I have been looking at ingredients in homemade soaps and have been reading the comments from readers who have tried them. Almost everyone agreed the dishes came clean, but the soaps had low suds and the solutions were runny. Some people complained that the soap left a residue on the dishes. Others liked the commercial brands better. Almost everyone was concerned about the number of chemicals used in the commercially made products. Dr. Bronner's rated quite high for the best brand to use for homemade recipes.

Last week I made shampoo using the leaves and roots from a yucca plant. Although it had low suds and a runny solution it cleaned the dishes well enough. I was on a quest! Finding something that would give me a thicker solution without using a lot of harsh ingredients would be a task.

I wanted to learn a little more about some of the ingredients used in homemade recipes. I use vinegar all the time to clean and liked the idea of using it in my soap, but after going to the Dr. Bronner's website, I discovered they do not recommend it. Here is the article: http://lisa.drbronner.com/?p=292 The comment section has a lot of useful information. I considered buying Dr. Bronner's soap and went to the store . . . . . a whopping $17.00 a bottle!

Homemade soaps make great gifts, but have you ever made a gift that you felt needed a little extra touch? I made this dish soap and decided it needed something extra so I embellished the bottle. Follow through and I will show you how I made the dish soap and bottle embellishment.

Step 1: Supplies for Liquid Dish Washing Soap

Recipe:

1 1/2 Cups very hot distilled water but not boiling.
1 Tablespoon Glycerin
2 Tablespoons shredded Dr Bronner's unscented bar soap ( I recommend adding more if you have hard water.)
2 Tablespoons Washing Soda ( Add more for hard water)
1 - 1 1/2 Tablespoons Citric Acid

Old Utensils:

Stainless steel Pan
Plastic spoon or whisk
Grater
Measuring spoons and cups
Bowl
Funnel
Skewer, or straw
Plastic or glass container with lid. The hour glass shape and a pump would work nice for this.

Misc supplies:

Black marker
Plain sticker for marking the label recipe optional

Ingredients:

Glycerin: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/glycerin-soap-benefits.html
Citric acid: http://benefitof.net/benefits-of-citric-acid/
Washing soda used for softening the water and for lifting the dirt, but it is not a green product. I will try baking soda the next time, I did not have any onhand: http://community.babycenter.com/post/a27556305/de-myth_baking_soda_washing_soda_borax_detergent_nerd_alert
Distilled water: Because I have very hard water and did not want chlorine in my soap mixture:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art61719.asp

Step 2: Method

Bring the water almost to a boil. You can't have the water too hot, but you want it hot enough to melt the soap flakes.
Remove pan from heat.
Add the Glycerin and stir thoroughly.
Add Soap flakes, stir thoroughly until soap flakes are completely melted.
Add Washing soda and stir thoroughly.
Add apinch of citric acid and stir thoroughly and continue adding a small pinch at a time stirring thoroughly until 2 Tablespoons have been added.
If you add too much citric acid at once the pan will overflow with suds.
Allow to cool and stir often to keep the liquid mixed.
Do this every 30 minutes for a couple of hours.

It is best to keep an eye out on the soap for a few hours stirring often. If this is not done the mixture may separate. I did not mix my soap often enough and as soon as I noticed the mixture separating, I used my mixer and mixed it for several minutes. Mixing did the trick. It almost looked like whip cream when I was finished.

Using the funnel and a straw, I filled the bottle and placed a label with the recipe on the back.

Step 3: Results

I made soap from the Dr. Bronner's bar and the Ivory bar. As you can see from the pictures the Ivory was very watery. I won't be using it again. Both cleaned the dishes about the same. I am very happy with the results of the Dr. Bonner's. I did not notice any film on my dishes and did not notice any more hard water spots than I did before I used this homemade dish soap. To remove them I simply put a tablespoon of vinegar in a bowl and added a little water. I dipped the end of the towel into the vinegar solution and wiped and dried my dishes. It worked fine. Dishes don't have as many hard water spots if you rinse them in very hot water. If suds are important to you, try using a foam pump. It does help some. I Washed a greasy pan in it and the homemade soap did not remove all the grease, After using the homemade soap I tried a popular brand and it still did not remove all of the grease but the results were better. I used straight Baking Soda on it after I used the soap and it did the trick. I will keep Baking soda in a small container with a lid near the sink and use it as a powdered cleaneser after washing something that did not come clean with my homemade soap. Still I am a step ahead not using a harsh chemical. My homemade soap did not separate like the Ivory did but I did notice it should be shook thoroughly before using. Not a problem for me.

Step 4: Supplies for Apron

Fabric
Thread
1 Ribbon 1/8" wide, cut six inches long.
1 Ribbon1/4 inch wide, cut 2 ten and one fourth inches long,or make your own ribbon.
Sewing pins
Scissors
Apron pattern I made 2 sizes.
Instructables sticker
Sewing machine or hand sew, or glue

If you want to add arms and a head to the bottle:

Doll arms and head
For the scarf and head gear I just cut 2 squares 5"X5" and trimmed them to fit and folded them in a triangle, one for the neck and one for the head.
Hot glue worked the best
Scissors
Sewing pins
Fingernail polish
Pliers to cut pins
Yarn or string for duster
Skewer for duster

Step 5: Apron

Cut the apron out.
Hem all the raw edges 1/4"
Add a pocket if you like, finish the edges by sewing or glue the raw edges under and attach to the apron.
Glue or sew the neck tie and the apron ties.
Embellish the apron if desired.

Step 6: Doll

I liked the container better with the head and arms.

Cut off the end of a sewing pin.
Fold the scarves in a triangle.
Pin the head gear to the doll's head using the short pin.
Glue the scarf to the neck of the bottle.
Glue the head to the top of the bottle.
Position the apron on the bottle and tie.
Glue the arms to the bottle.
Paint the gloves with nail polish.
Make the duster by forming a pom pom and gluing it to the end of the skewer.

Step 7: Sunshiine's Final Thoughts

I am still experimenting with different ingredients. I am fairly happy with the soap I made but it would be nice if the suds lasted longer when washing the dishes. I would like find organic additives that might help with this. I want to try soap nuts and different plants if I can find them growing here. If I make a recipe that is better I will share it. Any suggestions from my readers will be appreciated. I am not an expert on soap making or chemicals. Any suggestion on how to thicken soap and get suds using organic ingredients?

Again I wish to thank Instructables, our sponsors, and our loyal readers for making this a great place to share ideas!
Thank you for stopping by and have a splendorous day!
sunshiine