Let's discuss everything you need to know about blue Dawn® dish soap when it comes to using it in DIY cleaning products.
Many readers over the years have wondered why Blue Dawn works better in recipes?
I would like to go into more detail about that! Here's how to learn more about WHY everyone loves blue Dawn® and why I prefer it!
To see all the ways you can use it in your home,check out this post!
By the way, this is not sponsored! I'm just sharing why I love it and what you need to know about it for homemade cleaning products.
Disclaimer: This is a blog post. If you are seeking medical information, please contact a doctor or medical group. If you require chemical analysis or laboratory testing, please contact the product manufacturer. This post is about DIY cleaners and Blue Dawn… if you are looking for ANY other type of information, go to the right source.
What is dish soap?
Dishwashing liquid(also called dishwashing liquid) falls into the category of surfactants. Surfactants are quite fine substances that allow all kinds of cleaning.
Surfactantsbasic work to lower the surface tension between two substances, such as a solid and a liquid. Part of a surfactant is attracted to water, while the other part is attracted to a solid such as dirt, food or grease. It works to break down the item and thus clean it. We have dishwashing liquids and detergents. This is also why so many of our homemade cleaning products contain dish soap; it is truly the BEST HOME surfactant you can find.
There are a few different types of blue dawn:
- Dawn Ultra
- Unfocused dawn
- These platinum
- Update: They make one tooDawn Free and clear product
Most of my solutions contain blue Dawn Ultra because it is concentrated. The regular Dawn is a non-concentrated version (also called Simply Clean), so it is more diluted. Platinum Dawn is virtually identical to Ultra, but contains more surfactants (according to the manufacturer).
Let's take a closer look at surfactants.
According tomanufacturer's website, here are the most active ingredients in Ultra and Platinum. Keep in mind that the other type, non-concentrated or Simply Clean as they call it, will simply be a more diluted version of Ultra. Next to each chemical in brackets is the purpose of the ingredient. Dishwashing detergents contain cleaning agents, solvents, pH adjusters, and things that influence viscosity. All store bought items contain a preservative to keep them fresh! Even organic products contain a preservative. In fact, all the organic cleaners I looked at contained the same preservative.
A quick side note: Everything you buy in a store contains a preservative so bacteria won't grow on the shelves. Items without preservatives have a shelf life of approximately two weeks.
Dawn Ultra
Water (solvent), sodium lauryl sulfate (cleaning agent), sodium laureth sulfate (cleaning agent), lauramine oxide (cleaning agent), alcohol denat. (solvent), sodium chloride (viscosity regulator), PPG 26 (viscosity regulator), sodium hydroxide (PH regulator), phenoxyethanol (solvent), methylisothiazolinone (preservative)
You can find more science and ingredientson SDS here.
These platinum
Water (solvent), sodium lauryl sulfate (cleaning agent), sodium laureth sulfate (cleaning agent), lauramine oxide (cleaning agent), alcohol denat. (solvent),C9 11 Pareth 8 (detergent), Sodium chloride (viscosity adjustment),Tetrasodium dicarboxymethyl glutamate (plasticizer),Phenoxyethanol (solvent), methylisothiazolinone (preservative)
More scientific information and an overview of the ingredients can be found atSDS ark hair.
As you can see, the difference between these two is that the Platinum version has an extra detergent and fabric softener! This makes it more powerful at holding on to stains or food.
Dawn Free and clear
This is a 2023 update... some of my readers are usingDawn Free and clearnow. It contains no dyes! I haven't used it, but it should be the same formula.
What does it mean?
At first you might look at these ingredients and think WOW, that's a lot of chemicals! It really isn't. You can even buy a non-toxic, organic dish soap and see many of the ingredients listed on the back, they will all serve a similar purpose.
Although you always want to be careful when it comes to these kinds of things around children and pets. This also applies to things like natural soaps (Castile soap).
Don't be fooled by these ingredient names, they are all realchemical names.Like sodium chloride is salt.
Dawn is also safe for animals. You've probably seen ittheir nature campaign. Before we make our homemadedog napkin, I asked my vet if I could use it for dogs. She said yes! Very mild and removes allergens well.
Blue Dawn compared to other detergents
If you compare the ingredients in dish soaps, they are all VERY similar. You can scroll through all the different types and look at common ingredients. Some have more preservatives, others more fragrance. Cheap brands usually have more preservative ingredients.
So years ago I decided to test a few different brands (before I even had a blog) to see if it made any difference. You can look at the ingredients on each label, but it's impossible to know the percentage on each label because they don't talk about it on cleaning product ingredient lists. Currently this is not legally required. It also doesn't necessarily matter what order they are in, just like with skincare ingredients.
You can always contact the manufacturer to ask if they have additional information. A few brands have sent me things like chemical breakdowns and lab tests. If you want something similar, it's worth contacting the brand.
Another way to see what works better in DIY cleaners is to simply test it. This is my favorite part of making DIY cleaners 🙂
Een paar veelvoorkomende merken die ik heb getest:
- Palmolive®
- Joy®
- Profit®
- Ajax®
Results:
I have been able to clean the blue Dawn Ultra better in most of my recipes and remove things with less elbow grease. For me, the sooner something becomes clear, the better. Each time, Blue Dawn seemed to pick things up faster. Especially in homemade cleaning products. I've had hundreds of readers write in to say this too over the years.
You are of course welcome to use any concentrated dishwashing liquid in our cleaning recipes, but remember that we have tested Dawn to deliver the best performance.
Another result I noticed was more foam but less residue. It also has a thicker solution. It was also more concentrated, so I liked it better for things like minehomemade weed killer.
I've been using it ever since!
What about other types of dawn?
There are other types with different colors. I haven't tested them all, but most of these are not concentrated and fragrant. I prefer not to use them and stick with the original.
What is closest to dawn?
Many of my readers in other countries have told me that they can't get Blue Dawn, so I always recommend using a concentrated thick dish soap instead. I can't say it will be as good in our homemade cleaners, but it will be very similar!
What About Castile Soap?
Many readers have questions about replacing Castile soap with Dawn as a more natural option. I've tried Castile Soap in several homemade recipes and it didn't remove stubborn food stains very well. I love Castile Soap and feel free to try it in any of our recipes, but keep in mind that it won't be as strong a surfactant.
Is Blue Dawn safe for any surface?
Yes! It's safe for absolutely everything! Actually,here is a listhow to clean your ENTIRE house with Dawn! You read that right: everything in your house!
I'm having a great time tooSCIENCE-based DIY cleaning guidewith some tips for using detergents for cleaning.
What should I do if I have skin allergies?
If you have any kind of allergy to certain ingredients, I would ask your personal doctor about each product and share the ingredients with them. Many people have skin sensitivities to all types of ingredients. I get hand eczema when I touch pepper, so I have to be careful with certain ingredients.
Skin allergies depend on your personal situation. Therefore, always consult a doctor if you have skin allergies.
Which type of BlueDawn should I use?
I usually use Ultra for almost everything. The platinum version is nice to have on hand. Simply Clean also has good application options. They're all really good, but be sure to check out what I use in homemade cleaning products. If you like oure-bog, all solutions use ultra 🙂
Now you know why I like blueDawn! Don't forget to return to the cleaning instructions!
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