Homemade Washing Up Liquid

Peanutmac30

Hi,

We've recently had a go at making our own washing up liquid as per the Anthea Turner Perfect Housewife recipe:

2L Water
2-3 drops essential oil
8g soap flakes
8g soda crystals
1tsp white vinegar

The first time we used it, it seemed fantastic and cleaned our glasses, cutlery and crockery really well - squeaky clean!

We stored it in a clean, old washing up liquid bottle and upon using again this afternoon have found that whilst it still seems to clean the crockery OK, anything metal or particularly greasy just doesn't come clean at all.

Has anyone else experienced any similar problems and found a solution, or does anyone have a better recipe that consistently cuts through grease?

Thanks.

HappyMJ

Bit of lemon juice helps or anything strong and citrus.
Baking soda which I think is your soda crystals.
A bit of salt as well.

Almost there...

hakeber

soda crystals used to be called washing soda they aren't baking soda

this is the one we make
3 litres of boiling water
1 heaped tablespoon of bicarbonate of soad
1 heaped tablespoon of grated soap
1 heaped tablespoon of soda Crystals
1 heaped tablespoon of Citric Acid
1 tablespoon of white vinegar
mix in a bucket to allow reaction
6 drops of essential oil added once water has cooled
no smears and cleans great
we tried a lot of internet recipes before we one that worked.
bek

BitterAndTwisted

So, that awful Anthea Turner has hijacked Old-Style now? Is nothing sacred? Kim & Aggie I'm fine with but not her.

Chloris

hakeber wrote: »

soda crystals used to be called washing soda they aren't baking soda

this is the one we make
3 litres of boiling water
1 heaped tablespoon of bicarbonate of soad
1 heaped tablespoon of grated soap
1 heaped tablespoon of soda Crystals
1 heaped tablespoon of Citric Acid
1 tablespoon of white vinegar
mix in a bucket to allow reaction
6 drops of essential oil added once water has cooled
no smears and cleans great
we tried a lot of internet recipes before we one that worked.
bek

Thank you for this recipe! Couple of questions if you don't mind. Is this used neat? Diluted? Rough ratio please. What form of citric acid do you use? TIA

SailorSam

The things i've found out since i discovered Mse, i think MrT may have just lost a washing up liquid customer.

Peanutmac30

Thanks for the suggested recipe - it certainly seems a lot more substantial than the one we have tried. Will give it a go and report back.

skintmum2012

SailorSam wrote: »

The things i've found out since i discovered Mse, i think MrT may have just lost a washing up liquid customer.

Hi just wondering what's wrong with Washing up liquid?
Also the make you own stuff how long does it last please?

SailorSam

Well if you can make your own that easy, and hakeber is pleased with the results.

hakeber

hi of we've been using it since 25th of september ( i know this because we tried sooooo many recipes and i dated and rated each one - yes i am obsessive) we use about twice more per bowl of water than we used to use of ecover washing up liquid ( which i loved but realsised i was paying for 30% of a bottle of water when i read the ingredients) but i'd go for about a couple of teaspoons ? we just do a big squirt. ( sorry vague answer) but it works out really cheap compared to ecover all our family react to preservatives and fragrances so we would never be able to use cheap supermarket washing up liquid.
I used the same citric acid i use to make bath bombs which i buy from just a soap.
We use it neat and it's always worth seeing if you can make it even cheaper - to be honest i was so relieved to have found one that worked after the many experiments i have just stuck to the recipe.
Ask any more questions am pleased to be helpful
bek

handymanni

Hi all.

Sorry to bring up an old thread but wanted ask something.

Is there a way of "thickening up" this recipe.

Its very watery and find that I do go through it so to speak.