Botanical Dishwashing Liquid
The dishes still have to come out clean.
I wanted a dishwashing liquid that fitted the same thinking as the rest of the Household Care range — but there was one thing I wasn't prepared to compromise on.
It had to clean properly.
Grease, food residue, oily cookware and everyday dishes need more than good intentions. If the plate is still greasy when I lift it out of the water, the product hasn't done its job.
So this wasn't about making the gentlest dishwashing liquid I possibly could.
It was about making one that was gentle enough for something our hands come into contact with every day, while still having enough cleaning power to do the job properly.
Clean dishes. No unnecessary complication.
Why I made it
Dishwashing liquid is one of those products we use so routinely that it's easy not to think very much about it.
But our hands are in it. We use it on the plates, glasses, cutlery and cookware we eat and drink from. And for many of us, it's used every single day.
A lot of people automatically put on rubber gloves before they wash the dishes because conventional dishwashing liquids can be drying or irritating to their hands. And sometimes gloves are absolutely necessary — particularly if your skin is very sensitive.
But I, for one, hate wearing gloves. Gloves themselves can affect me, so replacing an irritating dishwashing liquid with a pair of gloves that also bothers me isn't much of a solution.
That made me wonder: could I make the dishwashing liquid itself a little kinder to hands, without compromising its ability to clean?
You may still prefer or need gloves, especially if you have very sensitive or reactive skin. I'm certainly not going to promise that everyone can throw their gloves away.
But wouldn't it be nice if, for some people, they weren't always necessary?
Because really — who loves wearing rubber gloves?
So I approached the formulation with two jobs in mind. It needed to lift grease, loosen food residue and leave dishes properly clean, while also being something I was comfortable having my hands in.
It didn't need a strong fragrance, essential oils or ingredients included simply to make the experience seem more powerful.
And then came the important part — testing whether that approach actually worked.
I tried it on ordinary dishes and cutlery, and then on cookware with baked-on food and grease. The dishes came out clean and the cookware cleaned well. It produces a lighter lather than many conventional dishwashing liquids, but that didn't stop it doing its job.
That mattered to me because lots of foam and lots of fragrance aren't the same thing as lots of cleaning power.
The dishes still have to come out clean.
What’s in it — and why
Decyl Glucoside
A mild, non-ionic cleansing ingredient that does the practical work of lifting grease and food residue from dishes and cookware. It is naturally derived from glucose and fatty alcohols and is readily biodegradable. I chose it because I wanted effective everyday cleaning without reaching automatically for a harsher detergent system.
Vegetable Glycerin
Included to help make the formulation less drying to hands. This was particularly important to me because one of the reasons for making my own dishwashing liquid was wanting something I could use without automatically feeling that I had to reach for rubber gloves.
Xanthan Gum
A plant-derived thickener. It gives the liquid enough body to stay on a sponge or dish rather than simply running away — a small ingredient with a very practical job.
Rosemary & Thyme Botanical Tinctures
Botanical extracts that form part of the Household Care range. They also give the liquid its naturally light herbal aroma without needing added fragrance or essential oils.
Optiphen Plus
A broad-spectrum preservative used to protect this water-based product from microbial contamination. I chose it for its established safety profile, effectiveness at a low concentration and because it is not a formaldehyde-releasing preservative system.
Wild Potato Bush Australian Bush Flower Essence
Traditionally used within Australian Bush Flower Essence practice for times when we feel weighed down, burdened or stuck, and associated with letting go, moving forward and regaining a greater sense of freedom.
There was also something rather fitting about choosing it for a dishwashing liquid. So much of washing up is about releasing what is stuck — the grease, food and residue left behind — cleaning away the muck and moving on.
A little reminder, perhaps, that we don't have to stay stuck either.
Reverse Osmosis Water
The water base of the formulation.
Why use a preservative?
A simple ingredient list isn't automatically a safer one. Any water-based product needs appropriate protection against microbial contamination. Once I knew a preservative had a necessary job to do, I looked for an option I was comfortable including.
Optiphen Plus was chosen for its established safety profile, its effectiveness at a low concentration and because it is not a formaldehyde-releasing preservative system.
For me, that's part of the same Nurturing Skin philosophy: don't leave out something necessary merely to make an ingredient list look more appealing. Choose it carefully, use it for a reason, and don't use more than the product needs.
What you won’t find in it
No added fragrance • No essential oils • No chlorine bleach • No phosphates • No synthetic dyes • No formaldehyde-releasing preservatives
Dishwashing liquid is something we use with our hands, around our food and on the plates, glasses, cutlery and cookware we use every day. I didn't see any reason to add fragrance or essential oils simply to make the washing-up water smell a particular way.
That doesn't mean the product has no scent at all. The rosemary and thyme botanical tinctures give it a light, naturally herbal aroma — but nothing has been added simply for fragrance.
And as with the rest of the Nurturing Skin range, this isn't about calling something “chemical-free” or assuming that everything natural is automatically gentle.
Every ingredient needs a reason to be there. If it doesn't have a useful job to do, why add it?
Why no essential oils?
I use essential oils in many Nurturing Skin skincare products, so leaving them out of the Household Care range was a very deliberate decision.
In my skincare formulations, essential oils are included when they have a useful role in what I am trying to achieve for the skin. They aren't there simply because they smell nice.
But a dishwashing liquid is different.
Essential oils are often added to household cleaning products primarily for their scent. In this formulation, I couldn't see a good enough reason to include them. If an ingredient doesn't have a useful job to do, why add it?
My hands are in direct contact with the washing-up water, and the product is being used on the plates, glasses, cutlery and cookware we use every day. For someone with very sensitive or reactive skin, fewer unnecessary ingredients may also mean fewer things to potentially react to.
That doesn't mean this product will suit everyone, or that gloves will never be needed. Individual sensitivities are individual.
The rosemary and thyme botanical tinctures already give the liquid a light, fresh herbal aroma. I find it really pleasant, and importantly, it isn't overpowering.
The scent comes naturally from ingredients that are already there — nothing has been added simply to make the dishes or kitchen smell “clean”.
How to use
Pump a small amount onto a wet sponge, cloth or dish brush, or add a few pumps to warm running water.
Wash dishes, glassware, cutlery and cookware as usual, then rinse thoroughly with clean water.
You may notice that the Botanical Dishwashing Liquid produces less foam than many conventional dishwashing liquids. That is quite deliberate. A mountain of bubbles isn't necessary for dishes to come out clean.
For greasy cookware or more stubborn food residue, apply a small amount directly to a wet sponge or brush and work it over the area before rinsing.
Start with a little. Use more only if the job needs it.
For heavily baked-on or burnt-on residue, soaking or a stronger cleaning method may still be needed. This is an everyday dishwashing liquid, not a heavy-duty cleaner — and I don't think it needs to pretend to be one.
Having said that, I have been genuinely surprised by just how much it can handle. In my own testing, it has dealt with some pretty stubborn grease and baked-on food far better than I expected from such a simple everyday formulation.
Gentle doesn't have to mean ineffective.
Packaging & Refill
The Botanical Dishwashing Liquid comes in a 200 ml dark amber bottle with a pump dispenser, with a 500 ml amber glass refill available when you need more.
I deliberately chose a lightweight bottle for the one that lives beside the sink. Wet hands, glass bottles and hard kitchen floors aren't always the best combination. The everyday bottle is practical to handle, while the larger glass bottle provides a refill rather than another pump bottle every time you reorder.
When it is empty, simply refill your original bottle and keep using the pump.
One everyday bottle. Refill it. Reuse it.
If you would prefer your 200 ml Dishwashing Liquid in glass, I'm also happy to provide that by request — just email me when you order.
A Little Care
Although I have formulated the Botanical Dishwashing Liquid with gentleness in mind, everyone's skin is different.
If you have very sensitive, reactive or damaged skin, you may still prefer to wear gloves when washing dishes. If irritation occurs, stop using the product and rinse your hands thoroughly with clean water.
Keep out of reach of children. Avoid contact with eyes; if contact occurs, rinse thoroughly with clean water. Do not ingest.
As with any household cleaning product, don't mix it with other cleaning products.
For household dishwashing use only.
Gentler was one of my goals. Clean dishes were another. I wasn't prepared to sacrifice one for the other.
Available Sizes
Available Sizes
200 ml Pump Bottle — $14.95
Ready to use, with a convenient pump dispenser for everyday dishwashing.
500 ml Refill — $29.95
Supplied in an amber glass bottle, ready to refill your original pump bottle.
Not sure whether Botanical Dishwashing Liquid is right for you?
Not sure whether Botanical Dishwashing Liquid is right for you?
Botanical Dishwashing Liquid is available as one of the six minis you can choose in our Discovery Collection.
It's an opportunity to try the formulation on your everyday dishes and cookware before deciding whether you'd like to purchase a full-sized bottle.
Explore Our Household Care Range
Would you like to learn more about the thinking behind our household care range and discover the other products in the collection?
Visit our Household Care page to explore the complete range.
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Considering Purchasing This Product?
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