dish soap

UPDATE! as of summer 2010, i've changed my dish soap to dr. bronner's magic soaps, due to being sketched out on the ingedient, "coconut kernel oil-based surfactants," which is vague and could mean sodium coco sulfate, which is really similar sounding to sodium lauryl sulfate.
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of all the dish soap options at the bowery whole foods in nyc,
the natural frugal dish soap decision is:
dishmate by earth friendly products

price comparison at the bowery whole foods in nyc:

7th generation dish soap
$2.99 for 25oz = $0.12/oz

dishmate by earth friendly products
$3.49 for 25oz = $0.14/oz

dr. woods (upstairs in whole body)
$10.99 for 32oz = $0.34/oz

mrs. meyers dish soap
$5.99 for 16oz = $0.37/oz

dr. bronner's (upstairs in whole body)
$14.99 for 32 oz = $0.47/oz


process leading to decision:

1) 7th generation dish soap
extensive chemical list, including sls (sodium lauryl sulfate)

2) dr. woods' liquid castile soaps
primary ingredient - saponified coconut, hemp, and olive oils - more natural.
tested and works well at full strength.
almost 3x the cost per oz depending which dish soap you're comparing to.
had doubts bout using it diluted to balance the cost.

tried an online recipe for combining 2 cups liquid castile soap, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar, it cleaned dishes ok but found it too thin/runny, which meant it washed off a sponge to easy and wasted.

3) dr. bronner's
primary ingredient - organic coconut oil - more natural.
i'm sure it would work great as dish soap.
about 3x the cost per oz depending which dish soap you're comparing to.
potentially strong enough when unless diluted 1:2 with water, to balance cost, but haven't tested.

4) dishmate by earth friendly products
lavender dishmate ingredients:
purified water, 100% natural anionic coconut kernel oil-based surfactants, salt, N.O.P. certified organic essential oil.
skeptical of the anionic coconut kernel oil-based surfactants, because sls is a surfactant that can be derived from coconut oil.
called them today, they claim no sls (sodium lauryl sulfate), sodium coco sulfates, or other sulfates, in any of their products. but they also don't believe in transparency like other good green companies, and won't disclose exactly what their ingredients are.

they claim on their website:

• 100% Sustainable Ingredients
• Plant-Based Formulas
• GMO Free
• Natural Organic Essential Oils
• Biodegradable Formulations
• Neutral pH
• Phosphate Free
• Caustic Free
• Formaldehyde Free
• Petrochemical Free
• Dye Free
• Chlorine Free
• Synthetic
• Perfume Free
• Ammonia-Free
• Greywater/Septic Safe

earth friendly products has 2 websites
http://www.ecos.com
http://www.efpproline.com