For almost a year, I have been trying to perfect a recipe I found for non-toxic DIY dish soap. I bought the vegetable glycerin and the washing soda only for it to turn into a hard glob I couldn’t get out of the mason jar easily. I have played with that recipe for months now to no avail. Then this weekend I was out of dish soap so I grabbed what I had on hand, liquid castile soap. I use it for so many other things, why not dishes? Turns out DIY dish soap using only liquid castile soap and distilled or boiled water cleans dishes well.

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DIY Dish Soap Recipe
Hang tight, this one may be too difficult for you…
I kid, I kid!
1 part liquid castile soap
1 part distilled or boiled water
Add your mixture to a mason jar with a pump found online HERE. Place by the kitchen sink and use 3-4 pumps into a wet dish rag or sponge to wash dishes by hand.

Does DIY dish soap sud well, though?
YES!
Liquid castile soap is highly concentrated so it does need some water to dilute it a bit. This also stretched the dollar cost of the big bottle of castile soap as well.
You’ll find a few pumps into your wet dish rag and a couple squishes with your hand will make some nice bubbles.
Castile dish soap bubbles last a long time too!
Can I add the DIY dish soap to a sink full of water?
Honestly, this answer may turn you away.
If you are a full sink of soapy water kind of dish washer by hand, this may not be the solution for you.
I am a dish at a time by hand dish washer because my sink is one large basin. In order for me to wash by the sink full, I have to do a lot. I have to remove all dirty dishes, clean, scrub, and sanitize the sink (how are you going to CLEAN dishes in a DIRTY sink????), rinse all the dishes of food particles, then fill the sink with water and soap before I can WASH them clean.
Yeah that’s a lot for me so I choose to hand wash one dish at a time. I choose not to let the water run the entire time but turn it on to rinse each dish then turn it back off to wash the next.
Can I add essential oils to the DIY dish soap?

Absolutely yes!
Lemon is a fantastic choice of essential oil to use as it is a natural degreaser. You wouldn’t think so coming from an essential OIL but it is!
Simply Earth has the most affordable, quality, 3rd party tested essential oils I’ve been able to find. Using my link AND code will earn you a $45 gift card to use on your next order! CODE: JOHNSONHOMENCFREE when you click THIS LINK.
Because you can add your own essential oils to the DIY dish soap, you may choose to purchase an unscented castile soap.
Why not just use dish soap formulated for washing dishes by hand?
You could and I definitely do.
Blue Dawn has a place in this home! It’s fantastic for cutting grease stains in clothes before washing them. Simply use as a spot treatment alongside a little 3% hydrogen peroxide and and old toothbrush for good scrubbing. This soap is also really good for dissolving grease splatters on the stove top and counter when I fry bacon.
“Pick your poison” I guess is the new “scrunchy” motto.
For those of us who try hard to limit the amount of chemicals and toxins where we can, this is a good choice for washing dishes, making your own hand soap, and even body wash!
Fall too far down the rabbit hole of skin care toxins and you may wind up making your family’s soap for bath and shower like us.

What makes castile soap so great?
Castile soap is a liquid or bar soap made up of olive oil or other vegetable oils. Many like it because it is “vegan-friendly”. Others choose it because the ingredients are super easy to source.
Castile soap is made up of simple, clean ingredients you can trust to do the cleansing job without drying out your skin or adding loads of chemical toxins to your skin.
Our family began using liquid castile soap diluted with distilled water in foaming pump bottles in 2013 when our son was diagnosed with a food allergy and eczema.
Turns out the eczema was coming from soy ingredients in his diet. When we severely limited soy and began washing him with so few ingredients soap like liquid castile soap, we saw a huge improvement in his eczema. To the point that he no longer suffers from eczema.
Affordability
Liquid castile soap is very affordable.
A 32 ounce bottle can be $14-16 but the amount of uses you get from it make it worth it. Just read the bottle’s label for other uses:
- dish soap
- laundry
- all-purpose cleaner
- body wash
- shampoo
- etc
SHOP THIS POST

Essential Oils (use code: JOHNSONHOMENCFREE)
If you liked this DIY Natural Home Cleaner, try these:
Wood Utensils Conditioning Balm
Follow Along for more DIY, Non-Toxic Home and Body Care
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DIY Dish Soap
Equipment
- 1 quart mason jar
- 1 soap pump see blog post for link
Materials
- 1 part liquid castile soap
- 1 part distilled or boiled water
Instructions
- Add your mixture to a mason jar with a pump.
- Place by the kitchen sink and use 3-4 pumps into a wet dish rag or sponge to wash dishes by hand.
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