Best Dish Detergents
The Evaluated team rolled up sleeves and washed hundreds of dishes, casserole plates, pots, and pans. Here are the top contenders.
Dish detergent is what we use to break up the greasy mess left on our dishes and silverware. Oil and water don’t mix, and dish detergent on a molecular level is essentially like the referee in a boxing match that makes the grease/oil and the water shake hands and then get down to business. The detergent and the water then dissolve the grease, which rinses away.
What’s in detergent?
It depends. Most liquid detergent is essentially comprised of surfactants (short for surface active agent, the stuff that actually gets the cleaning done), preservatives, fragrance, colors, and possibly chlorine and stuff to make it thick.
In our testing and comparisons, our team actually couldn’t agree on a clear top choice, and so to avoid the writers getting in the ring to settle matters, we present to you our top choices and why we chose. Who know dish detergent could be contentious? I sure didn’t. But I promised the team I’d dish the dirt for our writers, including a secret weapon detergent nobody told me about until we began the four-month research and test process for this article.
We tested many products with popular methods and techniques of handwashing:
- Running a sinkful of water with a capful of detergent
- Using detergent directly on a sponge to scrub the tough items
- Presoaking
We like to use up the entire bottle of something when testing... so this was done over months, in multiple scenarios with different types of pans, dishes, baking dishes, foods, and cooking styles, including with teenagers and a few Thanksgiving dinners. The short version?
All of the products we listed work well. Here's feedback from our team:
Evaluated is reader-supported, so this post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click on our links to make a purchase, we may make a commission at no cost to you.
The All-Around Best Liquid Detergent
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The little duckie on the front gets me every.single.time. It works, not just in the dish pan, but on the many other projects and a surprising number of DIY hacks. Why the cult status? Dawn has perfected the chemical compounds that will clean up anything greasy, including baby birds caught in oil spills, without destroying hands and skin. Dawn’s precise formula is proprietary, but we do know it works. When it’s Lasagna Pan Time, this is what gets the job done from the presoak to the final clean. Dawn has seen bad press because a small percentage is derived from petroleum. For some, this is a dealbreaker, including our tester who pointed us to the interviews with Dawn about their contributions to the oil spill problem and the irony that we have to use a product with petroleum to rescue the birds coated in it.
But here’s the rub: The veterinarians at the International Bird Rescue Research Center who clean birds caught in oil spills won’t use anything else. Dawn contributes thousands of bottles every year along with hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund wildlife research and rehabilitation, and yes- the sad, but necessary work of spill response.
Pros: Affordable, readily available, is effective in the sink and in many other applications- yes I tried that window cleaner hack and it works!
Cons: It’s scented, which might not be such a good thing for sensitive skin, and plastics like baby bottles and sippy cups. The dye may be irritating to sensitive skin.
The “Green” Solution That’s Actually Green
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Some of our testers thought Dr. Bronners Castile Soap and Sal Suds were the same product, but they are actually very different.
Lisa Bronner recommended Sal-Suds for dishes instead of the Castile Soap. I know, I know. A LOT of bloggers out there swear by Dr. Bronners as a great dish detergent. And yes, it does work well, but when it comes to cutting grease, Sal Suds runs circles around it. And Castile Soap can leave a film on glassware and other shiny things. When several of us switched to Sal Suds for washing dishes, the comparisons we shared included a lot of “I KNOW, RIGHT???” type of texts. My first thought was “this is like Pine-Sol” because Sal-Suds is STRONG undiluted… but this is so much better than Pine-Sol. When diluted properly, it’s fantastic! My kitchen smelled like Christmas trees. And I went out that very afternoon to buy a spray bottle to keep at the sink with diluted Sal-Suds. Both Castile Soap and Sal-Suds are pretty versatile.
However, Lisa indicates there are some things you should be strict about what you use these on:
Dr. Bronners Sal Suds: Dishes, Bathrooms, Floors, Cars, Laundry
Dr. Bronners Castile Soap: Body (body wash, shampoo, etc.), Pest Control
The bigger bottles are expensive, yes, but when you consider the dilution ratios, they are actually quite affordable and will last a long time. You can buy Sal Suds in a size as small as 16 oz. and the castile soap in containers as small as 2 oz. Amid all the greenwashing companies owned by bigger corporations, Dr. Bronners is completely transparent about their supply chain. The production of their oils does not contribute to deforestation. We love brands that give back to their communities and contribute to economic development and fair working conditions even in the far-away places where they source their ingredients.
The Popular “Green” Detergent
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This product works pretty well but in the dishpan method, required more than Dawn to tackle the infamous Lasagna Pan. Seventh offers an unscented version but some of their scented options are delightful- hello Lime and Ginger! When it comes to a nicely scented detergent, this beats the competition. Seventh Generation also doesn’t do as well as Dawn with the DIY household hacks we love, so if you are looking for a multi-tasker, this is not it. I also feel it’s more drying on my skin than Dawn, especially the Power Plus and scented varieties.
I wouldn’t recommend this solely because you want to save the environment. While some of these ingredients are technically renewable, plant-based doesn’t always mean better when it comes to environmental impact. Seventh Generation was acquired by Unilever in 2016 after being suspended in 2015 from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Seventh Generation purchases “sustainable palm kernel oil credits to cover our company’s use across our entire cleaning product portfolio.” Dr. Bronners was able to secure sustainable palm oil. Why can’t Seventh Generation as a larger company? Based on its performance, it’s a good product, but we struggle with the greenwashing this company does. Stick to the dishwashing, please!
Pros: Affordable, readily available, works well, available in unscented or multiple natural scents, and does not have blue dye.
Cons: Sometimes costs more than Dawn (depending on where you shop) and the company has recently begun selling significantly smaller bottles for the same price.
The "New Kid on the Block"
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When I saw that a company is including vinegar in an SLS-free (sodium lauryl sulfate) formula I knew we had to try it out because I swear by vinegar for so many things. When doing the testing, I noticed it does not lather up as much, but I didn’t worry. Why? Most people equate lather with cleanliness and that is due to the slick marketing we’ve been given for the last hundred years- that only bubbles=clean, and that’s as full of truth as a DeBeers diamond advertisement.
9 Elements gave both Dawn and Seventh Generation a run for the money, especially when cleaning my stainless cookware. 9 Elements addresses one of the biggest hurdles in getting things really, truly clean: hard water. A built-in water softener (sodium citrate) tackles the problem. As to the smell? Vinegar is never pleasant, and this is definitely not going to give you a Calgon Take Me Away moment. Personally, my aromatherapy when cleaning is cloves and spices simmering on the stove with lemon slices because I’d rather my detergent clean the dishes, not double as a scented candle. I’m just old-fashioned like that and I went on to order the bathroom cleaner too. I discovered the 9 Elements Bathroom Cleaner is more effective cleaning my stainless steel cookware than Barkeeper's Friend. But let's keep that a secret for now.
Pros: More effective than Seventh Generation on shinier surfaces/dishes and cutting the grease.
Cons: Costs more, not as readily available, vinegar scent may put off some users.
The "Secret Weapon"
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One of our writers swears by Dapple, which he began using when they had a newborn, and struggled with an already fussy colicky baby who objected to the odor of the feeding implements they were washing with normal detergent. While their baby is no longer drinking from a bottle and is trying out for Little League this summer, they still use Dapple, alongside the other natural products at the sink. Naturally, I was intrigued. This is a plant-based dish soap meant to clean baby bottles, cups, pacifiers, and breast-pumping components, including the silicone ones and milk bags. Whoa. Some of those are the hardest things to clean, and so it would make sense somebody thought to design an industrial strength detergent that is also unscented to break down the fatty residues left behind by breast milk and formulas. This amazing detergent did better than anything else we had used to this point. Left no fragrance residue on anything, even the plasticware we use for kids. But it definitely costs more. Am I thinking about transitioning over to it? Maybe. It’s not as readily available in stores.
Pros: Degreases like nobody’s business, leaves no odor behind even on plastic/silicone items, also very useful dissolving milk stains on clothing
Cons: Expensive, not always easy to find in stores, may not lather as much as some users prefer
