How to use a soap shaker—6 Tips for swishing & doing the dishes by hand

Here’s how to use a soap shaker & get the most out of plastic-free dishwashing!

With the rise of eco-cleaning, soap shakers are again part of the kitchen. Welcome to the world of old-school cleaning made modern! If you’ve just picked up a soap shaker, congrats—we're going to give you our best tips for how to use a soap shaker because you’re about to make dishwashing by hand easier, eco-friendlier, and way more satisfying.

Sometimes called a soap cage, this niffy stainless steel swisher will securely hold your bar soap while you run a sink of water. Now you can enjoy sparkly clean dishes without synthetic detergents or plastic waste, just pure, simple soap doing its thing.

Here’s how to get the best results for squeaky clean dishes, make your bar soap last longer and keep your shaker in top-notch shape.

Why Ditch Detergent for a Soap Shaker?

Soap is the OG non-tox cleaner that's been cutting grease for thousands of years—literally. Soap works by making water slippery enough to lift grease, grime, and germs right off your dishes and wash them away.

Detergents work in the same way but are a more complex chemical and much stronger and longer acting—this not only raises health concerns for people due to residue ingestion, but also for the environment when we let out the plug. Along with the striping detergent action that has an affect on our skin and our gut, typical dishwash is also full of perfumes, dyes and other additives that are known to be unsafe or have limited data collected around safety.

The great thing about pure soap (like our Figgy bar soap) is it's simple, safe and breaks down in the environment faster and more completely. That makes if good for your dishes, good for you, and good for the planet.

How to Use a Soap Shaker for washing dishes by hand

Washing dishes with a soap shaker is as simple as it is satisfying. With just hot water, pure soap, and a little know-how, you’ll have sparkling dishes without the plastic bottles or harsh detergents. Here’s how to get the perfect sink of soapy water in 6 easy steps, and clean your dishes the sustainable way.

1. Start with a Clean Sink

Your sink gets pretty grimy between washes, so give it a quick scrub with soap and water and rinse all that away before you put the plug in. No one wants to wash clean dishes in a dirty sink!

2. Fill Your Sink with Hot Water

Hot water helps the soap dissolve properly and cuts through grease like a dream. You want to use just the hot tap to fill your sink. Bonus: with a soap shaker holding your soap, you don’t have to dunk your hands straight into the heat.

3. Make Your Soapy Water

Soap will make your water go a bit whiteish—that’s a good sign that your soap is dissolving into your hot water. The other thing you might notice is not many bubbles, or bubbles that don’t last long—again, this is how it should be. Detergents make huge amounts of foam—that’s one of the reasons they damage our waterways. Soap on the other hand adds the cleaning power to the water without copious amount so foam.

4. How much swishing should you do?

You’ve got 2 options here, you can do some mediative active swishing and look longingly into your bubbles as they are made or you can get your sink going, put on the kettle, wipe the table and them come back to check the progress of your sink filling.

1. Hold your soap shaker under the running water and give it a jig-jig-jiggle.
2. Pop the shaker in the sink and let the water run over it—then give it a quick swish to mix it up once you have enough water.

5. Check if your water is soapy enough

There’s a trick to knowing when you have the right amount of soap in your water—and it takes no time at all. Just rub your fingers together in the water—if there’s a bit of slip and they glide easily, you’re good to go. If your fingers don’t slide, then you need some more soap. But if they are very slippery then you’ve over-shot. Too much soap isn’t really an issue except you’ll use up your soap bar faster and might get residue. Too little? Just give the shaker another swish.

6. Wash Your Dishes Perfectly Clean

Get scrubbing! Use a dish brush or cloth to work that soapy water over your dishes. No unnecessary bubbles, no unnecessary waste—just clean dishes, done right.

Top Tips for Getting the Most from Your Soap & Shaker

• Storing Between Uses: Immediately after using, let the water drip off your soap and shaker. Then store your soap cage either rested on a small dish or hanging from a hook.

• Let Your Soap Dry Out: Your soap will last way longer if it has time to dry out completely between uses. Store your soap shaker somewhere dry, that has reasonable air flow. And definitely don't leave it sitting in a soggy wet puddle!

• Use a Pure Soap: Pure soap is simple, it'll be 100% soap made from vegetable oils or animal fats. Skip what appears to be 'soap' if there is a lot of ingredients—some bars are actually a blend of soap and detergent, these are called syndet (for synthetic detergent) bars but are often incorrectly referred to a bar soap, which is confusing. Also skip perfumes, fragrances, dyes and chelators. We even skip the essential oils! Remember you will be eating off your dishes and the last thing you want is free loading chemical waffle in your next meal.

• Extra points if you skip the palm oil too! The Orangutangs will thank you for it. Palm oil is widely used in the production of detergents, but it can also be found in traditional soaps. The problem with Palm oil is not the soap it makes—in fact it makes wonderful soap. No, the issue is palm cultivation requires the mass destruction of ancient tropical rainforests to clear land for eco-damaging mono-cultures.

• Use Just Enough Soap : A bar should last 10-30 sinks of dishes, depending on how generous you are with your soap. Want to stretch it out? Cut your Figgy’s Bar Soap in half and use one piece at a time.

• The bigger the sink—the more soap you’ll use: Modern sinks are pretty big—holding more litres of water than you need to get your dishes done. Half filling your skin will still get your dishes clean and will also save your bar by not making extra soapy water that you didn’t need.

• Skip the Extra Suds: More bubbles don’t mean more cleaning power! Too much soap = waste + potential residue. Keep it simple.

Beyond Dishes: Other Ways to Use Your Soap Shaker

• 1. Making a bucket of soapy water for general cleaning—use the soapy water to cleaning surfaces like walls, skirting boards and floors
  2. Soaking laundry or pre-treating stains in a bucket of soapy water—oxygen bleach can also be added for tough stains
  3. Washing fresh produce with a gentle lather—make a sink of soapy water with less soap than for doing the dishes. You can make the initial bubbles with hot water to soften the soap, then switch to cool water as that's a better temperature for your produce.

Ready to go all in on non-toxic dishwashing? Grab your soap shaker and a bar of Figgy & Co Bar Soap today!

Make Your Kitchen Work Smarter, Not Harder

Switching to a soap shaker is just one way to ditch unnecessary chemicals and plastic from your home, especially if you are choosing to reduce your toxic load and footprint. Pair your shaker with reusable dishcloths, wooden dish brushes, cast iron pans and plastic free food storage and cutting boards. These other simple swaps will mean you are cooking in a kitchen that’s clean, green, and toxin-free. Want more tips?

Get More Natural Cleaning Tips From Our Blog!

We want you to have everything you need to clean your home healthier while avoiding unwanted chemicals – and looking out for the planet too! Take a browse through our blog and learn more about natural cleaning, safe ingredients and so much more!