Dish washing soap problems?

Originally Posted by LisaInN.Idaho

I read this a while back on cooksillustrated.com (america's test kitchen). They've never steered me wrong. Oddly, the "green" brands came out on top...even beating Dawn, which I've always favored. After I use up my Costco-sized jug of Dawn...I'll try one of the winners here.



Liquid Dish Detergent
Published October 1, 2007.

We wondered how "natural," more ecologically friendly detergents stacked up against traditional supermarket brands.


Highly Recommended
Method Go Naked Ultra Concentrated Dish Detergent
This eco-friendly detergent comes in a sleek bottle, but we were impressed by the contents-this detergent won the wetting test and aced all of our scrubbing tests.
$2.99 for 25 fluid ounces (12 cents per ounce)
Highly Recommended
Seventh Generation Free & Clear Natural Dish Liquid
This eco-friendly detergent did the best job on the nasty mess of burnt chicken teriyaki. While it is the most expensive detergent in our lineup, it performed admirably in all tests.
$3.19 for 25 fluid ounces (13 cents per ounce)
Recommended
Dawn Ultra Original Scent Concentrated Dishwashing Liquid
This bright blue detergent proved its worth by finishing just a tier below our two winners (it scored well in each washing test), making it our top choice among mass-market brands.
$2.69 for 25 fluid ounces (11 cents per ounce)
Recommended
AJAX Lemon Super Degreaser Dish Liquid
This inexpensive, "very lemony-smelling" detergent performed well in cleaning tests. A few testers commented on the high volume of suds this detergent produced.
$1.99 for 38 fluid ounces (5 cents per ounce)
Recommended
Ivory Ultra Classic Scent Concentrated Dishwashing Liquid
This detergent has no dyes but a strong "fresh baby" smell. It did an especially good job cutting through the burnt chili residue.
$2.99 for 25 fluid ounces (12 cents per ounce)
Recommended
Palmolive Ultra Original Concentrated Dish Liquid
Although a few testers were turned off by the bright green color, others liked the "old-time," "fresh laundry" scent.
$2.49 for 25 fluid ounces (10 cents per ounce)
Recommended
Joy Ultra Concentrated Lemon Dishwashing Liquid
This detergent finished last or second-to-last in all of our tests. Its lemon scent was deemed "pleasing" and "clean-smelling."
$2.29 for 25 fluid ounces (9 cents per ounce)

Liquid dish detergent is one of those household staples that most of us don't put a lot of thought into. After all, how different can dish detergents be? They all work, right? Most of us buy what's on sale or whichever product smells or looks the best. In recent years, natural, more ecologically friendly, dye- and perfume-free detergents which swap out all or most of the petroleum-based cleaning agents for vegetable-based ones have hit the market. Curious about how they stacked up against traditional brands, we rounded up seven detergents (in each brand's original or most basic formulation), rolled up our sleeves, and headed into the test kitchen to put them through their paces.

To test each detergent, we systematically burned carefully measured portions of several classic hard-to-clean foods—beef and bean chili, béchamel sauce, and skin-on chicken thighs marinated in teriyaki sauce—onto stainless-steel skillets. We measured out equal ratios of each dish detergent and temperature-controlled water, submerged the dirty pans, and started scrubbing, counting our strokes for each pan. At the end of the testing, every pan was clean: Yes, all dish detergents work. But a few detergents stood out above the others for being able to clean the pans as much as 25 percent more quickly. We were very surprised to find that the two most effective dish detergents were the "natural" ones: our assumption had always been that the more expensive eco-friendly detergents didn't clean as well as the mass-market products.

To help us better understand our kitchen results, we turned to our science editor, who explained that the active ingredients in dish detergents are chemical compounds called surfactants. Surfactants help oil and water (which normally repel each other) mix; when made "wet" by the surfactants, the oil-based food grease is surrounded by water droplets and carried away, resulting in clean dishes. The amount and type of surfactants will determine how effective a dish detergent is at attacking grease.

Since our two “natural” samples primarily use vegetable-based surfactants and the other detergents in our lineup use considerably more petroleum-based surfactants, one could assume that vegetable-based cleaning agents are more effective. Not so fast. In fact, many of the mass-market brands contain surfactants of both origins and independent researchers have not found that vegetable-based surfactants are inherently more effective than petroleum-based ones. So why did these two outperform the other detergents?

It may come down to cost. Representatives from our winners say they spend the money to load their products with high concentrations of effective surfactants, which ensures a high-performing detergent. We'd have to say this approach works.

Originally Posted by MariaAZ

I prefer Dawn too, but have a question about suds. I've read that the presence of suds really is no indication of cleaning power.