• A top-quality dish soap has a pleasant scent if it has a scent at all, cleans the most stubborn pots and pans, and is eco- and hand-friendly.
  • Puracy Natural Liquid Dish Soap is our top pick because it’s effective on grease, safe for the environment, and gentle on your hands.

If you want your favorite cookware, cutlery, dishes, and other kitchen items to last, your best bet is to hand wash them. This is true even if you have one of the best dishwashers where the contents could bang against each other. The dishwasher can be unforgiving, even if your cookware is deemed dishwasher safe.

Therefore, a high-quality dish soap is indispensable. And, before I go on, I must make it clear that you should never use dish soap in a dishwasher. Dishwashing detergent does not produce suds. Dish soap does. The suds will escape from the dishwasher any way they can. This may lead to overflowing, and over time, it will damage the inner workings of your appliance.

When writing this guide, we consulted the website of the Environmental Working Group, an organization that seeks to “empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment.” The group examines various products to find out if they contain ingredients that could cause harm to individuals or the Earth.

EWG assigns each product a grade ranging from F, a potential hazard to the environment or your health, to A, least concern about potential hazards caused by a product.

Can dish soap disinfect?

We spoke with Tania Elliott, MD, who specializes in infectious diseases related to allergies and immunology for internal medicine at NYU Langone Health. She told us that dish soap is perfectly effective at killing germs, viruses, and bacteria and can also be used as hand soap in a pinch.

If someone in your household has been sick, Dr. Elliott said that washing dishes and utensils they have used with dish soap should be enough to stop the spread of illness, but it would be most effective to run them through a dishwasher with a high heat sanitizing setting greater than 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Consider "Subscribe & Save"

If you find a dish soap you like on Amazon, we recommend buying it through the "Subscribe & Save" program. This allows you to save up to 15% off of the regular price. Plus, you can cancel your subscription at any time, even after just one delivery. However, it's nice to have items you regularly use arriving right when you need them without having to remember to hop online to order them again.

The dish soaps that are included in our guide demonstrated the ability to cut through grease, remove dried- or burnt-on food debris, have a non-offensive scent, and are not harsh on your skin.

Here are the best dish soaps:

Prices and links are current as of 3/16/2020. We also added a product showcase at the top of the article as well as a selection of related buying guides.

Best overall

If you're looking for a dish soap made with natural ingredients that are gentle on your skin, Puracy Natural Liquid Dish Soap is your best bet.

As we were researching Puracy, it quickly became clear to us that this is a company that tries its best to respond to the needs of its customers. Puracy Natural Liquid Dish Soap is made with the natural fragrances of green tea and lime, minerals, and plants. Puracy says this soap is "99.5% natural" and developed by doctors.

The soap is also free from animal-based ingredients, petroleum, and harsh chemicals. EWG gives Puracy an A grade. All of these factors point to Puracy dish soap being a great choice for your health and the environment.

It is on the pricier side of the dish soaps we researched, but you only need a teaspoon of the concentrated gel to wash a sink full of dishes or an ounce to clean pots and pans with baked-on food. Puracy's products are made in the United States and come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

In the testing at Your Best Digs, reviewers mentioned that this soap was an excellent degreaser but only did moderately well with stuck-on food. The testers had to do a little bit of extra scrubbing to get the more stubborn food debris off. Overall, the reviewer recommended Puracy for its effectiveness and environmental consciousness.

Pros: Excellent for people with sensitive skin, effective on grease, great customer service

Cons: Somewhat watery

Best for baked-on foods

Foto: Source: Dawn

Dawn Platinum Power Clean Dishwashing Liquid is great for pots and pans that have been sitting out for a long time, cutting through caked-on grime and grease quickly.

When hosting a dinner party, it's hard to entertain and do the dishes at the same time. Sometimes, you can't get to it the next day… or the day after that. Dawn Platinum Power Clean Dishwashing Liquid was designed to help with the dishes you let sit a little too long. It features "4X more grease-cleaning power," a measurement that's based on the amount of cleaning ingredients per drop in Platinum Power Clean compared to non-ultra Joy.

Dawn positions the Platinum product line as a step up from the popular Ultra series. Though it costs slightly more, the Platinum dish soap comes in three scents (refreshing rain, vibrant fresh, and morning mist), while Ultra only comes in one (original). Plus, Ultra only has "3X grease-cleaning power" vs. 4X for Platinum, and has more difficulty with hard-to-remove gunk.

Howzoo created a guide examining the many different dish soaps available from Dawn. The reviewer observed that the amylase enzymes found in Platinum Power Clean are best for removing foods that are stuck to or dried on cookware.

Your Best Digs pointed out that Dawn is what is used to clean animals after oil spills, and similarly, the reviewer noted that Platinum Power Clean did a superb job of cutting grease without harming skin. It received top marks in the tests.

Pros: Removes baked-on food debris with minimal effort, cuts through grease

Cons: Has a D grade from EWG

Best on a budget

Foto: Source: Seventh Generation

Seventh Generation Dish Liquid is surprisingly affordable considering its eco-friendly formula.

Of all the dish soaps in our guide, Seventh Generation Dish Liquid is the most affordable. This is impressive since it is also certified as an EPA Safer Choice and USDA Biobased product. These certifications mean you can buy this dish soap without fear of harming Mother Nature.

Seventh Generation does not use triclosan, phosphates, or synthetic dyes or fragrances. The soap is biodegradable and was not tested on animals. And, it is packaged in a recycled plastic bottle. So, basically, Seventh Generation Dish Liquid is a safe and eco-friendly option.

Of the 28 dish soaps that Wirecutter tested out, Seventh Generation Dish Liquid came out on top. It tied with Dawn for its cleaning abilities, but testers found Seventh Generation had the upper hand because it doesn't use synthetic fragrances or dyes.

This product does have methylisothiazolinone (MIT) in it, which is used as a synthetic preservative. This European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety only considers this safe for contact allergies at a concentration of 15 ppm. Seventh Generation does not note how much MIT is in the dish soap.

Buyers with sensitive hands have indicated that the dish soap is gentle on their hands, the "Free & Clear" version doesn't have lingering scents, and it gets the job done on funky pots and pans.

Pros: Affordable, free of synthetic fragrances and dyes, handles grease

Cons: May require a substantial amount of liquid to get the job done, contains methylisothiazolinone

Best multi-purpose dish soap

Foto: Source: Dr. Bonner

Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner is a multipurpose formula that can be used on dishes, countertops, floors, and more.

If you are unfamiliar with Dr. Bronner's products, we strongly recommend that you check out our article about their products. As with other products from the company, Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner is safe for your health and the environment. It gets an A from EWG, and, best of all, it gets the job done effortlessly.

The price of Sal Suds is a bit misleading. It's nearly twice as much as the second most expensive soap on our list. However, to use Sal Suds like a normal dish soap in a squirt bottle, you pre-dilute it. According to Lisa Bronner, the granddaughter of the Dr. Bronner, an 8-to-1 water-to-cleaner ratio will work best. Or, you can just pop half a teaspoon of Sal Suds in a large sink full of water to get the job done.

Stain Removal 101 recommended the Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner because the reviewer was able to use it to easily clean a full sink of greasy dishes, including a crockpot with burnt-on cheese. The tester also noted that the cleaner kept its suds throughout the process and had a pleasant scent.

This Dr. Bronner's product was the top pick in Your Best Digs' tests. The reviewers found that it had no trouble handling food stains or oil. They also mentioned that baked-on food completely dissolved when soaked in a Sal Suds solution.

Best of all, it can be used for a variety of tasks, including laundry, insecticide, and cleaning kitchens, bathrooms, floors, and other parts of the house.

Pros: Has a broad range of uses, considered safe for the environment and your health

Cons: Expensive

Best for your hands

Foto: Source: J.R. Watkins

The natural ingredients in J.R. Watkins Liquid Dish Soap are gentle on your hands, and the formula doesn't include phosphates, dyes, bleach, or ammonia.

Since 1868, J.R. Watkins has produced an array of natural kitchen products from its headquarters in Minnesota. Though J.R. Watkins Liquid Dish Soap only earned a C rating from EWG, it's free of phosphates, dyes, bleach, and ammonia. Plus, J.R. Watkins does not test on animals. There are seven different scents available, including Lemon, Moisturizing Sweetgrass & Citron, Aloe & Green Tea, and Orange Citrus.

Real Simple recommended J.R. Watkins Liquid Dish Soap because it did a superior job on everyday dishes and glassware. The testers found all of the scents to be mild and enjoyable. The reviewers noted it didn't do as good of a job on baked-on foods as the other soaps they tried.

The reviewers at Good Housekeeping liked that this product did a fair job getting rid of grease and removing stuck-on debris. However, the Sweetgrass & Citron scent got a thumbs down, and testers noted that the J.R. Watkins Liquid Dish Soap could not maintain its suds. However, suds are not an indicator of cleaning power.

Pros: Gentle on your hands, great for glassware and dishes

Cons: Reports of it having difficulty with baked-on food

Check out our other cleaning buying guides

Foto: Source: Shutterstock/Alexander Raths

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