If you've never used solid dish soap before, your first reaction might be something along the lines of:
Wait! You want me to wash my dishes with a bar of soap?
Pretty much.
Solid dish soap does the same basic job we're all used to asking liquid dish soap to do: it helps remove food, grease and grime so you can wash your dishes clean.
Liquid dish soap works just fine. We're not here to convince you otherwise.
Solid dish soap is simply a different way to get the job done. And for us, the appeal comes down to a few things we care about: simple ingredients, less packaging and no disposable plastic soap bottle.
So, what exactly is solid dish soap?
Solid dish soap is simply dish soap in a concentrated solid form. It cuts through grease and everyday dish grime without the need for a bottle of liquid soap.
At Del Toro Ranch, we make ours using a deliberately simple formula with just four ingredients, including organic oils. There's no added fragrance and no added dyes.
Rather than pumping liquid soap onto a sponge or brush, you load your brush directly from the solid soap.
That's really all there is to it.
No special equipment. No complicated routine. Just a different format for something you already do every day.
How do you use solid dish soap?
It's easy:
1. Wet your dish brush.
Give the bristles a quick rinse under the faucet.
2. Load the brush with soap.
Rub the wet bristles over the surface of the solid dish soap a few times.
3. Wash your dishes.
Scrub just as you normally would. When you need more soap, simply return the brush to the soap and reload.
4. Rinse.
Rinse your dishes thoroughly with clean water.
That's it.
You don't need to keep the water running over the soap itself while you're washing. Wet the brush, load it up and get to work.
What makes it different from liquid dish soap?
The most obvious difference is right there in the name: one is liquid and one is solid.
But the format also allows us to make a very simple, concentrated product without putting it into a disposable plastic bottle.
That matters to us.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency places reducing waste at the source and reusing products ahead of recycling in its waste-management hierarchy. It specifically encourages choosing products with less packaging when possible.
That's part of the thinking behind our ramekin and refill system.
Use the soap in the ramekin. When it's gone, keep the ramekin and add a refill instead of replacing the container.
We also make a larger solid block for people who prefer to skip the ramekin altogether.
Is choosing solid dish soap going to save the planet by itself?
Of course not.
But if you'd rather buy a concentrated product with a simple ingredient list and avoid another disposable plastic bottle, it's an easy swap to make at the kitchen sink.
How do you make solid dish soap last?
The biggest thing is simple:
Don't keep it wetter than it needs to be.
You only need a wet brush to load the soap. There's no reason to run water continuously over the solid soap itself.
If you're using one of our ramekins, pour out any excess standing water after you're finished and allow the soap to dry between uses as much as possible.
With a refill or larger block, store it somewhere it isn't sitting in water.
A little care between uses helps you get more life out of your soap.
And yes, you can wash cast iron with soap
We had to include this one.
There's a long-standing rule floating around kitchens that says soap should never touch cast iron.
That's not quite the case.
Lodge Cast Iron says mild dish soap can be used to clean seasoned cast iron. The important part is not leaving cast iron soaking in water and drying it thoroughly after washing to help prevent rust.
So yes, we use our solid dish soap on cast iron.
Wash it. Rinse it. Dry it thoroughly.
Your skillet will survive.
Why we chose solid dish soap
We like products that don't need to be more complicated than they are.
Our solid dish soap gives us a way to make an everyday kitchen product with a short ingredient list, no added fragrance or dyes, and a format that lets us avoid the disposable plastic bottle.
It isn't about telling you that the bottle of liquid dish soap sitting next to your sink doesn't work.
It's simply another option.
And if simple ingredients and less packaging sound good to you, it might be an option worth trying.
Ready to try solid dish soap?
Explore our solid dish soap, refill options, dish brushes and complete set.
Shop Del Toro Ranch Solid Dish Soap
Real Ingredients. Clean. Simple.
Sources & Further Reading
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. What You Can Do to Reduce Plastic Waste.
Read the EPA's tips for reducing plastic waste
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Sustainable Materials Management: Non-Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Hierarchy.
Read more about source reduction and reuse
Lodge Cast Iron. How to Clean.
Read Lodge's cast iron cleaning and care guidance
