One of the most important ways we save cash in our house is by using what we already have on hand and getting creative. One of the most important skills we’ve learned as a frugal family is that by getting innovative and using what we already have stocked in our home we can solve common household problems we encounter on a daily basis without forking over a ton of cash. One of our biggest money savers and all around awesome products is stocking Dawn dish soap in our house. Yup, seriously. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times we’ve saved ourselves a trip to the store to buy some expensive product because we were able to create an effective substitute using Dawn.
Seriously guys, this stuff is awesome. Did you know that beyond being amazing for cleaning your dishes, Dawn original blue dish soap can be used in dozens of awesome ways to help take care of issues like pest control, grease stains and even be used to make ice packs?
Here are 17 amazing ways Dawn dish soap can be used
Unclog toilets
Pour about a half cup of Dawn into your toilet and let it sit for approximately 20 -30 minutes then pour down a good amount (3-4 L) of super hot water.
De-grease and pre-treat laundry stains
Apply a small amount of Dawn detergent to the stain. Rub the fabric together to evenly spread the soap and allow it to sit for a few minutes. Rinse and wash the article as you usually would.
Pool Cleaner
Squirt approximately half a cup of Dawn into the center of the pool to remove excess oils from sunscreens and sun tan lotions. A film will form and spread to the outer edges of the pool for easy clean up.
Hair Cleaner
Apply a small amount to your hair. Rinse and repeat as necessary. Dawn is awesome at removing hair product residue or sticky things stuck in your kiddos hair.
De-greaser for automotive parts or spills
Apply a small amount of Dawn to a spill and spread with a brush. Allow to soak for a few minutes and rinse off. To clean greasy tools soak items in a solution of 1/4 dawn and 3/4 hot water.
Make an ice pack
Pour some dawn into a zip lock and freeze! Easy peasy and cost effective ice pack.
Keep poison ivy from spreading
Take a shower with Dawn dish soap to prevent the oily blisters from leaking and spreading to unaffected areas of your body.
Tub and tile cleaner
Dawn and vinegar make an awesome soap scum remover. In a clean spray bottle pour in equal parts dawn and vinegar (we usually do 8 ounces of each). Shake well and spray on to tub, tiles or any other surface that needs a good cleaning. Works great!
Repel insects
Combine a small amount of dawn dish soap and water. (1 tbsp for 4L of water) and spray liberally on plants or areas where you want to repel insects.
Glass defogger
Apply a small amount of Dawn dish soap diluted in water to eye glasses, windows or bathroom mirrors to prevent them from fogging up in the presence of steam.
Window cleaner
Add 2-3 drops of dawn Dish soap to a spray bottle filled with 1 cup of water and 1/4 cup white vinegar. Spray and clean windows as you would with other window cleaners!
DIY Bubbles for kiddos
Combine 1/2 cup of white sugar with 4 cups warm water. Once sugar is completely dissolved and 1/2 cup Dawn dish soap! Let it sit for a few hours to maximize the size of the bubbles.
Manicures
Dawn is awesome at de-greasing so adding a few drops to your home manicure soak makes your nails super clean and does and awesome job at softening cuticles.
Dog Shampoo
Wash your pup with Dawn to kill ticks instantly!
Ant repellent
Create a mixture of roughly 1 part dawn for every 4 parts water. Use a spray bottle to spray effected areas and ant trails to eradicate the problem.
Paint/Grease Remover
Wash off paint and other sticky messes using dawn. Great for cleaning up paint splashes or spills on hardwood floors.
Non-toxic lubricant
Put a few drops of Dawn on window tracks and door hinges to lubricate and get them gliding well.
What are your favorite ways to use Dawn dish soap?
I love Dawn and use it on many of the areas you described above, but I had no idea about using it to unclogged a drain! Pinning this! Thanks.
I’ve always used and loved Dawn but I never thought that there were that many uses for it! I have heard of a few, but now I’m excited to have more uses for it 🙂
Here in the UK my mum uses ‘Fairy’ washing-up liquid to clean muddy dogs!
I’ve never tried it in the toilet either. You gave me an idea. I’m wondering if it works for breaking up my husband’s side of the bathroom sink that gets clogged with shaving cream remnants. Think I’ll try it.
It works great for unclogging sinks too!
Oooh, I wish I read that before my big poison oak incident. Never thought about using dish soap. Thanks so much for all of these ideas.
x, Juliet
I had no idea about the ant repellant! So cool.
Brilliant!! I just learned so many great hacks ! Yay thanks!
Wow, I knew Dawn dish soap was good but you’ve listed some ways I have not used it. Generally, apart from dishes, I used it for cleaning bathrooms, decreasing, window cleaning, and such but have never used it to remove stuff from the kids hair. Great to know that tip since some of the kids sometimes get sticky stuff in their hair.
I knew dawn dishsoap could be used for a lot of things but wow! I never realized the list was so long.
Love the hacks!
Wow! I had no idea you could use dawn for so many things. I am saving this list for sure.
I absolutely love using Dawn as a shampoo for my pet, helps those fleas go away. But wow didn’t know some these great ways to use Dawn. I need to try that ice pack one.
Who knew Dawn could be used for so many things? Very cool Dawn hacks.
That poison ivy hack is brilliant!
The hidden power of Dawn dish shop is something every single, unmarried man learns about in the first month after he moves out of his parents’ home. The number of actual uses for the stuff goes into the thousands.