The Best And Worst Dish Soaps To Have In Your Kitchen
The last thing anyone wants to do is worry about dirty dishes, especially after making a cheesy or greasy meal.
That's where dish soap comes in. To help you make the right decision regarding the suitable dish soaps to clean those stubborn stains, we've compiled a handy list of some of the best and worst dish soaps available.
Method Dish Soap
Method Dish Soap relies on a plant-based formula to finish the cleaning job while also coming in various pleasing scents.
If you're worried about dry hands, Method also helps keep your skin moisturized and safe from uncomfortable dryness.
Caldrea Dish Soap
A biodegradable soap with a luxe feel and light, pleasant fragrance, it also comes at a higher price than most dish soaps.
Caldrea Dish Soap's price point may be worth considering it contains natural ingredients that are tough on stains.
Dawn Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray
Dawn Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray may not necessarily be dish soap, but it does have formidable cleaning power when removing grease stains.
Rather than lathering with water, the spray works by spritzing, waiting, and wiping. It's also great on clothing stains.
9 Elements Liquid Dish Soap
Another vegan dish soap, 9 Elements Liquid Dish Soap, is powered by vinegar and comes in either eucalyptus or lemon scent.
True to its name, the soap only uses nine ingredients and takes all the guesswork out of figuring out how much vinegar and water you're supposed to use when cleaning.
Cleancult Liquid Dish Soap
Cleancult Liquid Dish Soap is a sustainable cleaning soap that is cruelty-free, naturally derived, and comes in a paper-based milk carton.
Ingredients include coconut, aloe vera, and glycerin, making it super hydrating for hands while cutting through grease.
Babyganics Foaming Dish and Bottle Soap
This dish soap is suitable for dishes and baby bottles because of its non-irritating and non-allergenic ingredients.
After rinsing with this soap, there's no soap residue, and your skin is safe from harsher and drying ingredients.
ECOS Hypoallergenic Dish Soap
ECOS Hypoallergenic Dish Soap is free of ingredients that can aggravate sensitive skin.
Thanks to these gentle ingredients, you don't even need to use gloves when washing the dishes anymore.
Biokleen Free & Clear Dish Liquid
Biokleen's free & clear dish liquid formula is, for the most part, gentle, aside from a known allergens ingredient that could potentially irritate a person's skin.
It may be smart to wear gloves while washing when using this soap.
Love Home & Planet Dish Liquid
Love Home & Planet Dish Liquid is gentle for the hands, but this gentle formula is far too mild to cut down on grease.
Despite this, it mainly has plant-sourced ingredients, so in this aspect, it lives up to its name.
Gain Ultra Dishwashing Liquid Soap
The famous Gain laundry detergent scent is now available in dish soap, sure to make your dishes smell as heavenly as your clothes.
Aside from the scent, just a little of the soap gets the job done, so you don't have to worry about wasting any!
Seventh Generation Dish Liquid
This liquid dish soap claims ingredients, and while this is mostly the case, it also contains ingredients that are preservatives known to cause reactions.
Despite this, it is still powerful enough to remove tough stains.
Ivory Concentrated Dishwashing Liquid
Ivory's Concentrated Dishwashing Liquid is generally given good reviews due to its gentle ingredients.
Without compromising cleanliness, it also gives a good bang for your buck, the cap allowing you to pour out just how much you need.
Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Dish Soap
Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Dish Soap has an incredible scent, sure to make your dishes smell lovely for a long time.
Unfortunately, for those who are prone to contract dermatitis, some of the ingredients in this soap are likely to irritate you.
Joy Ultra Dish Soap
For a soap with a gentle scent and non-drying ingredients, Joy Ultra Dish Soap gives the best result.
It also gives an excellent lather to ensure your dishes are completely free of residual grease and grime.
Rebel Green Super Deluxe Dish Soap
This next dish soap is all-natural, eco-friendly, sulfate-free, biodegradable, and even made with food-grade ingredients.
Of course, the lack of harsher ingredients also means that this soap is best used when cleaning lighter messes.
Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner
Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner is biodegradable and eco-friendly, with a concentrated formula that can easily be adjusted by adding water.
It may not be traditional dish soap, but it is safe to use on dishes, especially on tougher messes such as barbecue tools.
Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Liquid Soap
This soap is perhaps one of the most well-known despite the lack of marketing as dish soap.
With a base consisting of pure oils, it lathers up nicely after diluting to the right dishwashing consistency.
Ajax Dish Liquid With Bleach Alternative
Ajax Dish Liquid with Bleach Alternative comes in a refreshing grapefruit scent.
The soap itself is not abrasive, but more must be used to eliminate tougher stains. The bottle design makes it easy to pour out too much soap, causing waste.
Dawn vs. Palmolive
Dawn and Palmolive are two of the most recognizable soap brands.
Dawn Platinum and Palmolive Ultra Strength both offer intense cleaning solutions to your toughest messes, so they rank as the top best dish soaps.
Puracy Natural Dish Soap
Puracy's Natural Dish Soap comes highly scented, mostly clear, with a slight yellow tint.
A little goes a long way with this soap, and despite the natural ingredients, it packs a punch in cleaning your most stained dishes.
Simplehuman Liquid Dish Soap
Simplehuman's Liquid Dish Soap comes in a resealable pouch meant to be poured into the brand's soap dispenser.
Unless you're willing to buy the dispenser, you may find that just using the bag may result in a clunky experience.
J.R. Watkins Dish Soap
J.R. Watkins has been relatively transparent with the ingredients for this dish soap. The soap's bottles are made from partially recycled used consumer products.
That being said, the ingredients are pretty harsh and may cause contact dermatitis.
Dawn Ultra Gentle Clean Dishwashing Liquid
Dawn's Ultra Gentle Clean Dishwashing Liquid comes in a sweet scent and gentle ingredients.
But a change in the formula from the classic blue soap means it doesn't lather or cut down on grease nearly as well.
Dapple Baby
If you're looking for a gentle soap to clean milk bottle film, this soap may do the trick.
But the gentle ingredient list means you'll use more soap than you may have bargained for.
rE: Dish Washing Soap Bar
rE: Dish Washing Soap Bar may be the priciest soap on this list, coming in around $13 - $15.
A bar of soap instead of a traditional bottle is a bit off-putting since it will take a bit more muscle to actually clean dirty dishes. It also lacks a scent, which may be a bit of a disappointment for some.
Grove Co. Ultimate Dish Soap
The Ultimate Dish Soap from Grove Co. comes in an aluminum bottle with a glass dispenser.
The soap refill is more pricy, and the ingredients lack the power to tackle tough grease.
Palmolive Antibacterial
The antibacterial version of Palmolive's classic soap formula kills 99.9% of bacteria.
The consistency of the soap itself is thick, and the ingredients, due to their bacteria-killing properties, are drying for sensitive skin.
Dawn Simple Pleasures Scented Dish Soap
This iteration of Dawn's dish soap, Simple Pleasures, is highly scented with artificial flavorings, which may be unpleasant for those sensitive to strong smells.
The soap is highly concentrated, meaning you only need a little to get a good lather if you can get past the scent.
Lemi Shine Concentrated Liquid Dish Soap
If you love ultra-concentrated soaps, then Lemi Shine Concentrated Liquid Dish Soap may be what you're looking for if you can look past its runny consistency.
Reviews report that the smell is a harsh artificial lemon, which some may find off-putting.
Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner
Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner claims to have multiple uses, much like the original Dr. Bronner's liquid soap.
Perhaps as a result of the gentler ingredients, the cleaning power of Sal Suds leaves much to be desired, often requiring more of the product to see a difference.
