to the market to buy dish soap? I sure am! If you look at the cost of dish soap nowadays, it really can put a damper on your trip down that isle of the store. Why does something have to be so costly when all you're going to do is wash it down the sink anyway? Go figure. So instead of buying it, I decided I was going to try and make it. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned. You'll notice that this recipe calls for basic ingredients that you have on hand already. Well, that is if you make any of the other homemade household cleaners, you should have plenty of this in your cupboard.

Homemade Liquid Dish Washing Soap

1 (7-oz) bar ZOTE or Octagon soap (or 1-2-3 brand soap) {Or cut a 14-oz bar in half}
5 qts. water
1 c. baking soda
1/4 c. washing soda
1/4 c. lemon juice



Grate bar soap and place into a heavy stockpot. Pour in water & stir. Heat over medium heat, stirring often until soap is melted.



Remove pot from heat and add in baking soda, washing soda & lemon juice. Stir to mix well. You'll notice that once you add in the dry ingredients the mixture will begin to feel "tight" when stirring.


Allow mixture to cool then pour into a resealable container or reuse your store bought soap bottle. (As the mixture cools in the pot it may begin to gel up and separate itself from the water. This is ok. Simply mix with whisk before filling containers and it will be fine.) This batch makes enough to fill a gallon milk container and (2) 16-oz soap bottles. So you certainly get your money's worth from it.

To use:Use as you would any store bought detergent. It cleans well, but you will notice that you don't get a lot of suds from it as you do with commercial brands. So don't let the lack of suds and bubbles fool you.

Click HERE for printable recipe

*Note about the 1-2-3 brand soap. I saw this soap next to the ZOTE at the store and thought why not give it a try. It was a few cents cheaper than ZOTE but is only 12+ ounces unlike ZOTEthought it would be worth a try. that is 14 ounces. But either way, I