Let me be clear. The first time I made this, it turned into a solid in the bottle and so you would have to squeeze it for about 3 minutes and then it exploded like a cannon out of the bottle and splashed every surface, including your face, within a five mile radius. My kitchen has still not recovered.

Below is the recipe that I have settled on for the moment. The key thickening agent is the washing soda so you can add more or less depending on what you like.

(Recipe adapted from a natural products workshop at Cardo’s Farm Project in Denton that was organized by Sarah Westrup and taught by Aryton Chapman.)

Homemade Liquid Dish Soap

Ingredients:

2 cups hot water

1/2 cup liquid castille soap (Most natural grocery stores will cary this. I got mine at Sprouts but I also saw it available at American Apparel (Uh, what?))

1 TBSP Apple Cider vinegar

1.5 TBSP washing soda

1 TBSP Borax

20-50 drops of essential oils (tea tree oil, rosemary, lemon or orange)

Instructions:

1. In a regular pot, boil the two cups of water.

2. Once it’s boiling, add all the ingredients EXCEPT the essential oils. If you’re using a regular cooking pot from your kitchen, you don’t want to include the essential oils because they’ll mess up your pans. Stir it up!

3. Either in the pan or a bowl, let it cool down. It should thicken a little as it cools.

4. Once it’s cool, pour it into your old bottle. It will naturally thicken in the bottle. **I add the essential oils into the bottle and give it a good shake.

If it feels like a rock in the bottom of the bottle, that’s a good thing. Give it a good shake and it will come out on your sponge like a foamy dream.