Top 5 Creative Dish Soap Uses

This article sharing the top five creative dish soap uses – outside washing your dishes – was originally a sponsored post. Some links in this article are affiliate links that may earn me a commission if you purchase through them.

I collect gadgets, especially kitchen gadgets. I absolutely love them – partly because I cook and bake so much and spend so much time in the kitchen.

I developed a rule for myself long ago that I would only buy gadgets with more than one use (I call it the Alton Brown rule) to avoid too much clutter. That same rule holds true for other items in my kitchen, too.

Couple that with my distaste for harsh chemicals and scented products, and finding other dish soap ideas makes me happy.

This works for all sorts of dish soap brands from Palmolive dish soap to Dawn and more. The key is to use a gentle liquid dish soap that doesn’t contain harsh chemicals.

I love that ones that don’t dry out and crack my hands when I use them since – shockingly – there are so many dishes to be done all the time at my house. Even more, I appreciate that it it washes off easily and can be used for so many other things than just being soft on hands when washing pots and pans and utensils and mixing bowls and more.

Top 5 Uses for Soap (Aside from Washing Dishes)

Get rid of soap scum.

It is shocking to me how quickly soap scum builds up on our shower (and even more so in the wee ones’ shower). We have hard water, but it’s more than just that.

Fortunately, it’s an easy fix for me, and I don’t have to use harsh chemicals because dish soap works just fine. I simply take a bowl of water and heat it until it’s just starting to steam – to the point where I can still manage to touch it but not a lot of it at once.

I add a teaspoon of dish soap and bring it upstairs with a sponge.

My soap dish works perfectly to hold my bowl at arm level so I don’t have to keep bending over. I dip the sponge lightly in the soapy water and use the scrubby side of my sponge to wash the shower all over.

You can see how quickly the mixture makes a difference in my shower doors. If I do this right after I shower, it’s even easier since the soap scum isn’t hardened and I have damp washcloths that I can use right there to wipe off the soapy water.

I finish up by squeegeeing the glass doors, and I’m done in just a few minutes, having inhaled nothing that’s going to set off a headache.

Side note: Have you seen the trick of using a Magic Eraser to clean the scum off you shower doors, too? It’s basically superfine sandpaper that disintegrates, as other tutorials suggest using super super super fine sandpaper.

Keep bugs out of my garden.

My husband very generously bought me some tomato plants this year. I know there’s an issue with pesky bugs attacking plants because I can see them, and I run into the same problem every year.

I simply get a spray bottle and fill it with a mixture of water and liquid dish soap. I know my spray bottle (which lasts awhile) will hold 2 cups of water comfortably, which means I just need to add 1 1/2 teaspoons of soap to it.

Appropriate ratio: 3/4 teaspoon per cup of water

Close the bottle with the sprayer, and I’m ready. Best of all, this isn’t something that goes bad, so I can store it under my sink and pull it out when I need it.

I spray the plants and leaves in the morning every few days and definitely after it rains, and I’m happy to report that I actually get to enjoy my roses this year. And my tomato plants haven’t been eaten alive.

More good news? This is easy enough that I can send the wee ones out to do it, knowing that doesn’t contain heavy chemicals like most bug sprays, so I don’t have to worry about them spraying – and my tomatoes are still safe to eat, too!

Wash fruits and vegetables.

While I buy organic fruits and veggies as much as possible, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to still wash them before eating. I’ve seen all sorts of expensive fruit and vegetable washes, but there’s no need to buy them.

I can actually pull out the exact same spray bottle I use for my garden and use it to wash fruit. We simply spray it all over, then do a little scrub with our hands and rinse.

Use the same ratio of 3/4 teaspoon per cup of water.

I love that the wee ones are in the habit of doing it now without me even reminding them! See, double use for that kitchen gadget right there.

Keep goggles from fogging up.

In the summer, we spend as much time at our local pool as possible. While they don’t allow pool toys, goggles are permitted, and the wee ones wear them pretty much all the time.

Their pet peeve is that their goggles fog up, and then they have to take them off to see. Liquid dish soap works for that, too.

This is a dive trick I learned long ago when I first had SCUBA lessons. Simply add a few drops of soap to the lenses and rub it gently so that it covers the whole lens.

Wash it off gently in water so that it’s almost all gone, but don’t scrub it off because you want a little layer remaining that will repel the water and keep it from fogging.

Voila, happy children! This solution doesn’t irritate their eyes at all, and I don’t have to buy an anti-fogging spray that I’ve seen in stores, which saves me money.

It doesn’t last forever, but it’s a super fast solution, and if I have to do it once or twice a summer, it’s no big deal.

An easy ice pack.

If your house is anything like mine, your ice packs walk away. Or play hide and go seek.

I haven’t figured out which yet. Regardless, though we used to have plenty of ice packs, they vanish quickly, and I’m left with a dwindling supply.

I refuse to buy more, so instead I make my own with dish soap. A plastic baggie filled partially with dish soap works beautifully.

Simply press out most of the air, being careful not to let the soap escape, and toss it in the freezer for an hour or two and you have a great ice pack. It doesn’t freeze hard like ice, so you can mold it to any part of your body, and it stays cold for a long time.

The best part (for me) other than the fact that I get so many soap ideas from just one product without harsh chemicals is that it isn’t expensive at all. I buy a big bottle, which means it lasts for awhile, and when I run out, it’s easy to pick up more.

What are your best dish soap uses?

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