Can You Use Dish Soap to Wash Your Laundry?

Quick Frugal Tip:

I have spent my grocery budget for the week and I'm out of detergent. The dirty clothes pile was looking very intimidating yesterday. Mainly because the kid had been hoarding his dirty laundry in the closet. I don't have any washing soda or ingredients to whip up my homemade detergent, but I do have a big bottle of Dawn dish soap someone gave me. I don't use that brand for dishwashing. I've mainly been using it to bath the dogs. So I Googled it. Can you use dish soap to wash your clothes? Yes and no. It depends on which type of washing machine you have. After reading several articles, it appears you can use it in a top loading machine but it's not recommended for the fancy front loading machines. One article recommends using 1tsp per size of the load. For a large load, you'd use 3 teaspoons of dish soap. 

Having a giant pile of clothes to wash, I gave it a go this morning, adding 3tsp to the first load. I was worried about excess sudsing but there wasn't any more than usual. After going through the entire wash process and loading them into the dryer, I am happy with the outcome. They are clean and smell fresh, even my son's smelly t-shirts. 

Verdict: the next time you run out of laundry detergent, give it a go in your top loading washer only.