We all use dish soap but most store-bought dish soaps contain toxins via synthetic ingredients like dyes and fragrances which can harm the body. It is very easy to make your own dish soap that is free from these toxins. Making your own also lets you take control of your health.

The recipe below uses only two ingredients: Castile Soap and Essential Oils. Let’s look at why we use these ingredients.

Why Use Castile Soap

Castile soap is a non-toxic, plant-based natural cleaner. It’s safe for sensitive skin, is naturally hydrating, and can be used to clean everything from the body to your home. Castile soap does not contain chemicals and other synthetics so it’s safer for your health.

For DIY recipes, make sure to purchase unscented Castile soap since you’ll be adding your own scents via essential oils. I use Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Castile Soap because this is what I saw the most recommended by others. I’ve had success using it in many DIY recipes using essential oils.

Why Add Essential Oils

Essential oils are concentrated compounds extracted from the leaves, flowers, bark, roots, and seeds from plants. Humans have been using essential oils for thousands of years for its natural health benefits. Adding essential oils to your dish soap not only provides these benefits but also gives an alluring aroma. Learn more about essential oils HERE.

For this recipe, you can change out the combination of essential oils to those of your choice. Just keep the total number of essential oil drops the same. For example, if you prefer lemon, peppermint, and lavender, feel free to use these instead. This combination is also great for soothing respiratory irritation caused by seasonal threats that most often start in the spring.

For essential oils, I use dōTERRA because they do not contain synthetic fillers and toxins. Each batch is tested both internally and through third-party labs that have no affiliation with dōTERRA to ensure its purity. My recipe version uses the following essential oils:

Lime Oil is an effective and natural surface cleaner. Lime is known for its ability to uplift, balance, and energize.
Lemon Oil is a powerful cleansing agent that purifies the air and surfaces and can be used as a non-toxic cleaner throughout the home.
Citrus Bliss Oil is a dōTERRA blended oil of Wild Orange, Lemon, Grapefruit, Mandarin, Bergamot, Tangerine, and Clementine with a hint of Vanilla Absolute. Citrus Bliss has natural, potent compounds with cleansing properties.

If you’re interested in learning more and how to get dōTERRA essential oils into your home, then fill out this quick 5-question survey and I can contact you to assist.

Dish Soap Container and Pump Type

Be mindful of the container used for your DIY recipe. Many essential oils have compounds in them that can leach into the plastics. To be safe, use glass, steel, or a high-quality plastic called HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene).

This recipe can be used with both foaming and regular (non-forming) pumps. I personally prefer using the foaming pumps because it creates a thicker lather on the dish sponge. I found that when I used regular pumps the liquid would shoot across the sink (and often onto me) because it’s a thin solution. Also, the regular pump nozzle would get clogged because the cleaner would become more solid when exposed to air. I could easily just take off the gummy glob at the tip of the nozzle but it was kind of a pain.

Update: After using the dish soap for a couple of months, I’m finding that using 100% Castile soap in the mixture is what’s causing the gummy globs in the opening of the spout in both the foaming and even in the non-foaming pumps. Thinning the soap out with some water will help to prevent this. As such, I’ve updated the recipe to add some water in the mixture. The dish soap is still effective in cutting the grease on dishes.

For foaming pumps, I used a refillable glass bottle with foaming pump from Amazon. If you want glass bottles with regular pumps, I have used ones I found on Amazon. as well. If you prefer plastic bottles, I’ve also purchased on Amazon HDPE bottles with regular pumps that are safe to use with essential oils.

Note that the dish soap liquid is thin. When pumping the dish soap onto your sponge, make little pumping motions to squirt out the soap. If you make one large pump motion, the dish soap may very well squirt across the sink instead of onto the sponge…based on experience. 🙂