My #1 mum hack of the century is dishwashing liquid! I am never, ever without it in the cupboard. When people ask what’s in your emergency kit, just know I have dishwashing liquid in mine 🤣 It’s my holy grail when it comes to cleaning, I literally don’t use much else. It has saved me hundreds of dollars over the years and my house is always***** sparkling.
*****(I have kids so obviously always is a stretch hahaha)
If you walk down the cleaning aisle at the supermarket, it feels like you need a dozen different bottles for every surface in your house. A glass cleaner, a stainless steel spray, a timber spray, a grease remover, a fridge spray… it’s expensive, takes up heaps of cupboard space, and half of them don’t even work that well!
Years ago, I ditched the fancy spray bottles and went back to absolute basics. My absolute #1 money-saving cleaning hack that I use every single week is humble dishwashing liquid mixed with water in a squirty bottle, paired with a good quality microfibre cloth.
It costs literally cents to make, takes up zero space, and cleans almost everything in the house better than any specialty product I’ve bought!
My Simple 2-Ingredient All-Rounder Recipe
You don’t need any complex formulas or exact measurements for this:
- Grab a clean spray bottle / squirty bottle.
- Fill it almost to the top with warm tap water.
- Add a few squirts of standard dishwashing liquid (you don’t need heaps—just enough to get a mild soapy mixture).
- Give it a gentle swirl, grab a clean microfibre cloth, and you are good to go!
6 Ways I Use This Spray Around the House
Dishwashing liquid is formulated specifically to cut through grease and grime without damaging surfaces. Because it’s so mild, it works wonders across almost the entire house:
1. Streak-Free Windows & Mirrors (Indoor & Outdoor)
Forget expensive window sprays! A squirt of this on indoor glass or bathroom mirrors, wiped down with a clean microfibre cloth, leaves a completely streak-free shine. I even use it on our outdoor windows to shift dust, water spots, and pollen—it cuts right through the grime without leaving a hazy film behind.
2. Kitchen Cupboards & Pantry Shelves
Kitchen cabinets collect a sneaky layer of grease from cooking, plus sticky fingerprints from little hands. This spray lifts grease off cabinet doors, laminate handles, and pantry shelves effortlessly without stripping the finish or leaving harsh chemical smells around food storage.
3. Wiping Down the Fridge (Inside & Out)
When giving the fridge a wipe-out before a big food shop, this is my go-to. It cleans up sticky sauce drips and milk spills easily, and because it’s just mild dish soap and water, you don’t have to worry about harsh toxic residue anywhere near your fresh food.
4. Bedroom Furniture & Dusting Surfaces
From dressers and bedside tables to skirting boards, a light mist of this on a microfibre cloth acts as a dust magnet and cleans away smudges on painted timber or laminate surfaces in seconds.
5. In-Between Oven Maintenance
Deep cleaning the oven is a massive job that nobody looks forward to! To stop baked-on grease from building up in the first place, I spray down the oven door and glass with dish soap spray after a big roast while it’s cooled down. It cuts through fresh grease spots in seconds so you don’t have to do a heavy-duty chemical scrub nearly as often.
6. Sparkling Bathroom Stainless Steel & Tapware
Taps, shower mixers, and stainless steel fittings get dull quickly from soap scum and hard water spots. A quick spray and buff with a microfibre cloth leaves taps and stainless steel gleaming like brand new!
Why This Combo Beats Supermarket Cleaning Sprays
- Costs Pennies: One bottle of dishwashing liquid lasts for weeks when you’re just using a few squirts per spray bottle refill.
- Safer around Kids: No harsh fumes or strong chemical smells wafting through the bedrooms or kitchen.
- Zero Clutter: You replace 5+ single-use cleaning bottles with one single spray bottle under the sink.
- Microfibre Magic: The microfibre cloth does the heavy lifting by trapping dust and lifting soap without scratching surfaces.
