Many commercial cleaning products are full of harsh and often toxic ingredients. A few years ago I started making my own cleaning products to minimize the amount of chemicals I expose my family and my environment to. By making my own, I can control exactly what goes in the solutions.
Contrary to what advertisements and cleaning labels would have you believe, a few simple ingredient combinations can take care of most of your household needs. Basic items such vinegar, baking soda, and castile soap are easily available and can create several flexible products.
Making your own cleaning solutions is also a great way to cut back on packaging waste and save money. You can reuse your bottles and containers instead of throwing them away. You also don’t have to buy any single purpose cleaners and the few ingredients you need will last a long time.
Simple 3 Ingredient Dish Soap
This was likely the second cleaning product I ever made at home. It’s laughably simple and I wish I had known sooner how easy the switch would be. I started looking at alternatives to commercial dish soaps after reading about how toxic many can be for the environment.
There are likely some eco-friendly alternatives out there but I find it disheartening when I think I’ve figured out a responsible solution and then later discover contradicting information. It is easier to make my own than stay on top of the constantly changing manufacturing systems. This way I also cut down on purchasing another plastic bottle every time we need dish soap.
What You Will Need:
- a pump dispenser container (mine is about 16 ounces)
- castile soap (I use unscented Dr. Bronner’s )
- 2 tsp baking soda (adjust depending on your container’s total ounces)
- distilled water
Simply add the baking soda to your container. Then pour in the castile soap so it takes up 1/10 of your container (estimating is totally fine). Top it off with distilled water. Screw on the pump nozzle and shake to combine.
I give it a shake before doing the dishes too to make sure the baking soda (which helps cut grease) is mixed in.
Notes and Variations:
This won’t suds up like commercial dish soap but that’s actually better. Most people think bubbles equal clean but they actually just mean more added chemicals.
Depending on your skin sensitivity you can add less baking soda to the mix. There was one occasion where I had very dry skin on my hands and the dish soap started to irritate them further.
You can add lemon essential oil to the castile soap for additional cleaning strength and a fresh invigorating smell.
Other Recipes I Use These Ingredients In:
- I use baking soda in my basic homemade mouthwash and my 5 ingredient homemade toothpaste too.
Do you make your own cleaning products? What are some of your favorites?
