How exactly does cutting dish soap with four parts water make dishwashing easier?

A tip on sponges though: If you have a dishwasher, throw the sponges in the dishwasher if they start looking/smelling "not-so-fresh".

As I have a dishwasher, but don't like sponges (because they do get funky, even when you put them in the dishwasher), I've gone the route of re-using kitchen paper/paper towels. They can even be re-cycled.

Dear CM, cutting soap with water actually allows the soap to emulsify and spread out quicker across your plates and glasses. It also prevents globs of soap from gathering undetected on dishes or pots, requiring extensive rinsing to get it all off. In general, liquid dishsoap is far too concentrated and not liquid enough for dishwashing, and probably is designed to make you go through it quickly and buy more....... xo M

Also, microwaving sponges is an effective sterilization method in between dishwasher cycles. 1 min on high oughtta do it.

i read in real simple that you can use glass syrup pitchers for dish soap. unfortunately, when i tried it, inside the bottom of the pitcher got moldy. ???!?

I'm still a sucker for Method dish soap, though I pay through the nose for it. Cool container (by Karim Rashid), nice scents, pretty colours and quiet branding. One of those little luxuries.

Nora,

That Method dish soap you mentioned has possibly the coolest package design I've ever seen for the kitchen. I've never heard of it before, but it seems they sell it at Target. We should have our first Target opening in the next few months.

Oh, and thanks for the info, Maxwell! Cheers!

CM,

I'm in E. Midtown and first saw Method at the Conran Shop (I now go in for dishsoap and later emerge after an hour or so of browsing...) Seen it recently at Gourmet Garage too, and Duane Reade has the handsoap. Think it's catching on.

I use dishcloths rather than sponges, and wash them with my other laundry.

You should all know Method Dish Soap (the best designed dish soap container ever!) can easily be refilled. I've filled mine at least five times (25 ounces). Just pull off the entire "clear" part on the bottom, no need to mess with the valve. Also, be aware Method calls the container the "Upside Down" soap... they make another one not as interesting. Also, I saw four of these placed in the spaceship in "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy." cool...

Martha Stewart had an audience member recount how she went away for the weekend and her husband cooked. He used the "olive oil" in the pretty bottle next to the sink and ate his dinner. Didn't realize the olive oil was really dish soap.

Don't people make soapy water in a bowl or container to clean the dishes? One soapy water bowl to wash, one clean water bowl to rinse
I don't understand the "3 parts water" thing.

Yeah, Maxwell, well, like a little AT sheep, I already bought some French lemonade and put my dawn into that bottle with a pour spout as instructed....I felt like such a pathetic AT devotee doing it, but I do like having the watered-down soap there and seeing the bottle makes me happy (for like 1/2 a second, but hey, I take what I can get!). Geez, I hope it doesn't get moldy like haircut's. On the plus side for Martha's studio audience guest, I bet he was "regular." LOL.

I've switched to the foaming style dishwashing soap and really love it. You use far less soap, and the dispensers are plunger-type so you don't have to monkey with the bottle to get soap on the sponge.

Someone pointed out on an earlier discussion about a month ago that putting sponges in the dishwasher is not a good idea, because little bits of sponge can break loose and clog the water lines. The microwave works well, though. Just be careful when you remove the sponge afterward, because it will be steaming!

i used to use this same idea in my shower - one bottle for conditioner, one for shampoo - and was amazed that such a small change could make the bathroom look so much nicer. of course, i lost the bottles last time i moved, so i'm advertising garnier (in a clashing, acid green) again.

I would imagine that the watered-down dish soap works best if you are putting the soap directly onto the dirty dishes. I tend to do that, and using full on dish soap (even just a drop per dish) is definitely wasteful. I will be a good AT sheep and give this a try. Also totally agree with getting my ugly dish soap container under the sink.

I've been using those hollow handled sponges to do the dishes. I fill up the handle and put the bottle under the sink.

(when are we going to do away with these damn #s we have to type in???????? Maxwell, you promised!)

me -

yes, i also pour a few drops of dish soap into a bowl and fill it with hot water to do the dishes.

i do have my dish soap in an attractive pump container instead of the store bought bottle.

i like the idea of using more attractive bottles but it can lead to more clutter if you buy econo-sizes which outsize the capacity of your daily-use bottles. and i often forget that i still have a gallon of productX in the closet when the daily-use bottle is empty. and i go out and buy some more. *sigh*

I have to speak up on my fave dish soap! williams-sonoma's ginger almond leaves the entire kitchen smelling yummy! I am going to have an OM moment,and a clean sink!

Office Depot has Method. I like the grapefruit hand soap.

I use a hand soap dispenser. Nice brushed chrome type.

For some reason, I find dispensing my shampoo and conditioner into yet another bottle just way too much trouble.

I mean, if we all took this far enough, we would buy groceries and then spend the next 4 hours un-packaging and re-packaging everything into nicer containers. My moisturiser (tried it. Doesn't work). Sunscreen. Spray cleaners. All your cleaners for that matter. Tissues (I actually do this one). Shower gel. Tomato sauce. Vinegar. Oils....

Happy to see I am not the only one with a passion for attractive containers! I keep my dish soap in a plain plastic bottle whose label I long ago removed. It has a simple white plunger.
I buy white bar cloths at Bed Bath & Beyond. Use 'em a few times, wash 'em.
I removed labels from shampoo and conditioner bottles, too!

now that nyc has a trader joe's, i highly recommend you all try the trader joe's dish soap (natural and biodegradable like method). it's cheap, works great, pretty, and smells good. you do have it at your store, right?

christine--your comments made me laugh...as i just returned to this post after taking a break from scrolling down to fill my pretty glass bottles of dish detergent with water instead of more detergent. i'm a sheep too!

hey, come to think of it, that AT squiggle kind of does look like a sheep!

After reading (in graphic grody detail) in an Alton Brown book just how much bacteria there is on a sponge, I switched to a dish brush. It took some getting used to, but now I totally love it.

I've been enjoying the site (and all of you) in silence for a few weeks -- who could have guessed that dish soap would break my silence? Sheesh!

Anyway, I've been thinking about getting a nicer container for my dish soap -- and lo and behold, the topic comes up on AT! (But, sorry, Max, your plastic squeeze bottles just don't do it for me.) I've been thinking about the lotion pump bottle thingies that one buys for the bathroom, but they're so small. But, now thanks to Anne's Martha Stewart story, I'm thinking "Aha! Olive oil decanter!" Oh goody -- another reason to do some retail therapy this weekend, and to hit the kitchen stuff stores yet again (they're going to be getting to know me in those places!) By the way, the dish soap mistaken for olive oil brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "wash your mouth out with soap", does it not?

smallcitybeth in canada

I'm no sheep - I didn't wash my keys.

Nice containers are important to me. I put my soaps, body lotion, shampoo, and conditioner into nice pump dispensers. Pump dispensers are good.

For dish liquid, I use the Almond scented Dishmate by Earth Friendly Products. It is so mild and smells so great that I use it for hand soap in my bathroom as well.

Jessica your post made me laugh. I would love to do that. I think the trick is (if you care about containers) to be willing to put items into different containers, or only buy things in pretty packaging. :)

i love the squeeze bottles in the illustration. where did you get them maxwell? another option is to get a bottle of fairy soap like brent and keith in jersey city. i guess they sell it at myers on hudson street. remember they had the cat trapped in the wall last month.

a friend of mine put all of his cleaning products in empty liquor bottles with pour spouts. i found this out the hard way while apartment sitting once.
i've never told this to anyone before.

Kelly - Hah!

I got this idea from Martha as well - and I actually found the oil bottles at the dollar store! I then bought a liquor pour spout and have bene using it since! I used it with pure liquid soap, and found that it clogged the spout, I never thought to dilute it! Brilliant!

Here's a photo of what mine looks like:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/assets/product_images/230/1555312132395P.JPG

Also, I use green apple soap, so I'm pretty sure no one's going to mistake it for oil or a drink. ;)

i grew up doing the watered-down soap in a small bowl thing. i always figured it was my parents' asian way since no one else i knew seemed to do that in college or beyond. but using un-watered-down soap directly on dishes makes the first dish washed ridiculously slippery.

Many bathroom items, contact lens solution, Kiss My Face pump hand soap, etc. come in white plastic bottles that suddenly become much less garish and actually have some sculptural interest once you peel the labels off them. I'm still looking for a brand of tootpaste I can strip down though.

Finally a forum where I can admit that I do this religiously without people thinking I'm nuts.

joy unspeakable,
I buy Crest toothpaste in these upright squeeze bottles-you can remove the stickers. However, the top portion is clear plastic, not white, so it doesn't look all that pretty as you use the toothpaste.

There's a link below, but the bottles I am talking about are at the bottom of the page.

This may be old news, but if folks are using the classic green Scotch-Brite sponge for dishes you can cut a new sponge into four smaller sponges. Works like a champ and saves some green.

Susan -

Unless someone's jonesing for a creme de minte.

Joy,
what contact lens bottles are you referring to? please link!

Ana-

I can't find a pic as all the drugstore sites show is the box, but I mean the big bottles of disinfecting/storage solution. The labels pull off really easily, and nothing else in the bathroom is going to be that size & shape, so it's not like I'm going to accidently try rinsing my contacts with hairgel.

Thanks Avocado, you made my (admittedly slightly obsessive) day!

Holly, How do you dry and store wet dishcloths? I'd end up draping them over the faucet or something.

Susan in Bklyn

I do leave my wet dishcloths over the faucet, which clearly you don't want to do; my grandmother has a rack under her kitchen sink where she keeps hers.

I love that we can all talk about this to no end! I doubt my blue dawn that I currently have will be mistaken for anything edible, thankfully.

Pixie--that's right! I didn't wash my keys (yet...)

Oh, and, though maxwell linked to an art supply place, I've also seen these kinds of bottles in beauty supply places like Sally (for hair dye, I assume...)

A sweet friend of mine bought me tons of gorgeous lotions and soaps and things for my birthday. Her personal super-power is shopping, all she has to do is put it out in the world that she needs or wants a thing and suddenly it appears at 90% off! So, instead of packaging my present in boxes with wrapping paper or bags and tissue, she used little woven reed nesting boxes, filled them, and tied them with ribbon. The packaging was as lovely as the gifts themselves.
Unfortunately, all but one of the products was so thick that I had to fight to get them out of their bottles. It was a poor packaging choice on the part of the manufacturer. They should have been sold in little pots to begin with butI'm assuming it's cheaper to buy crap plastic bottles in bulk than little fat, widemouth pots. Two of the lotions were absolutely worth the time I took to scape them out of the bottles with a little plastic knife (the getting ketchup out of a bottle trick) and transfer them to covered rice bowls. The rice bowls barely saw the light of day before and now are a lovely little focal point in my bathroom.
Oh, and I'm a little germ-phobic, too, so I always make sure my hands are clean, or I'm just out of the shower when I dip my fingertips into the edge of the lotion. I've not had any mold or other changes of consistency and I've been using the lotion like that since January. I've even refilled them each twice.

Love the watered down soap in a bowl idea! Thanks!

I think re-filling one small bottle seems like a great idea. I hadn't thought of watering down the dish soap though...
My parents used to do the same thing when we were kids, they bought everything in industrial quantities from Amway, who also supplied smaller dispensers.
I agree that cupboards can get cluttered up by the large bottles, but you do save money, product and time if you don't have to buy the same thing over and over again.
This might be a good way to get rid of clutter if you pour all the little leftovers of lotion into one nice dispenser (as long as you don't mind mixing the scents or the brands).
Sounds like I'm going to spend my weekend emptying and filling bottles (but I haven't washed my keys yet).

What a great discussion! I thought I was the only one obsessed with stuff like this (ha).

So, taking the Martha Stewart idea one step further, I bought the olive oil spouts then noticed they also fitted both Mexican soda and whiskey bottles! Picture of the latter here:
http://www.busiblogs.com/domesticgoodies/?p=40

Now I want a whole collection of "soda"s on the kitchen windowsill, with different colours of dishwashing liquid in...

Wow, that's a lot of effort. I just hide the bottle of dishwashing soap under the sink, next to the other cleaning products like Pine-Sol. I can stand to look at it for ten minutes each day.

However, I do buy hand soap in an attractive bottle for the kitchen. I wash my hands a lot more than I wash dishes in the sink!

generally speaking, given the small space i live in, i like things to look orderly in a hold-everything-catalog kind of way. i find that the best way to achieve that is to buy a quantity of the same inexpensive containers (like clear ketchup bottles that you can find for like, a buck at any restaurant supply store) and re-pour my products from the large, garish catch-your-eye grocery store packaging into those simple, generic and uniform containers. if you want to get really crazy with a label-maker, you can ad those clear labels to distinguish "shampoo" from "bath gel" or whatever. the key to achieving zen-like simplicity is making everything look like a collection, which to me, means uniform, clear packaging. yes, it is a little bit of a hassle, but this extra step helps me achieve the "quiet" look i like to have in my kitchen bath ... and often the clear packaging better helps me see how much product i have left so i know when i'm running low. b/c most liquid products do come in different colors, i do still get to infuse my shower ledge or kitchen counter with a little personality without advertising all of my favorite P&G brands.

How's this for being obsessive about pretty dishsoap – I also do the oil dispenser thing... However, I can't stand the day-glo colors of dishsoap from the grocery store, so I mix a few colors together (lots of yellow, some blue, and a touch of the orange) until I get a really sweet olive green color. And yes, my husband rolls his eyes at me and calls me crazy. I refuse to listen to him, as I scrub the pots and pans with my earth-toned dishsoap.

In the days before I had a dishwasher, I used to fill a large plastic dishpan with the hot water and soap and let the dishes soak for about 15 minutes, then rinse them with clear water, just like my mom did. Letting them soak in the soapy water for a time dislodges most of the food particles and reduces the rubbing and scrubbing to a minimum. I also air dried the dishes in a dish strainer and draped the wet dishcloth on the edge of the strainer to air dry. I still use this method for items that are too delicate for the dishwasher or are too large to fit into the racks properly.

I have a friend that does her dishes one at a time with a little soap on the sponge each time and she goes through way more dish soap than I ever did. Very wasteful!

I just bought the Method dish soap for the first time.

Usually I buy whatever is green and on sale so usually I use the really concentrated stuff and cut it in half or so with water.

Do you/can you cut the Method soap the same way? It doesn't say it is concentrated like the dish soap I usually buy.

Marie,

I think most soaps can probably be cut a bit with water with no ill effects; how much water will depend on the soap. Concentrated soaps will keep their lather and grease-cutting properties for much longer than regular soaps and can take a lot of dilution. I'd use the Method at full strength for a couple washes and see how it does. If it seems like you could dilute, test it out in a separate container.

L

On a related subject -- does anyone know of some kind of cover for toothpaste? I know it sounds silly, but I've been looking for some kind of "sock" or something to cover the tube. I understand that Dior Homme Maison has one in houndstooth, but I'm looking for something less houndstoothy...Okay, I know I now sound even crazier. Will anyone humor the crazy lady? Thanks in advance.

It's amazing how when you get to the bottom of a detergent bottle and are too lazy or haven't had time to get a new bottle how much soap is really in there once you start diluting it. But then how many people dilute it after they buy a new one based on this lesson? Yep, creatures of habit, myself included.

The same goes for Kiss My Face shaving lotion. Although I've learned my lesson with this one. I don't have to dilute it but I now know the minimum amount of lotion I have to pump onto a bristle brush to work up a sufficient amount of lather.

I would recommend buying dish soap from a commercial supplier if possible as well. It's a huge difference buying one bottle of detergent for 6 months to a year rather than one every week or every couple of weeks. We just need more eco detergent on the commercial market.

i'm feeling totally paranoid right now. i was just googling plastic squeeze bottles...

Cutting the soap with water seems like a good idea (especially if you know the science behind it -- emulsifying and whatnot -- thanks maxwell for opening our eyes!)

It doesn't really fit into the kitchen aesthetics issue, but as far as soap conservation goes, I find the hollow wand sponge equally effective. I use one of those and I haven't finished a bottle of dish detergent in god knows when. And I handwash all my dishes.

I'm guessing it works similarly to the emulsified soap-water?

Also, I have to check out this Method detergent bottle! Its getting a lot of hype on here!

having no counter space, save for a small enamel top vintage table, I use an OXO dish brush with the fillable chamber in its handle and trader joe's mandarin orange dish soap. It hangs from a cup hook beneath the dish drying rack over the sink.

LOL - this discussion is very funny, as I just had this discussion with my husband last night. I had noticed before that he washed dishes by pouring detergent on the sponge a few times while doing dishes, which is completely against my way of doing dishes. But I did not want to correct him and discourage him from doing dishes. But yesterday I had it :-) my patience ran thin. He had the water running the whole time, while pouring dish soap on the sponge everytime he was scrubbing a plate.... I explained my method, which consists of rinsing one of the dirty dishes, squirt soap, pour warm water and use this soapy water with the sponge to do all the dishes. Once they are all clean and soapy, rinse with cold water... Saves water and dishsoap... I ended up doing dishes last night, but I hope he will embrace my method in the future.... :-) (hopeful wife:-)

oh true, I followed upon the Martha idea years ago and changed the detergent, oil and vinegar bottles with nice bottles with stainless steel spouts that I purchased at crate&barrel for .99 They look much nicer, and I used recycled glass bottles rather than plastic. Not too fond of the plastic thing.

Seventh generation makes dishsoap in nice scents, in a biodegradeable container (available at Fairway), and not too expensive... we decant it into a prettier container--- also, the dishsoap itself isnt colored, which i really like, since the coloring is all totally artificial anyway :)

I also got the idea of putting dishwashing liquid into an oil bottle from Martha Stewart - looked amazing. Unfortunately, the nozzle got caked and was hard as hell to clean, so I just kept the bottle underneath the sink out of sight. I just recently started using Caldrea and am so happy with it. It smells amazing and the liquid does not produce as many suds as Dawn, etc. I also wash my dishes one at a time, squeezing a small amount of liquid on a sponge every few dishes. Unfortunately, I am completely anal about really clean dishes and do not like filling up the sink with soap and water, washing all the dishes in that same water and then rinsing. Seems like old habits die hard because this is the way that my mom does dishes as well...

I use Method for most of my other cleaning (glass, wood and hand soap as well). Love the minimal advertising on the bottle and the fact that it is not expensive. I even got my mom on the Method bandwagon!!! (:

i use mrs myer's clean day products and take the labels off. all the bottles are frosted plastic.
but, julie, you have an idea for a holiday gift for compulsives like us. knitting toothpaste socks like the ones apple makes for the ipod.

I use an old, small Orangina bottle with my watered down Method. The nubby texture keeps it from slipping out of my hand, and the size works well in my small kitchen (and small household). I capped it with a pour spout I got at Target-- 2 for $4.99. I'm still waiting for a good use for the second spout. Or a good bottle to reuse. I won't go out and buy something just to get the bottle. Except maybe those really pretty blue mineral waters....

I clean my keys with dishsoap dispensed from a wine bottle with a liquor pourer spout. Perhaps tonight I'll even cut the dishsoap with a little water to emulsify it.

And to anyone who calls me crazy, I say "Baaaaaaaaa-ck off!!!!!!!"

This might be a re-posting, but I missed seeing it the first time around and find the information quite helpful! (And, judging form the volume of recent comments, it seems I am not the only one.)

I feel totally like I'm missing something....

....but doesn't the dish soap emulsify anyway when you squirt it into sink as you're filling it up with water?

Is my family the only one that washes dishes this way?

That being said, I do put my soap in a chrome soap pump, because I also use it to wash my hands in the kitchen and I do hate having the Palmolive bottle out.

Sp
Not sure if cutting soap with water is an Asian thing. I am an Asian in Asia, and this post is really very intriguing because EVERYBODY dilute liquid detergent with water here in a small bowl, so this post is giving me some ... err cultural insights? It's the stuff our mum/dad taught us the first time we are old enough to do the dishes..... so seeing this actually being discussed is ..interesting..

Other than having fun reading all the design views.. one of the minor fun things I enjoyed from Apartment Therapy is also some of the "cultural insights" that you get accidentally.. It's like the first time I went to US, I discovered " Ooh.. people eat rice with a .. FORK!!!" ( ok, over here in Malaysia, people can eat rice with one's right hand, chopsticks or a spoon, but never a fork.. )

cmei

Next to my sink, I have a chrome spray bottle for dilute dish soap -- yeah, Maxwell's little anemic plastic bottles didn't cut it for me but I like his idea of non-branded pretty dispensors-- and a chrome push pump that foams ANY hand soap that you put in it. Looks good on the granite counter top and next to the fold down Ikea dish rack I first saw on AT. I got the chrome spray bottle at the Container Store (I think) and the pump at Gracious Home.

Dorianne--you have company! I fill my single bowl sink with hot water, (the thermostat on the hot water heater is set at some level considered "safe" for kids. I forget what it is) squirt the soap into the water (pump dispenser which I tyransfer from bottle to bottle) three times quickly and then place all the cutlery facing the same way (handles toward me) on the right side of the sink and set all the glassware and mugs into the sink. (On their sides).

10 minutes or so later, I come back and wash it all and place it in the dish drainer. Hate sponges. Use a dishcloth that I wash with the towels.

Usually, there's a small person beside me drying the (nearly dry already) dishes beside me. Then I do the plates and bowls. Pots, mixing bowls, baking stuff last.

I probably do dishes two or three times a day. (Family of four.) My bottle of dishwashing liquid lasts, oh, two, three months?

I'm a slacker though, and by this I know I'm not a true AT'er--I don't decant the soap into any other container and it stays on the counter all the time. (gasp. I know.)

Question, though--in the interests of cultural exchange--what's this soap in a bowl method?

Another question: I just finished my bottle of Method all-purpose cleaner--what can I do with the bottle? It has a great pump--a beautiful shape: I hate just to toss it into the recycling. Anyone?

"I feel totally like I'm missing something....
....but doesn't the dish soap emulsify anyway when you squirt it into sink as you're filling it up with water?
Is my family the only one that washes dishes this way?!

"Don't people make soapy water in a bowl or container to clean the dishes?"

Yes normal people do! - You people are all weird if you do your washing up any other way - what do you think a washing up bowl is for? - you squirt in a helping of washing up liquid and fill the bowl with hot water - use whatever utensil you prefer to scrub at the dishes until they are clean - no more dishwashing liquid is required after that initial squirt!!

Thats the way washing up liquid is supposed to be used - dilluted in a bowl/sink of water - its NOT intended to be used neat on dishes - it you use it neat and don't rinse it off well enough it can make you ill

I dread to think how much liquid you are all getting through if you use it neat on every dish!!!

you are scary, scary people

I've nothing to contribute to this fascinating subject but as 72 people have commented before me I didn't want to be left out.

I like this idea, but I'd still have to purchase a plastic bottle of dish detergent to refill the glass bottle. Though the plastic bottles are recyclable, a lot of energy goes into making them and into the recycling process. You have given me something to think about though, and I will see if I can find a store that sells liquid soap in bulk.