A different kind of recipe - power dish soap spray
Power dish soap spray recipe
A different kind of recipe
I DO NOT recommend consuming this recipe. I mean like really really, do not put this in your mouth!
I know, some of you are saying “you already post some weird recipes I wouldn’t consume” but this time I mean it. This is not a recipe for food nor beverage.
However, once you have used a dish or cup to eat or drink, or made a recipe you found here, this recipe will come in handy for cleaning up those dishes.
Start at the supermarket
I think there might be a company or two that sell a foaming sprayer bottle. We just started with Dawn Powerwash in a spray bottle. Through the magic of science, Dawn and other (mainly hand soap) companies have figured out how to turn liquid into foam. At the time we bought our first bottle, it never occurred to me that the soap would run out and I’d be looking for more.
When the bottle got low, naturally I thought I’d be buying more and more spray bottles, and filling the landfills with empty bottles. Then I found out the bottle is refillable.
You can purchase a bottle of refill liquid from Dawn. But every bottle of refill will also wind up in the landfill. A brief search tells me that the refill isn’t even concentrated. They sell you a bottle that’s filled with 80% water.
Concentrate
We are members of the Wellness Company, Melaleuca. Pretty much all of their cleaning products are concentrated between 2x and 12x. Those bottles last a lot longer (you know, 2 to 12 times longer) so less plastic ends up in the trash. Why ship (and buy) all that water when it can be added from your own tap? This is a big deal to me.
The spray bottle has lasted us a long time. Eventually the sprayer does wear out, but I think we’ve only replaced each bottle (RV and home) one time in the few years we’ve been using them.
Boondocking tool
The reason we first tried the power spray was that we heard it helped save water. Now, saving water is good all the time. And especially important when boondocking. But we don’t only use it for boondocking. We don’t even only use it in the RV. When we returned home from our first trip using the power spray, we bought one for the house as well.
Three easy steps to washing dishes
Not only does my recipe have three ingredients, I also offer three easy steps to dishwashing.
First, use a paper towel and wipe the dishes clear of any food particles or greasy residue.
Second, spritz the dishes with the power spray dish soap.
Third, rinse the dish with a small amount of water.
Soap residue
Of course you want to rinse the dishes after using the power spray. But as diluted as the spray is, and the fact that alcohol evaporates quickly, makes this a safe method for cleaning dishes.
Alcohol
Don’t drink this recipe!!! While I mentioned above that it’s a safe combination for washing dishes, rubbing (household) alcohol is NOT safe to drink! That’s why Fireball was invented HAHAHA
Another benefit to using a little bit of alcohol is that it kills germs that might otherwise grow in the water that’s in the spray bottle.
The Recipe
OK, so here are the three ingredients to refill the Dawn Powerwash Spray bottle:
1 ounce rubbing alcohol
2 ounces liquid dish soap (I use a bit less because my dish soap is concentrated)
water to fill the bottle
I mix the soap and alcohol together in a small cup. I don’t actually measure the ounces (does that surprise anyone?), I eyeball one-third and two-thirds of my little 3-ounce cup. By the way, this cup started life as a protein powder scoop.
I pour the mixture into the bottle using a funnel. Then, to avoid wasting any of the mixture, I repeatedly fill that little cup with water and pour it through the funnel into the bottle until the cup is well-rinsed.
Errors
Do you see my errors in this video?
One: I realized while cleaning up after filming, that my little cup is only 60 cc, which is 2 ounces instead of three.
Two: I put one part soap and two parts alcohol, which is backward. When added up, I guess in the future I need to use a full cup of soap followed by a half cup of alcohol. Maybe in a couple weeks when this bottle runs low, I’ll try again. Or maybe there won’t be any suds coming from this bottle, and I’ll have to add in more soap.
Full disclosure: I tried to film the prior refill, but didn’t hit “record” on my camera. This video might be doomed LOL
