Saturday, October 8, 2011

homemade dishwashing liquid/hand soap

 Ok - here it is.... After experimenting with texture and the right amount of each ingredient, I have the right mix for a lovely hand wash, body wash or dish washing liquid. 

You will need these ingredients: 

* One bar of soap - grated
preferably something with no nasties - so a goats milk, olive oil based soap and it is probably better not to use anything with fragrances or colors - simple = better. As you can see I have used both the olive oil and goats milk soap, I got these from Coles. Also remember to buy one that is packaging sensibly - no plastic! It would be even better if you could find a simple soap at a local market but these supermarket ones are fine too....

* Glycerine - 1 tablespoon

as pictured, in the aisle at the supermarket that has bandaids, panadol, etc. It is sitting alongside its super cool buddies - tea tree oils and eucalyptus cleaning product. It may set you back about $9 but you only need to use one tablespoon, so the bottle will last for ages.

* Water - 1.5 litres

* your choice of essential oils - grapefruit, eucalyptus, lemon, lime, may chang, sweet orange...... the choices are endless - make sure it is 100% pure essential oil, so you will not be benefiting from a natural hand made soap but also from the benefits of aromatherapy! If you want a destress blend for washing dishes try - geranium, lavender and bergamont. Or you may want to slip some calming oils into the bathroom soap for the kids - calming influences as they are washing their hands - LOVE!! You may want to use Chamomile, orange, marjoram and lavender....  You can shop for oils in chemists these days or order online from someone like Amazing scents......

You will need these tools:

* saucepan
* cup measure
* spoon measure
* bamix style blender
* Recycled clean hand pump container



 It is soooo easy to make and this recipe with make you litres, so make sure you have not only the recycled pump pack you want to use ready but also another large container to keep the rest - ready for refills!

1. Grate your bar of soap with an ordinary grater, this should make one cup of soap flakes. Pop this into a saucepan
2. Add one tablespoon of Glycerin
3. Add 1.5 litres of water
4. Mix ingredients together and place over medium heat and until it melts and looks like milky water
5. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then add your choice of essential oil. If you are making dishwashing liquid, you may want to use something fresh and clean smelling - I used Eucalyptus. If you are making a body wash, you may want to use lavender, citrus, etc. Or something anti bacterial for the bathroom - tea tree.....
6. Then leave to sit for hours or overnight. 


 It will "set" something like this and feel a little like a white springy trampoline when you press on the top..



Whizz away!! At this stage it is ok to add more water if you want the texture to be a little more runny...

Then use a funnel to pour into your recycled hand pump pack.
It not only smells delicious but makes your hands feel super super soft afterwards....
It is fabulous for the bathroom and kitchen sinks and if you do want to use it to wash your dishes you can - it just takes a while to get your head around there not being any bubbles - but just keep chanting to yourself - no bubbles = no chemicals and you will be fine!

If you are time poor - you can always double the recipe and make a truck load to store....

Have fun - I would love to hear how you go making this and what fragrance combinations you come up with!

Thanks for reading , Melissa xxxx

13 comments:

  1. Thanks love can't wait to make it xxx

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  2. Wow Melissa, I just popped in to your place, clearly I have been hiding under a mushroom! What a lovely blog you have created & your home is looking fabulous too. I will be giving your recipes a try, and will let you know how they turn out for us (2 boys with excema means no nasties) Glad to see life is great for you, Luke & the girlies. xx

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  3. Hi Rob, thanks for coming by! Hope you and yours are well and smiling :)I plan to come past your bloggie this arvo for a peek!

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  4. Hi Melissa from Sydney Australia. We made your liquid soap last weekend and we love it! We won't be buying the supermarket variety again. Thank you so much. Annette

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  5. In the process of making this right now! I'm going to add lemon & teatree to it for scent and antibacterial properties (i hope!) I'll let you know how I go after leaving it overnight! Rachel QLD

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  6. Have tried this recipe from another website - only difference was I used lux soap flakes instead of grated bar soap... Was a disaster. As soon as it hits the water the ingredients separate, leaving me with a sink full of water that has a lining of oil on the surface and a ring of scum around the edge.

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    1. We always used Lux soap flakes as is in hot water for dishes at home.

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  7. Oh no Lily! Perhaps try this one as it definitely does not separate when it hits the water! I have heaps of others make it and love it! Good Luck!

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  8. Hello there! Just had a go at making your soap recipe and it worked so perfectly! Thank you for posting this, one of my twin girls has excema on her chest and arms, and I have struggled with it all my life so I am so glad to find something that works and is cheap and easy to make!Blowing kisses from me and my girls!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sandra ! So glad u had a go at the soap and like it ! Happy suds :)

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  9. Thanks for Posting ! first time I have found a genuine post related to Handmade Soaps Australia

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