Using a solid bar of dish soap effectively is a combination of three things – water, technique and product.
WATER
For best results use the hottest water you possibly can! If you don’t need to wear gloves, its probably not hot enough. If your hot water has been turned down, you may need to add a jug of boiling water to your wash.
Most of New Zealand has what is called soft water, this is the best for using soap. Soap will lather and perform well in soft water. If you have hard water, soap is always going to struggle over detergent.
TECHNIQUE
Using a “Dish Swish” will easily create lots of bubbles in hot water, alternatively you can agitate the soap in a gloved hand near the surface of the water. About ten seconds of swishing is usually enough. Bubbles aren’t essential to clean, it takes a bit of getting used to not having a sink full of copious bubbles, but we think our special recipe is pretty good at creating and keeping bubbles. You may not see many bubbles if your water is hard. Shake/swish under the stream of water while filling, rather than a full sink.
If you are old enough, you may remember the dishwashing order of events in Home Economics classes. This is helpful when using a dish soap. First glassware, then mugs, plates/bowls, cutlery, serving bowls and lastly, pots/pans. Ensure anything “greasy” is pre-rinsed in hot water before you start.
Doing dishes in a washing up bowl placed inside the sink seems to produce better results with the soap – it uses less water and allows you to tip anything you forget is soaking down the drain. If you are from, or have lived in the UK, you’ll know all about this.
PRODUCT
Aoraki Naturals’ castile dish soap’s olive oil formula is unique to us. Most solid dish soaps on the market will have coconut oil as their main ingredient. We tried several recipes over 12-months of testing back in 2017, but kept coming back to the olive oil. It requires a lengthy cure time of several months, but this ensures a nice hard, long-lasting bar. It is non-toxic, contains no synthetic ingredients and is vegan.
It is super important to care for your soap while in use. Allowing it to drain and dry as much as possible between uses will ensure you get the most from each bar. Keep it out of direct sunlight. If you want, you can have 2-3 bars on the go at any one time, switch between them and dry out between uses. If using a shaker, hang it up, or stand on a free-draining soap dish to allow airflow.
One bar should last approx 3 weeks, washing up twice a day, but that is dependent on the size of your washes, how much soap you are using, how you store it etc, so is just a guide.
TO SUM UP
Making the switch from a liquid dish wash detergent can take a little adjustment, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature. You can rest assured you are doing the best for the planet by going plastic free and for your family, by using an all-natural product.
HERE’S WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“Started using this soap as an alternative to buying plastic bottles and LOVE IT!! I suffer with eczema and use to get a rash under my wedding rings, but since having this in my kitchen my eczema has gone and so has my rash under my rings. Ohh and the planet loves me for it too”
“Absolute game-changer. I cannot recommend this Dish soap highly enough – works just as well as Dawn or Sunlight but without the myriad of unnecessary chemicals and plastic waste. Great for dishes and also surface cleaning. Now we won’t use anything else ..”
“We have been using the Castile dish soap bars for a few months now and we won’t be turning back! They are fantastic. Easy to use, last a long time, and dirty dishes come up sparkling clean.”
You can read more reviews here.
© Aoraki Naturals, Sept 2020.
