Saturday, August 29, 2009

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

9 comments:

Lori said...

Oh goody! Thanks for posting this. I hope to give this a try soon.

Keeper of the Home said...

You're most welcome Lori. And thank you for all your help.

~Mrs. M

Ronda said...

Hi sweetie,

Thanks for posting this recipe. I really want to try this one. I am so tired of buying store bought JUNK! I just love all the other stuff God has brought me to and that I now make for myself, so it stands to reason God has brought this to my attention, therefore I am going to try this one. Thank you for always sharing ALL of these wonderfully frugal and homemade things you find.

By the way, I know I havent been able to leave many comments lately (life has been busyier than imagined), but I am ever so grateful for all the scriptures and personal insight you are sharing. I appreciate it and I need it. THANK YOU!

Love & Prayers from you freind always,
Ronda

Flat Creek Farm said...

Thank you for this recipe! I will try it. I already have pink zote for laundry detergent making. I had often wondered about making dish detergent as well, so thank you for being brave and adventurous and trying this out. And sharing! :) -Tammy

momstheword said...

I love this, what a clever idea! So how does it clean greasy pans, etc. Does it cut the grease well enough and are you happy with it? Because I would really like to try this!

trooppetrie said...

thank you so much. we have been make hand soap and laundry soap and dishwasher soap for a while but i have never seen dish soap. please clarify for me. I can use any regular soap just use half a bar. i have never heard of zoat soap. thanks, i am really glad i found your blog tonight.

Keeper of the Home said...

Pam ~

Welcome to my blog! I am so glad you stopped by. As for the soap substitution...the original recipe that I have posted does not suds up like store bought soap does, however it does clean well. I would think you could use a regular bath soap bar and have good results. I would be curious to know if you try it, does it suds up better than ZOTE (which is a good laundry soap because from my experience it does not suds up and is therefore good for use in the front loading washers.) let me know what your results are. I'm really curious to see the difference. Thanks again for visiting and have a beautiful Sunday!

~Mrs. M

Anonymous said...

I substituted lime juice for the lemon juice due to allergy, and it worked just fine. Also used Fels Naptha (5.5oz) bar and it was fine.
The best part of all...I tried this in my dishwasher and it is PERFECT!! Gets my dishes cleaner than ever!! I put about a tablespoon in each compartment, but will try a lesser amount to see if it still works.. also have vinegar in rinse compartment,, what a savings!! Thanks!

BelleMorte said...

I just found this on Pinterest last night and tried it with bath soap. I used dove, as that was what I had on hand, and it worked quite well. It does suds up quite nicely, but is a little difficult to rinse well. Next time I'll try it with soap that doesn't have the "hydrating moisturizer"