Plastic free: Dishwashing Liquid
Living plastic-free requires a ‘back to basics’ approach to living. For the most part I’m fine with that. I’m a back to basics kinda-gal. I’ve always washed dishes by hand, for example. But I may have to rethink this. Because now that I’ve pledged to let no new plastic into my life in 2007, my fav-fav-fav Sunlight Lemon Fresh, Grease Fighter Dish Washing Liquid has become off-limits.
In my EnviroWoman books, it’s now considered a SINNER because it’s completely packaged in plastic.
In February, when my Sunlight started to sputter and wheeze the way only an empty bottle of dish washing liquid does, I started my search for a non-plastic packaged alternative. Alas, no success. Even all the enviro-safe-options at Capers, the local shopping destination for all organic-granola types, came bottled in plastic. All are SINNERS (for definitions, see below). For Shame.
So I was forced to resort to using powdered automatic dishwasher detergent, which comes in a cardboard box.
And, I gotta say, it just isn’t the same. I miss my Sunlight. No bubbles. No fresh lemony scent. No ‘sweaky clean’ noise. Plus, ya gotta use HOT HOT water to get the dishes clean (more energy used), and ya gotta wear rubber gloves (which are probably really made of plastic anyhoo and will be something else I’ll have to give up once my current supply meets its demise). And what’s with that kinda slippery film you get on the dishes with the powdered stuff? Yuk, I don’t like that.
But all of that stuff is just about 'the experience' of washing dishes. Do the suds really make the dishes cleaner? Does the fresh lemony scent? Probably not. Come to think of it, there are probably alot of extra ingredients in dish washing liquid that are there more for the consumer experience than to get the dishes clean.
I bet that's true for alot of consumer products.
Anyway, I still Googled for home-made recipes for dishwashing liquid and found none that didn’t require ingredients that came packaged in plastic.
I’ve thought about trying my LUSH shampoo, which bubbles nicely in the shower. But at $11 for a bar-of-soap-sized-block.....that’s just too pricey for dishes – hey it’s almost too pricey for my precious golden locks.
I’ve even thought about using my liquid shower soap (a plastic-packaged leftover from the year 2006), but that kinda defeats the purpose of finding more earth friendly alternatives, doesn’t it?
Thus far I’ve been able to find non-plastic alternatives for most of the products I use in my daily life. Excluding deodorant (my own personal-plastic-nemesis). But I’m at a loss for a dish washing liquid replacement.
So if any of you know of any liquid dishwashing detergents that don’t come packaged in plastic…please make a comment or send an email. It would be hugely appreciated.
But if you don't, I'll just accept a less enjoyable 'dishwashing experience'. Afterall, I haven't suffered an out-break of Salmonella yet, so I'm assuming my dishes are still getting just as clean. I'm just not enjoying getting them clean as much. And that's a small price to pay for Mother Nature.
So here' show things add up:
Category: Dishwashing Liquid
SAINT: Any boxed powdered automatic dishwasher liquid detergent
Price: Comparable
Quality: Sub-par, and that's being generous. It's not the same Martha-experience at all, which makes you think (probably illogically) the dishes aren't getting as clean either.SINNER: All Liquid dishwashing detergents, (Sunlight, Palmolive, Dawn, you name 'em, their a SINNER)
Lessons Learned:
- Choosing a plastic-free lifestyle forces you to get in-touch with your ‘back-to-basics' alter-ego. You know, the one you take when you go camping on some remote mountain top.
- Consumers need to 'rethink' the 'product experience'. Are there ingredients in our products that are there only to satsify our senses rather than to do the task at hand? Should Nature pay the price for us wanting a sensory experience? Are you willing to give up suds and lemon scents in order to consume less of Nature and have a healthier planet?
13 comments. Read or write:
Are you able to find places that sell dish soap in bulk? That way you could take in your own refillable glass jar and fill it with dish soap.
Check around at your local health food stores and/or co-ops.
I agree with Spider, a bulk foods place is your best bet. Failing that, you could go ridiculously expensive and try some place like Williams-Sonoma. I think they have dish soap that comes in glass bottles.
Doing a rinse with lemon juice or vinegar (dilluted heavily with water!) might get rid of the residue you're getting from the dishwasher soap.
Another idea might be to get a bar of castile soap and liquify it. You know how bars of soap get slimey when they sit in water? Pop a bar of castile soap into a jar, fill the jar partially with water and shake regularly. Each day's slime should be enough for dishes I'd think. (This is all theory, but it might work!) You could add essnetial oils to make it smell nice or squeeze some lemon into the dish water.
I was going to suggest using Dr. Bronner's, but I remembered that it comes in a plastic bottle. Carla's suggestion might be the best!
I'm a fan of castile soap. I keep the soap in a soap dish and use a wood and boar bristle brush to work up the suds and then scrub my plates with the brush. It works really well but castile soap can be rough on hands if you do dishes everyday.
I've read that you can grate a natural bar of soap (i.e. not made of petroleum-based ingredients) and put the shavings in a sink of hot water and get enough suds to wash the dishes that way.
p.s. Odds are you're better off without the Sunlight anyway. Most sudsy cleaners like that have sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate. Its safety is pretty iffy.
Aside from meat-products and eggs, there are very few food residues that need much (if any) soap to wash them. You could go with reducing the amount of soap you use (keeping your lovely hands from drying out). Of course, this means rinsing/washing your dishes right away....
When it comes to the grittier messes, a brush with some baking soda could do the trick...
then there is always the really old school standby: sand...
Thanks for your advice everyone.
I’ve tried some of your suggestions.
Spider/Carla – I’ve searched for dish soap in bulk in my community with no luck.
Carla - I tried your idea of taking shavings of soap and melting them with water in a tin can. Only ended up with a big gloopy gel of a mess, which produced no suds when added to dish water. But you helped put me onto castile soap.
Kelly/Spider/Jill – your suggestions put me onto to Dr. Bronner's soap (which was what I used in my test for shaving and melting noted above, which failed miserably). I resorted to just holding the bar under the tap as I filled the sink – and it worked great. Lots of suds that last for about 15 minutes. I also tested Soapworks and BodyShop’s Satsuma soap – which didn’t work as well. But also had success with another soap called Soap Buds by drip.ca. Both Dr. Bronner’s and Soap Buds don’t leave much of a film on the dishes either.
So now, I’m happy a dishwasher once again.
Thanks everyone for helping me find a solution that works for me.
EnviroWoman
My mother had a kitchen utensil that had a metal basket (2 by 3 inches) on the end of a handle. She would put soap chips in it , run a sink of warm water, then swish the basket in the water. It would make suds to wash the dishes.
I found in Costa Rica that they use special soap bars for dishwashing and laundry. They just let the bar soak in some water on a plate and use the suds that way. Unfortunately it still comes wrapped in plastic.
Kirk's Hardwater Coco Castile Soap is my first choice for bathing and hand laundry, and make it my all-in-one cleaner when traveling.
It's vegetarian and quaintly old-fashioned if you can get it in Canada. Single bars are plastic-free but they have a nasty habit of selling three bars bundled in plastic.
I bought a box of Ecover dishwashing tablets thinking that I was going plastic-free.
Can you believe that each little tablet is wrapped in unrecyclable plastics?
I am STILL dealing with this. Any better solutions?
Hi!
Have you done any research on SYNTABON Multi-purpose Soap?
You can use it for laundry, washing dishes, even rinsing your vegetables! It is packaged as a solid block in a foil wrapper.
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