This homemade dish soap is very economical and cuts through grease like a champ. It is made using all-natural ingredients and cleansing essential oils. With just 3 ingredients in this recipe, you will be able to put it together in no time.
This is a guest post by Laura from Our Oily House
Easy Homemade Dish Soap
I started making my own dish soap as soon as I received my first set of essential oils, and haven’t looked back. It works so well, and I love that it is all-natural. Plus, you can use this dish soap recipe in multiple ways: it can be made in a spray bottle, as a foaming dispenser, or a regular soap dispenser.
Sometimes the thought of making products is daunting, but I promise this is way easier than you think. You can whip it up in less than a minute, and you probably have the ingredients on hand.
Homemade Dish Soap Benefits
It’s easy to grab a bottle of dish soap at the grocery store, but I highly encourage you to make your own instead. Making your own dish soap can save you lots of money, cut down on toxic products in your home, and is much better for the environment.
Plus, the ingredients in this homemade dish soap recipe are clean and natural, making them safe for your family.
Even better? This DIY dish soap works! It suds up and cuts really well through grease.
After experimenting with several recipes, I settled on the one with the least amount of ingredients.
Homemade Dish Soap Recipe Ingredients
For this dish soap, you will need:
It is that simple!
I tried other recipes using washing soda and baking soda but found this one to work best.
Castile Soap
Castile soap can come in liquid or bar form, for this recipe we will be using the liquid form. It is a very concentrated soap made out of vegetable oils. Most commonly made with olive oil, but can also be made with coconut oil, hemp oil, or avocado oil.
Castile soap is a natural disinfectant that can kill germs, bacteria, and cut grease. It works great for washing dishes, and it will leave your hands moisturized and smooth.
It comes in handy when making soaps and shampoos too!
What Essential Oils Can I Put in Homemade Dish Soap?
You can use a single oil or a blend of essential oils in your dish soap recipe. I list a few of my favorite blends below, notice that lemon is in every single blend. This is because lemon essential oil is a natural degreaser and a natural antibacterial.
I tend to stick to citrus oils because of their fresh scent and cleansing properties.
Here are a few of my favorite blends:
- Wild orange, lemon, lime
- Lemon, grapefruit, tangerine
- Thyme, lemon, lime
- Lime, lemon, clove
- Lemon, lavender, wild orange
- Tea tree, lavender, lemon
- Thyme and lemon
- Peppermint and lemon
How to Make Homemade Dish Soap
Dish Soap Ingredients / Supplies:
- 16-ounce glass soap dispenser
* - 1/2 cup castile soap
- 10 drops lemon essential oil
- 10 drops lavender essential oil
- 10 drops orange essential oil (look for Citrus sinensis as the species – it’s one of the most popular orange essential oils for good reason. Sometimes it’s labeled as Wild Orange, Sweet Orange, Blood Orange, or just Orange.)
*
*It is always best to use glass or stainless steel for any essential oil recipe. Over time essential oils can break down plastic and cause it to corrode.
To make this dish soap, simply pour castile soap and essential oils into your soap dispenser.
Then, fill the rest of the dispenser with water.
It is best to use distilled water or boiled tap water to preserve your dish soap longer.
If you opt to use tap water, boil it for 15 minutes and then allow it to cool before pouring it into the spray bottle or soap dispenser.
The beauty of this dish soap is it works the same as any store-bought kitchen soap. No change will be necessary to your washing routine.
Just remember that this dish soap is made from concentrated soap and potent essential oils and a little can go a long way.
DIY Dishwasher Pods
If you aren’t as old fashion as me and use a dishwasher rather than handwash I have a recipe for that too! Yup, you can even make dishwasher soap pods that are natural, cost-effective, and work great.
More Easy Homemade Cleaning Recipes:
- DIY Heavy Duty Shower Cleaner (just 4 ingredients)
- Homemade Toilet Bowl Fizzie Cleaner
- All Natural Homemade Castile Soap Cleaner
- How to Remove Tough Stains from a Microfiber Couch
About the author: My name is Laura. I am a stay at home mom of 4 and strive to live a simple and natural lifestyle. After using essential oils for several years, I decided to start my blog, Our Oily House, to share my tried and true recipes and oily testimonies. My blog has become my passion and creative outlet; you will find essential oil DIYs, natural remedies, and healthy recipes.
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Gwen says
Hello!
Just found the recipe here and I really like it – so easy to make. I will definitly try it.
Thanks for sharing! ♡
Leah Avital Cohen says
The recipe is great but the pumps in glass containers are also plastic. Have you found one that has a stainless pump?
Erika says
Good question. I haven’t found any… has anyone else? Please let me know if you do find one, Leah. Thanks!
Lynette says
I found metal lid and pumps from Amazon for my Ball Jars. I have had one on my hand sanitizer jar for a couple years now and it has not rusted or had issues. I also use it for homemade hand soap in my kitchen and again, no issues.
Blessing says
I hope the recipe helps me save money. Thanks for sharing
Janell says
Where did you get those scrubbies from?
Athena says
I just made this soap. I really enjoyed it. It works really well. I also used it to clean my eggs. It did a really good. It seems to have done a better job than my store bought soap, IMO. I used EO patchouli, lemon, and lime, in the amount you indicated. It has a nice smell. Thank You so much for sharing this recipe.
Erika says
I’m so glad it worked so well for you, Athena! I love your essential oil choices!
Valerie says
I was wondering if thieves essential oil would work in this in place of lemon or lime. I do have sweet orange too.
Thanks in advance.
Erika says
Yes!
Casey says
Hi, does it work best in a foaming dispenser or regular pump?
Erika says
A regular dispenser works best for this.
Laura says
Can I make this with bar Castile soap?
Erika says
I have always used the liquid soap – I don’t think a bar soap would work. Even if you grated it up, it would clog the pump.
Aveleen says
I’ve tried this recipe a couple times and have found it leaves an oily residue behind. I’m not using much, but my dishes just don’t feel clean. Am I doing something wrong?
Erika says
Hi Aveleen, hmm I haven’t experienced that myself but you could try decreasing the castile soap as it is pretty concentrated. I would suggest trying 1/3 or 1/4 cup. You could also try decreasing the essential oil drops to 20 total down from 30. Good luck! Thanks for letting me know.
Pam Powell says
I just made this soap, and mine does not sud/foam very well. It does foam some when I first start running the water, but then the bubbles disappear and I don’t have any bubbles. I am using it like I do my commercial DW liquid, pouring it under running hot water. What could have I done wrong? Could it be that I have the wrong type of castile soap?
I really need this product because most commercial DW liquids cause an allergic reaction on my hands.
Thanks!!
Erika says
Hi Pam, natural DIY recipes like this don’t tend to suds for as long or as much as commercial products. It doesn’t sound like you’ve done anything wrong or the castile soap is wrong. Did you use the regular castile soap?
Sofia says
Why is it necessary to use all the essentials together?
Karin says
Do you use regular tap water or distilled?
Erika says
Either should work fine for this recipe.
Laura says
I looked at other recipes and I saw they put salt in it to thicken it. With the soap that you use, does it thicken up the dish soap as well? Or if not then add some salt?
Angela says
love this. what a great way to save money.
Jennifer S says
I made this as directed and it left my dishes greasy and filmy. Why would it make even more greasy than they started? It was kind of disappointing. How do I fix this?
Erika says
Hi Jennifer, oh that’s frustrating!! I would try adding more water to the mixture to dilute the castile soap. Or use less essential oils.
Isabella says
Hi there, I was having the same issue with the greasy residue on my dishes and did some research of my own. Turns out if you have hard water and use castile soap the minerals from the hard water will stick to what you are washing. The solution to this is to use a vinegar and water rinse after washing your dishes. Works like a charm for me. 🙂
Erika says
Thanks for sharing! Great tip!
Rebecca says
How exactly did you do the “rinse”? Did you use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar?