Homemade Dishwashing Detergent Recipe

by Leanne

Here is a homemade dishwashing detergent recipe submitted by a reader.

Leanne says:

I make my own homemade dishwashing liquid to hand wash my dishes.


It works really well, and I can choose whatever scent I want using various essential oils.

That way I can change it up whenever I get bored with one scent and want a new one.

I also like that it is all natural.

Here's the recipe:

3 tablespoons liquid castile soap (I use Dr. Bronner's)
2 cups hot water
2 teaspoons glycerin
10 drops of essential oil

You just add all the ingredients into a squeeze bottle and shake them all up. Then, I use it to wash my dishes like I would any other dish soap.

Dr Bronners Soap {Referral Links}

Taylor says:

Thanks Leanne for sharing this homemade dishwashing detergent recipe.

I would love it if you shared your favorite essential oils that you use in your soap, perhaps in the comments. I have some of my favorite blends listed in my essential oil recipes for cleaning products article, but there are so many great blends I always love to learn about more. (If any readers have a favorite blend you can share your favorite essential oil uses and blends here for around your home.)

Everyone can also see even more homemade dish soap recipes here.

You can also share how you make dishwashing liquid here and your recipes.

Photo by aaron13251

Homemade Ivory Bar Soap Dish Liquid Recipe

by Heather
(Lafayette, LA)

Heather shared her recipe for making dishwashing liquid using Ivory bar soap.

Heather says:

I started making homemade laundry detergent months ago, and it's awesome to make this stuff and save money.

Well, tonight I ran out of dish liquid, so I began researching how to make that too. I came across a few sites with this same recipe. So I tried it.

I took one whole bar of ivory soap and ground it up in the food processor.

Then, in a pot, I heated:

• 4 cups of water


• the ground up soap


• 1/4 cup vinegar


• 2 T. washing soda; and


• A few drops of lemon scented essential oil

Homemade Ivory Bar Soap Dish Soap Ingredients {Referral Links}

Then, I heated it all over medium heat, just long enough to dissolve the soap, not boiling, but hot.

Once dissolved, I poured it into an old milk jug, and filled it up with water and shook it up.

It got very thick and gelly when it cooled, so I filled 2 dish liquid bottles halfway and diluted it all some more.

I ended up with a gallon and a 1/2 of this soap which cost maybe $.35 to make... and it works better than Dawn at cutting grease.

Taylor says:

Thanks so much for sharing this recipe Heather.

I can honestly say I had never considered creating dish soap using a bar soap, but why not?

I'd love to hear from even more people who make their own dishwashing liquid, sharing your recipes with me, and I'll add them to this page. You can share your recipe here.

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