Which product can I use for dishwashing?Updated 18 days ago

Our Pure-Castile Magic Soap and Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner are great for cleaning dishes and almost any household task, with the only notable exception: they should not be used in the dishwasher unless you’d like to have a bubble party in your kitchen!

Some customers say our soaps have worked in their dishwashers, but we simply can’t recommend them because they suds too much. Our soaps do a great job of cleaning dishes, but they can cause damage to your dishwasher if they overfill with suds. If you do decide to try it, we suggest using only a tiny amount of soap. However, our Pure-Castile Soaps and Sal Suds are perfect for handwashing dishes. 

Instructions

To handwash your dishes with either product, we recommend a couple of methods. 

1. Fill your sink with water and add either 1-2 Tbsp. (15-30 mL) of our soap or 1/2 – 1 1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) of Sal Suds. 
2. If you prefer to use a dispenser, we recommend a foaming pump dispenser only. Our Magic Soaps are quite concentrated, and the regular pumps inevitably clog. For use in a foaming pump, dilute either ¼ cup Tbsp. (60 mL) of soap or 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) of Sal Suds into an 8oz container of water. You are aiming for a 1:3 ratio for the soap and a 1:15 ratio for our Sal Suds.
3. Make an all-purpose spray cleaner by combining ¼ c. (60 mL) of soap or 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) Sal Suds with 1 qt. (1 L) water or in a spray bottle. Then all you need to do is spray the dirty dishes down and scrub them. You can find a full breakdown of how to make an all-purpose spray on Lisa Bronner's blog, Going Green with Lisa Bronner. 

Whenever diluting our soap or Sal Suds, regardless of the recipe, its shelf life will be reduced to 2 weeks to one month. For this reason, it’s best to dilute only the amount you’ll use up in a couple of weeks. However, dilutions made with distilled water can last up to 6 months. Using distilled water can also reduce natural soap separation that may occur with hard water.

Hard Water

If you have hard water, you may notice some mineral build-up when using our Magic Soap. The interaction of hard water, and even soft water, with any true soap (not synthetic detergent-based soaps), can leave behind a thin film of minerals that appears as residue or “soap scum.” Note that this is not an issue with detergents like our Sal Suds. 

Hard water contains dissolved minerals, primarily calcium and magnesium. All true soaps, such as Magic Soap, will react with these minerals to form insoluble stearates, which are visible as a whitish precipitate. This whitish precipitate mostly forms on surfaces where water dries, like in sinks and showers. It's typically not an issue on floors, counters, or other hard surfaces where the soap is diluted for cleaning and standing water is mopped or wiped up.

You can easily dissolve the residue left by our soap with vinegar by diluting 1 cup (240 mL) of vinegar in a quart (1 L) of water, then spraying it onto the affected surfaces. Let it sit for about 5 minutes (not long enough for it to dry), and then rinse it away with very hot water.