Choose your player: DIY liquid, solid, or powder dish detergent!

Whichever way you wash your dishes, it’s safe to say that you need dish soap! So, we’re bringing you not one, not two, but three easy dish soap recipes. They’ll leave your plates and glassware sparking clean and residue-free, whether you use a machine, wash by hand, or both. There’s a liquid and solid dish soap for sink use, as well as a DIY powder dish detergent for machine use. So, you’re covered whatever your means! All three are quick to make, budget-friendly, environmentally friendly, and soft on your hands. Which one will you try first?

To scent or not to scent, and how

In these recipes, you can choose to leave your dish washing products unscented or to add aromatic essences or essential oils for fragrance. Aromatic essences can be used without worry: they will retain their scent and, unlike essential oils, pose no health risks. If you’d like to use essential oils, there are some factors to keep in mind:

1. Essential oils are very concentrated natural ingredients. They can be dangerous if inhaled by pregnant people, young children, or pets.
2. The baking soda in our liquid and solid dish soap recipes may cause compounds in the essential oils to denature, weakening their scent or properties.
3. Some people like to use essential oils in household products for their degreasing or antibacterial properties, while others view it as a waste to use essential oils on a product that goes down the drain.

If using essential oils to scent your dish soap, be sure to not to exceed the quantity indicated in our recipes. 

How to make your own liquid dish soap

Make your own liquid dish soap in less than 10 minutes! This DIY dish soap, intended for hand washing only, is degreasing, gentle on your skin, ultra-efficient, and oh-so easy to make! This homemade dish soap is almost enough to make scrubbing pots and pans fun.

Ingredients

• 150 ml (51%) unscented liquid Castile soap
• 120 ml (40.8%) water
• 9 g (3.1%) baking soda
• 15 ml (5.1%) essential oils or aromatic essences of your choosing (optional)

Tools

• Scale, accurate to 0.1 g
• Small stainless steel bowl
• Small spatula
• Funnel
• HDPE bottle (250 ml) and push-pull cap

Steps to follow

1. Prepare and disinfect your equipment and workspace.
2. Pour all the ingredients into a small stainless steel bowl. Gently mix with the spatula until homogeneous. 
3. Use a funnel to pour the mixture into the bottle.
4. Your homemade dish soap is ready to use! 

Use and conservation

This recipe is formulated for washing your dishes by hand only. Do not use it in your dishwasher. Shake well before using.

When made in optimal sanitary conditions, this homemade liquid dish soap will keep for at least three months. 

How to make solid dish soap

Solid dish soap is an excellent option for anyone who wants an easy-to-make product that’s gentle on both your pocketbook and the planet. For this recipe, we’ve carefully selected natural cleaning agents that will leave your dishes shining and residue-free.

Before you begin

• Washing soda (sodium carbonate) and sodium cocoyl isethionate (SCS) are respiratory tract and skin irritants. They must be handled with caution. We recommend that you work in a well-ventilated space, such as under your oven hood, or wear a dust mask, or both. It’s also important that you wear gloves and safety glasses throughout the process of making this product. Once all the ingredients are combined, they will react, leaving the final product perfectly safe.
• This recipe calls for you to melt SCS, which can take some time. To speed things up, you can reduce it to a powder with a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle before melting it. Alternatively, you can choose to not melt the SCS completely. Keep in mind that the final product will appear less smooth if you don’t melt all the SCS, but that won’t alter its effectiveness! We chose to grind all the SCS for aesthetic reasons. If you use your coffee grinder to reduce the SCS, we recommend cleaning it well and reserving it for cosmetic or household use from that point onward (do not use it to grind coffee or spices or anything you will consume).

Ingredients

• 50 g (50%) sodium coco-sulfate (SCS)
• 15 g (15%) white vinegar
• 10 g (10%) water
• 13 g (13%) baking soda
• 10 g (10%) washing soda
• 2 g (2%) essential oils or aromatic essences of your choosing (optional)

Tools

• Personal protective gear
• Components to make a double boiler
• Scale, accurate to 0.1 g
• Mortar and pestle
• Small stainless steel bowl
• A few ramekins
• Small silicone spatula
• A few spoons
• PETE jar or glass mason jar (240 ml)

Steps to follow

1. Prepare and disinfect your equipment and workspace.
2. Working under your oven hood or wearing a dust mask, weigh the SCS in a bowl. Use the pestle to grind it to a powder.
3. Weigh the vinegar and water and add to the SCS. Heat on the double boiler until it forms a homogeneous paste.
4. Remove the bowl from the heat and add the baking soda and washing soda. Mix to combine. 
5. Add the essential oil or aromatic essence, if using, and mix again.
6. Transfer the mixture to the jar of your choice, packing it down well with a spoon or with your gloved hands.
7. Leave it to air dry for 24 hours before using it for the first time.

Use and conservation

To use, rub a damp sponge over the dish soap, then use it to wash your dishes. Allow your solid dish soap to air dry between uses. 

When made in optimal sanitary conditions, this solid dish soap should keep for at least six months. 

How to make dishwasher detergent

Let your dishwasher do the work! This recipe for a dish detergent powder is super quick and cheap to make and respects the environment. You just need a few ingredients to get sparkling clean dishes and glassware free of streaks. Thanks to its concentrated formula, you’ll need only a little bit of detergent (as compared to liquid dish soap) to wash off the most stubborn food stains. 

Before you begin

• Sodium percarbonate, citric acid, and washing soda are all irritants. They must be handled with caution. Work in a well-ventilated space—such as under your oven hood—or wear a mask, or both. It’s also important that you wear gloves and safety glasses throughout the entire process of making this product. For safety reasons, we recommend storing the final product away from children and pets and using a dedicated scoop to add it to your dishwasher.
• We strongly advise against using essential oils in this recipe. As they are highly concentrated and difficult to dilute, they may leave residue on your dishes or even damage your dishwasher. If you’d like to add a natural scent, just look to your degreasing pals: citrus fruits! You can put the peels inside your dishwasher, then compost them after use. They’ll delicately scent your dishes, which will be cleaned just as effectively if not more, without damaging your dishwasher.

Ingredients

• 175 g (35%) sodium percarbonate
• 175 g (35%) citric acid
• 87.5 g (17.5%) Dead Sea salt (coarse)
• 52.5 g (10.5%) washing soda

Tools

• Scale, accurate to 0.1 g
• Large stainless steel bowl
• A few spoons
• Large wooden spoon 
• HDPE jar (500 ml) or equivalent airtight container

Steps to follow

1. Prepare and disinfect your equipment and workspace.
2. Work under your oven hood or wear a dust mask to pour all the ingredients into a stainless steel bowl. Gently mix to combine with a spoon, until the powders are evenly distributed. 
3. Transfer to an airtight container. 

Use and conservation

Add two tablespoons of detergent to the designated compartment in your dishwasher. 

You can also use it for washing extra stubborn food stains by hand: just mix 1/3 cup of dish detergent and 2 cups of boiling water in your pot, pan, or baking dish. Let rest for two hours, then clean.

When made in optimal sanitary conditions, your homemade dish detergent should keep for at least six months.