Make Your Own Lemon Liquid Dish Soap

I got to admit, doing dishes is really not my favorite household routine. Especially during winter. I bet all of you are the same. Last year during the time when we were going through what we called the dark age of our lifetime – global pandemic lockdown, our good ‘ol dishwasher broke down. Murphy’s law. It has to be at that particular time when we needed it the most. During that time, the everyday routine was like “think of what to eat – prepare the ingredients – cook – wash the dishes” and restart. That “wash the dishes” part was what it seems like an eternity. You get my point.

I was tired of getting dry hands each time after my dish-washing routine. I know that I am not alone. Industry-made dish detergent in liquid form contains a lot of harmful chemicals that will dry up your skin. So I figure out finally it is time to make a gentle homemade recipe that could clean the dishes effectively the same without drying my hands. This homemade lemon liquid dish soap is going to be your new best friend, not only that it uses only environmentally friendly ingredients, but it is also cost-saving. On top of that, it also protects your delicate hand skin in a gentle way. On the bright side, the lemony fragrance is very uplifting and it may or may not motivates you to do dishwashing.

Ingredients for homemade lemon liquid dish soap

The cleaning power of this liquid dish soap comes from the two types of surfactant in this recipe. They are there to complement one and another. Sodium Coco-Sulfate (SCS) is a solid anionic surfactant of coconut origin. It is not the same thing as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and is generally accepted as a gentler alternative. Lauryl glucoside is a co-surfactant in this liquid dish soap. Lauryl glucoside is a surfactant used in cosmetics and laundry detergents. It is a glycoside produced from glucose and lauryl alcohol. It creates that beautiful lather to help to lift the grease and dirt from the dishes. Vinegar act as a degreaser and disinfectant. Lemon essential oil gives that lovely fragrance so that it is not too boring to wash your dishes.

Composition of Ingredients

As usual this table is provided to size down or size up your recipe.

Note 1)the pH of this recipe is approximately 4.5-5.5 which is said to be the most appropriate pH for our delicate hand skin. 2) Phase A: Heating Phase, Phase B: Post-Heating Phase, Phase C: Cooldown phase

DIY Tools For Liquid Dish Soap

• Double boiler
• Electronic balance with precision 0.01g or beaker and 50ml measuring cylinder
• A plastic funnel
• 500ml pumping bottle or any recycle bottle you have

Make Your Own Liquid Dish Soap

Recipe by Calleigh /www.scentofdripsndrops.comCourse: Household RecipeDifficulty: Easy

Yield

500

ml

Prep time

30

minutes

Cost

2.20

euros

Phase A: Heating Phase, Phase B: Post-Heating Phase, Phase C: Cool down phase

Ingredients

• 340g mineral water (Phase A)

• 42.6g Surfactant Sodium Coco Sulphate (Phase A)

• 68g Surfactant Lauryl Glucoside (Phase A)

• 45g Vinegar 12 degrees acetone (Phase B)

• 1.4g / 58 drops Lemon Essential Oil (Phase C)

• 2.8g Geogard (Phase C)

Directions

• Phase A: Put mineral water + sodium coconut sulfate surfactant + lauryl glucoside in a double boiler. Heat them over a water bath (at T = 50 ° C) until complete solubilization of the surfactants.
• Phase B: Off the heat, add in vinegar and mix until a homogeneous translucent gel is obtained.
• Phase C: Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
• Transfer the liquid mixture to a pumping bottle with the help of a plastic funnel.
• Enjoy the mousse and the fun of washing

Notes

• You will need gloves and goggles for protection as the two surfactants used in the recipe might caused irritation.
• In an optimal hygiene condition, this liquid dish soap can store up to 6 months.
• Since this recipe is water-based, you will need a preservative, as water = a microbes-friendly environment. You will not want to wash your dishes with microbes after all the whole purpose is to clean them right?
• As usual, the table of the composition contains % w/w for you to prepare a different volume of liquid dish soap.
• The lemon essential oil can be replaced by any essential oil of your preference.
• You don’t need a pH meter as I am pretty confident if you follow strictly this recipe, you will get the same pH range as I do which is around 4.5 ~5.5.

Bottom line

Store-bought industry-made liquid dish soap contains harmful chemical ingredients and not skin-friendly. Alternative industry-made organic and environmentally friendly liquid dish soap has a price on the high side. So I hope this recipe is going to help you to save some bucks and at the same time protect your hands in a gentle way.

I hope you enjoy this homemade liquid dish soap. And have fun making it! Have a dishwasher and want to make your own detergent? Here you go Homemade Dishwasher Detergent Powder and Tabs.

For more natural household essential recipe, please check here!

Calleigh

Hi, I am Calleigh, MEng Chemical Engineering and a process engineer, and I'm here to show you how to DIY your skincare and household products with the correct formulation and using only natural ingredients. I believe that eating good food (Yes I have cooking recipes too!) and living in a chemical-free environment are the keys to having a healthy lifestyle. And that doesn't need to be expensive.