Fruit flies got you down? Do they come out at meal times? Do mosquitoes follow you inside? How rude. I’ve got a sneaky solution that these lil’ buggers will never see coming. Here’s some dish soap you never knew you needed. This dish soap recipe uses all-natural ingredients that naturally repel buggies. And all you have to do is what you usually do with dish soap! Wash your dishes with pride, sponge down those kitchen counters with confidence ⏤ I’ll show you how to keep bugs out of your kitchen. Easy peasy! And, if you need a more on-the-go solution, check out my bug repellent spray.
What you need




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Dr. Bronners Sal Suds dish soap
- All-natural, plant-based
- Non-toxic
- Gentle, yet effective
- Highly concentrated, so a little goes a long way!
Lemongrass essential oil
- Repels mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, fleas and flies
- Contains citral and limonene which kill bacteria and fungi
- Lovely citrus scent is a great deodorizer and air freshener
Distilled water
- The best option for the cleanest dish soap possible
- If you don’t have distilled water, filtered way is a close second
- It doesn’t contain any of the nasties found in tap water that can promote bacteria growth
Foaming soap dispenser
- Is the key to a proper foaming dish soap and the soap will not foam without one
- You can re-use a foaming dispenser you already have, or purchase a new one (the one I use is linked here)
- I love foaming soap since it uses a fraction of the amount of soap a typical soap dispenser, but if you don’t like saving money, feel free to use a regular soap dispenser instead 😉

How to make
- Unscrew the cap on your soap dispenser and get ready to add:
- 1 tbsp of Sal Suds dish soap
- Next, add 15 drops of Lemongrass essential oil
- Finally, add 1 and 1/4 cup of distilled water making sure to leave room to screw the cap back on
- Screw the cap back on and shake to combine
- Done!
Ways to use
- Do your dishes, clean the counters and do anything else you use dish soap for as you normally would!
- That’s it! Creepy crawlers will stay away naturally if they know what’s good for them!
- Enjoy less kitchen critters 🙌🏾
- Now that you’ve learned how to keep bugs out of your kitchen, give them an extra bang with this DIY Fruit Fly trap and tell ’em LAurenrdaniels sent ‘cha!
Did you make this recipe?
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