As you unfortunately experienced, home remedies are quite risky for use on plants and the potential for plant damage (at worst) and ineffectiveness (at best) are the main reasons we do not recommend them. (If you're curious about more of a discussion on the matter, Penn State has a good write-up here: https://extension.psu.edu/are-home-remedies-a-good-solution-penn-state-extension-says-no)

Do you have some sample photos of the plant damage, and can you tell us what plants you are having trouble with? (Edibles, ornamental, houseplants outside for the summer...specific plant types will help most, but even just a category like this might be sufficient.) Grasshoppers and katydids usually don't cause enough leaf-chewing damage to warrant insecticide use; even so, they more around so much that treatments might still be largely ineffective. Have you seen either of these insects feeding on the plants in question, or just nearby in the area? Options we may recommend for control will depend on what type of plant is being damaged. You can attach up to three image files per reply, but you can reply more than once here if you need to send more pictures.

Miri