Last month as I was organizing the cleaning supplies under the laundry room sink, I got to thinking about dish detergent. Now, I’ve got a lot of it stored, but that supply won’t last forever. How would I wash dishes when the Dawn runs out? Just buying more dish detergent is one solution, but that assumes an endless supply of space to store it. I don’t have that.
I also have absolutely zero desire to make soap from scratch. Soap-making was the most loathed chore of colonial and pioneer women. However, I understand it’s a skill some want to learn. I’ve posted an address to a Cooperative Extension article on making soap from scratch in the reference section below. I’ve never done it so I can’t comment on the article.
I figure I could just use regular bar soap in a total collapse, but it somehow seems inefficient and perhaps wasteful. And it might take more time, which we definitely won’t have in abundance. I’d seen recipes around for making dish soap, but I’d never tried any of them. And I wondered what other ingredients would be required and how much soap it would take—and how much more soap I would need to store. Because dry soap bars are cheaper and without all the water they take up a whole lot less space.
There were a boatload of recipes out there calling for one particular ingredient to make the best possible dish soap—Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds. They all say it makes the best biodegradable dish soap, nice and sudsy and all that. But it’s really pretty expensive. I’m just not sure it’s all that practical for me. When things are dicey, I think a simple homemade version using items I already have on hand will suffice. However, if you want to check out the Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds recipe, I’ve included a link to one of them in the references section below.
The recipe below is as easy as can be and takes very little time. I chuckled a bit as I was scrolling through recipes (they’re all basically the same) and one woman wrote that she was looking for a different recipe—she didn’t want to take all that time to grate soap. My first thought was to use a food processor as I did for making homemade laundry soap, but then I looked closer at the recipe: 1 tablespoon of grated soap. I was pretty sure it would take a lot more time to wash the food processor than it would to use a hand grater to grate the soap.
I timed myself. Forty seconds to grate bar soap (this is a great way to use soap slivers from the shower) to yield 1 tablespoon of flakes. The rest of the recipe is extremely easy as well.
In a small bowl or quart canning jar, combine the grated soap and borax. Pour boiling water over the top and whisk until the soap is dissolved. Let cool and add essential oils (about ¼ teaspoon) if desired. Transfer to a squirt bottle and use just as you would any commercially made stuff.
Reviews: This soap (and it is soap, as opposed to detergent which is what you buy at the grocery store) Is rather gloppy when it cools, but it squirts just fine from the container. It also does not form bubbles anywhere near as well as its store-bought counterparts. In fact, there are hardly any bubbles at all. Nevertheless, it still cleans dishes pretty well. You’ll probably want to squirt it onto a sponge or washcloth rather than add it to the sink as you fill the basin with water, especially if bubbles are really important to you. My store-bought detergents are still my favorite, but this makes an acceptable alternative in a grid-down situation or when supplies just aren’t coming in.
if the SHTF is bad enough and needing to start scavaging what's left in the wasteland >>> soap probably got overlooked in the restaurants - possibly 100s of gallons in carwashes and don't overlook shampoos - it's still basically soap ....
ReplyDeleteWith soap being so inexpensive, and essential, I don't understand why anyone would not stock up. And when the situation is sketchy at best, why would I risk my safety going out to scavenge soap from restaurants or car washes? Help me understand.
DeleteI imagine the women on the prairie used the same lye soap for everything (cleaning, bathing, laundry, etc). I have bars and bars of fels naptha and zote that I could use instead of deodorant soap for dishes. I buy at least 2 bars a month of fels naptha. Nothing beats it for stain removal
ReplyDeleteI got a dozen bars of Fels Naptha (in addition to what I already had) when they went on clearance at my grocery store.
DeleteI tried duck canon solid shampoo and i liked it enough iordered a bunch of bars because i figure liquid shampoos will have a shorter shelf life and these come in a metal tin and take up way less space.
DeleteExile1981
So our county delivered a gift bag to every senior. One item in it is a cookbook, its all deserts the use lentils in place of flour. Given the cost of lentils vs flour it seems the goal of reducibg cost is not likely. Do you want any recipes from it?
ReplyDeleteExile1981
Lentils aren't the first thing that come to mind when I think of desserts. Maybe TPTB are just trying to condition us. Maybe we're just supposed to be happy that they aren't telling us to eat bugs.
DeleteI would actually really love some recipes. Do you want to try them out first? ;)
Most desserts that I have tried using beans in instead of flour haven't quite measured up. But not all--that aquafaba chocolate mousse is absolutely fabulous, and so is the aquafaba cool whip. Then again, those are using bean
liquid and not beans. There might be a gem in there somewhere. And I just bought 24 lbs of lentils, so I need to learn how to use them.
That's me in the Anonymous post above. Blogger makes me crazy with all their changes.
DeleteThe wife and kids said they refuse the eat any of them. I can scan and email them. Its put out by the lentil council of alberta.... i didnt know we had one.
DeleteExile1981
Sent it.
DeleteExile1981