Care · All year

Dish Soap

Plain soap and a little washing soda, dissolved in water. It cleans a sink of dishes. It will not behave like a bottled detergent.

This is how our household cooks, washes, and thinks. It is not medical advice, and it is not a substitute for a midwife or a doctor.

15 minutes · About 2 cups

A bottle of cloudy homemade dish soap beside stacked bowls

“Be hospitable to one another without complaining.”

1 Peter 4:9

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp grated plain tallow soap, or plain castile
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tsp washing soda

Method

Making Dish Soap: Boil the water. Turn off the heat. Stir in the grated soap until it dissolves, then stir in the washing…
Boil the water. Turn off the heat. Stir in the grated soap until it dissolves, then stir in the washing…
Making Dish Soap: Pour it into a bottle you have labeled. Shake it before you use it. One teaspoon in a sink of hot water is…
Pour it into a bottle you have labeled. Shake it before you use it. One teaspoon in a sink of hot water is…
  1. 1

    Boil the water. Turn off the heat. Stir in the grated soap until it dissolves, then stir in the washing soda. Let it cool. It may turn cloudy or thicken into a soft gel. That is still soap.

  2. 2

    Pour it into a bottle you have labeled. Shake it before you use it. One teaspoon in a sink of hot water is enough for an ordinary load of dishes. Grease wants the water hot. This soap cannot cut a cold, fatty pan the way a strong detergent can.

  3. 3

    Rinse the dishes. Do not add vinegar to the bottle. If the sink itself is filmy, wipe it afterward with a splash of vinegar on a cloth, then rinse.

From the kitchen

  • Use the plain bar, not a frankincense or myrrh bar. You do not want resin oil in the dishwater.
  • Keep the bottle off the counter where a small child could drink it. It is soap. Label it.

My note

Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.

Put a week of meals on The Table

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