Make your own dishwashing soap by following this easy recipe with just three ingredients. It’s cheap, and you get rid of sulfur and other harmful chemicals. You have dishwashing soap for around $1 for up to half a year, depending on how much is washed up by hand. We do not have a dishwasher and are two or three people, so this portion lasts approx. 4 months.
This soap is suitable for washing dishes by hand and as an all-around soap in the home that can be used, for instance, on floors and bathrooms.
If you are about to make your very first cold process soap, you will not get an easier recipe than this, as the dish soap consists exclusively of soaped coconut oil.
Recipe percentages, lye, and superfat
This information is for advanced soapers. Go to recipe if you are new to soap making.
- 100% Coconut Oil
- 31.418% Lye Concentration
- 38% Water percent of oil weight
- 5% Superfat
- 3.53 oz Total oil weight (100 g)
Soap Quality
As you can see this soap is very cleansing, and you will need to put on gloves when you use it.
| Soap Quality | Range | This Recipe |
| Hardness | 29 – 54 | 79 |
| Cleansing | 12 – 22 | 67 |
| Conditioning | 44 – 69 | 10 |
| Bubbly | 14 – 46 | 67 |
| Creamy | 16 – 48 | 12 |
| Iodine | 41 – 70 | 10 |
| INS | 136 – 165 | 258 |
Recipe for Coconut Dishwashing soap
EQUIPMENT
- 2 plastic, glass, or steel bowls
- Wooden or plastic spoon
- Stick blender
- Thermometer
- pH meter or test strips
- Silicone molds
- Microwave oven
- Kitchen scale
- Safety gear
INGREDIENTS
- 3.53 oz Coconut Oil 76 deg 100 grams
- 1.34 oz Water 38 grams (distilled)
- 0.61 oz NaOH (lye) 18 grams
INSTRUCTIONS
- Use cold or hot process – Whatever you prefer
Soap Fatty Acid Profile
| Lauric | 48 |
| Myristic | 19 |
| Palmitic | 9 |
| Stearic | 3 |
| Ricinoleic | 0 |
| Oleic | 8 |
| Linoleic | 2 |
| Linolenic | 0 |
FAQ
Yes, this is the ancient way of making soap. We use more oils in today’s soaps because we want them to do more than just cleaning.
A soap bar needs to be balanced in different types of fatty acids to become a good soap. The coconut oil is great for cleansing and gives a hard bar but lacks conditioning effects. This bar will result in dry hands if you use it a lot and without gloves.
No, other oils will need different amounts of lye to saponify, so you can´t substitute any coconut oil for another oil without recalculating the recipe.
No, you can always add scent to any soap. If you use essential oil in large amounts, it can raise the superfat a little. But it is always advised to add the scent after saponification anyway, and it really makes no difference in my opinion.