Homemade Liquid Dish Soap

We survived the storm last night, and are among the lucky bunch who didn't lose power, so today is pretty much business as usual for us.  On Sundays, that means the girls want special oatmeal.  After cooking and serving it, I was dismayed to discover that my bottle of dish soap was completely empty.  I had been anticipating this, and made sure I had the ingredients on hand to make a batch of my own.  I found a recipe in a magazine and tweaked it to my liking.  Shown are the supplies I used:  vegetable glycerine, Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap, tea tree oil, lemon oil, and water.  I needed only a measuring cup, funnel, and a squirt bottle I had lying around.  The recipe, as I made it, is as follows:

1 cup water
1 cup liquid castile soap
3 tablespoons vegetable glycerine
6 drops tea tree oil
25 drops lemon oil

This recipe makes about 17 ounces.  I used less water and more castile soap and vegetable glycerine than the original recipe, and several drops more of the lemon oil as well.  (25 drops sounds like a lot, but it barely made a dent in my bottle of oil.)  I like it extra lemony.  :)  Basically, you just measure the ingredients and pour them into your squirt bottle using a funnel, then shake well.

It will look a little foamy at first, and the consistency is NOT at all like store-bought dish soap.  Do not expect it to be as thick and goopy.  It is a much thinner, runnier consistency, but worked great for washing my breakfast dishes.  I have heard some say that homemade dish soap doesn't lather or foam up as much, which is why I lessened the amount of water and increased the amount of castile soap, and I thought it lathered up fine.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easily my dishes came clean.  I never know quite what to expect when making homemade cleaning recipes, but this one is a winner.

The extra vegetable glycerine makes it a little more moisturizing for your hands, and I also thought it made it rinse cleaner.  The tea tree oil is naturally antimicrobial, so I wouldn't leave it out even if you aren't a big fan of the smell.  Once you add the lemon, you can't smell the tea tree oil at all.  If lemon isn't your thing, you could also replace the lemon with lavender or grapefruit oils if preferred.  Overall, I prefer this to store-bought dish soaps because I know exactly what is in it, I can customize it to meet my needs, and it is much cheaper than buying a bottle at the grocery store.  I bought the ingredients at my local natural foods store, and I could probably make several more refills before having to buy replacement supplies.

As a side note, I also used this to scrub my stove and countertop, and I was happy with the results.  Clean and shiny.  I will be sure to post later about how much use I got out of one batch.  Hope this helps!