Consumer Reports Rates Dishwashing liquids/foam.

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~sudsshane

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1- Dawn Direct Foam ( 11.9 cents per tablespoon)
2- Ecover (6.2 cents)
3- Palmolive (5.1 cents)
4- Costco ( 2.4 cents)
5- Dawn liquid ( 4.7 cents)
6- Ajax liquid (2.7 cents)
7- Joy (3.7 cents)
8- 7th Generation (6.1 cents)
9- Ivory liquid (4.8 cents)
10 Earth Friendly Dishmate ( 6.8 cents)

Though Dawn Direct Foam topped the list in performance, it was also the most expensive at 11.9 cents per teaspoon,followed by Ecover and 7th Generation.
Overall, Ajax and Costco brands which received an excellent rating, were the most affordable.
 
I use and adore Dawn Direct Foam. A pump of that stuff truly will do a sinkload of dishes! It's powerful stuff, but rinses away easily. I've never thought there was 250 pumps in a bottle, though. There is a knockoff brand available at Kroger..probably the same stuff with a different label.
 
I like Joy. I got hooked on it when I learned that ocean going sailboat sailors like it, because it will suds in salt water. They use it for shampoo, as well. I also like it because it's one of the few liquids left that don't contain tricloslan.
 
hhmmm

I thought for sure Dawn would be the best (I guess it was in one form, but I thought the old faithful blue stuff would have come out on top) and I tought for sure that Joy and Dawn would be a tie... I think of them as one in the same typically.
 
oh yeah

Right now, I have a bottle of pink Polmolive... sensual sensations or some such fruity smell. I got it before I got my dishwasher and have had that same bottle for about 9 months now. I really don't hand wash ANYTHING now and I have no clue if I will ever need to buy regular soap again. I do use it sometimes for stuck on stuff or on the very rare occasion that I'm in the mood to hand wash because there's too much to fit in one dishwasher load. That happens once every two months. I also use it to wash the stove top and counters sometimes. I have Dawn direct foam and used that a lot before I got a dishwasher. Haven't touched it since. I've got 1/4th of a bottle left and have decided not to replace it when/if it runs out.

I wonder why they based the price on tablespoon amount. I've never used that much at any one time in my life!

The reason I associate Dawn and Joy as one in the same is because I got a childeren's cookbook as a pre teen and it said that those were the only two dishsoaps that worked well for making bubbles with coat hangers!

Has anyone tried those new soaps with the scrubbing microbeads? If so, what do you think?
 
I like Ajax and have used it for years. I find the scent more agreeable than that of others I have tried. Cleans well too.
 
For me it's Dawn. The best by far. Hands down!

At one time CR tested the detergents and determined that the labeled cost was not the true cost.

Logic: The good thick expensive stuff goes much further to clean better and more items. i.e. one teaspoon may do, say a sinkful. The cheaper more watery stuff may requre two teaspoons to do the same job. In this case the watery stuff may not actually be more economical.

My great aunt used to take a bar of Ivory soap (yes, it's real soap) and leave it in a pint-sized (2 cups/460ml) take-out soup container, using the slush / slurry for dishes. It's pure, it's economical and it feels great on your hands. Do
try it!

Today's English lesson:
Cheap actually traditionally means poor quality/flimsy. (and lately means whorish!) Inexpensive is another word entirely! :-)
 
Cheaper vs. Quality

This same discussion ensued in the restaurant where I work. The chef told the manager that he had to use twice the amount of liquid detergent to do that same job. The manager thought he was saving money by using the 'cheap' stuff to wash the pots and pans.

Same goes for the aluminum foil....two sheets instead of one to do the same job.
 
I'll say this: the Kirkland dw detergent is quite concentrated - thicker than most. And it's pretty good for washing hands, as well.

Back before I had a dishwasher, before 1997, I used Dawn for many years. I liked that it kept on sudsing despite seeing a fair amount of grease/oil. But then I started noticed the suds were actually dirty looking, yellowish brown, not very appealing, and hard to rinse off. So I switched to Joy, which I found worked very well.

Now that I have a kichen with a dishwasher, I don't use liquid dish detergent much. But I have two pump dispensers mounted in the sink. The one on the left has Joy, for the occasional items that I don't want to put in the dishwasher. The one on the right has coconut oil based liquid soap - from Smart & Final. I find it's relatively gentle on the hands, and will clean in cold water. When I have really grimy hands, I'll use the Joy, but it does tend to be drying.

A decade or two ago, Consumer Reports did a shampoo evaluation. They also tested Octagon Crystal White dish soap as a shampoo. They found it cleaned hair as well as any shampoo, but left hair dry, so they recommended using a conditioner afterwards (which most people do, anyway). Simple fact is, the major ingredient in dish soap and in shampoo is the same: sodium laurel sulfate (or its more technical name, sodium dodecyl sulfate, or SDS). It's a high sudsing surfactant that gives lots of lather - good for cleaning hair.

Just for grins, a year or so ago, I went looking for the Crystal White but could only find the yellow "lemon scented" Octagon. I tried that as a shampoo, but didn't care for the experience.

I think that Dawn, and maybe Joy, may have surfactants other than the standard sodium laurel sulfate, because they behave differently than SDS in the presence of grease or salt.
 
PS-At my local feed store, they sell a "horse shampoo" which is simply very concentrated sodium laurel sulfate. It's so concentrated it's quite viscous - like honey. The label says "for animal use only" but I'd be willing to bet that it would make a decent basic shampoo for people too, if diluted appropirately.
 
Launderess~

Oh Yes!! Crystal White Octagon in the Yellow bottle is awesome! I love the scent and it does a GREAT job cleaning the dishes. I sent Venus a bottle awhile back and she loved the Retro look of the bottle. You can find it down here in Florida in a few places, but I think it is most popular in the Northeast, namely N.Y & N.J.
 
I use so little dishwashing liquid that I have a 3-year old bottle of Ivory Liquid under the sink. It's about half gone. I just do not do wash many things by hand. And at the time, I believe Ivory Liquid was near the top of CR's ratings.
 
I do not have these liquids anymore!
I use Soda instead and that is the best to me!
With very fatty things I use a bit soap with it (soft-soap or bar-soap is equally good).

Ralf
 
Who's tried SA8 detergent?

Has anyone tried Amway's (Quixstar) SA8 detergent? I've heard many raves about it, but I'm skeptical. Having never used it, it's got me wondering: does it have a scent? what's its suds level? will it work in a regular top loading washer? Is it worth the expense? What do you say?
 
I usually use whatever I have a coupon for--Dawn, Joy, Palmolive. They all seem about the same to me.

I do keep a bottle of lemon Octagon in stock as a backup. It's good for hand washables (when I don't use Vel Rosita), but I don't think it does a great job with greasy dishes.

Sure wish they still made the Octagon in the white bottle with the pink lettering. Best bubble bath ever.

veg
 
SA8 is laundry detergent, not hand dishwashing---

and SA8 is the best laundry detergent I have used. A friend sent me a box, and I never want to be without it.

Amway/Quixtar's hand dishwashing detergent is Dish Drops, and it's all right. Haven't used it in years, but it was ok.

I miss OLD Ivory liquid. I cried when I used the last of my NOS in 1999. "Ultra" Ivory is not the same.

I currently use Dawn, but don't love it. Blue Dawn is great for heavy duty cleanup, though. Few things cut Crisco better.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 

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