Kitchen Cleaner Series: Hand and Dishwashing Soap

Hand, dishwashing (by hand), and laundry soap were the first things I switched to natural in my house a few years ago. It was the easiest switch to make and very inexpensive. But first, let's look at the not-so-natural competition. There are tons of Dawn dishwashing by hand products on the EWG database that rate from C-F. The "original" Dawn soap, is shown for you, in part, here:

There are several more ingredients listed, but I couldn't grab them all in one screenshot and figured, "you get the idea." There are some decent alternatives you can buy, according to the EWG's dishwashing by hand list, but I don't think they're as easy to find as castile soap.

What is pure Castile soap?

The most popular and well-known pure castile soap today is by Dr. Bronner. Pure castile soap is "your guarantee that what you are using is a genuinely ecological and simple soap – not a complex blend of detergents with a higher ecological impact due to the waste stream created during manufacturing and the detergents’ slower biodegradability," according to Dr. Bronner's FAQs. According to Wikipedia, castile soap is an  oil-based soap that's vegetarian. It originated in an area of Spain called Castile.

photo credit: All One Typography

What's in Dr. Bronner's Castile soap?

• Fair trade, organic coconut oil
• Fair trade, organic palm oil
• Fair trade, organic olive oil
• Fair trade, organic hemp oil
• Organic jojoba oil
• Potassium hydroxide
• Citric acid
• Vitamin E
• Sea salt
• Water

Where can I get Dr. Bronner's Castile soap?

•  Target online or in the beauty section, usually on a bottom shelf
• Amazon
• Health stores, including Trader Joe's, Sprouts, Vitamin Shoppe, and similar stores

How do I use Castile soap?

For hand and dishwashing soap, use a 1 to 10 ratio, meaning fill your container about one-tenth with the soap and the rest with good water. I suggest a foaming soap container for use with liquid soap. You can also get bar soaps from Dr. Bronner for handwashing. There are many other uses for Dr. Bronner's soap!!

What can I use if I'm allergic to something in Castile soap?

Check out the EWG database for liquid hand soap to find an alternative. I'm sure that what you can use on your hands would be find for your dishes. There are also many recipes for DIY dishwashing and hand washing liquid soaps online. We'll look out for some good ones to pin!

Stay tuned for more natural, non-toxic kitchen cleaning alternatives!! At the end of the series, I'll post a round-up with links to all my posts. If you missed it, here's a link to my 2-Ingredient DIY After-Shower Spray that also contains links to the rest of my natural bathroom cleaners.


Have you tried Castile soap before? What do you like to use it for?