Grease, Suds or Scent? How to Pick the Best Dish Soap

A pan of chorizo, a comal after a batch of quesadillas, a pot that held carnitas: the grease in a home kitchen does not leave quietly. Hot water moves it around. Dish soap is what lifts it off the metal and lets the water carry it away, and the bottle by your sink does more work than almost anything else in the kitchen.

The surprise is how close the field is. Consumer Reports evaluated 12 popular dish soaps and says in the free part of its guide that all of them cleaned dishes really well. So the real choice comes down to the things you notice every night: how the soap handles baked-on grease, how it rinses, whether you want fragrance or dye, and how the bottle works. This guide names nine soaps and says what independent reviewers found and what each maker says it is for.

Julia’s earns a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. Recommendations are based on what a restaurant kitchen looks for, product specifications, the makers’ own labels and published reviews, which we name. We have not used these products ourselves.

Quick verdict: which dish soap to buy

These are hand-washing soaps. Consumer Reports says never to put dish soap in a dishwasher, because the extra suds can overflow and leave residue.

Five dish soaps side by side

Five standouts, one for each kind of sink, with uses as each maker or listing names them. All nine are covered in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Uses are as stated by each maker or listing; always follow the label on the bottle you receive.

Our picks for the best dish soap

We start with the grease-cutters, move through the fragrance-free bottles, and finish with scent, enzymes and a big-bottle option. Each section says which review backs it up, what the maker names it for, and why you might pass.

How to choose a dish soap for your sink

Be honest about what you cook. Consumer Reports’ free text says all 12 soaps it evaluated cleaned dishes really well, so for plates and glasses most of these will do. The differences show up on bacon grease, burnt cheese and crusted egg, which is where Dawn did best for Reviewed and where Seventh Generation and Mrs. Meyer’s drew complaints.

Decide on dye and fragrance. Seventh Generation, Palmolive Pure + Clear and ATTITUDE Unscented are the choices here that state no fragrance. Bob Vila warns that Ajax’s fragrance may be overpowering, and Mrs. Meyer’s is the one people buy for the smell.

Look at suds, but do not trust them too far. Heavy suds feel strong, yet TODAY’s reviewer found they can hide what you missed and take longer to rinse. Low foam does not always mean weak cleaning. Bob Vila rated Seventh Generation highly while TODAY found it did not foam much.

Use less. Bob Vila says one or two drops of Dawn Ultra make a sinkful of suds. A pump or a small squirt onto a wet sponge goes further than pouring.

Think about size and refills. A 16-ounce bottle suits a light user. If you wash by hand every night, look at the Ajax, the PowerSuds jug or the Seventh Generation six-pack. A good kitchen soap dispenser makes a refill jug easy to live with.

Read the label for limits. Retail copies of the Dawn label say to keep it out of eyes and out of reach of children, and not to use it in dishwashers. Follow what your bottle says, whichever brand you choose.

How we picked these nine dish soaps

We started from Amazon’s current listings and kept only liquid dish soaps that were in stock with a new offer from identifiable makers. Then we read TODAY’s 2026 ranking, Bob Vila’s 2024 review, Reviewed’s guide (last updated in 2024), the free part of Consumer Reports’ 2026 guide, and House Digest’s April 2026 report on Good Housekeeping’s Cleaning Awards. We did not read Good Housekeeping’s own page, and Consumer Reports’ ranking is for members, so we only say which brands it lists.

Ecos did well for TODAY and Bob Vila, but its standard bottles were low in stock or out of stock on Amazon when we checked, which left only a foaming spray and a case of gallon jugs, so it is not here. We also left off thin marketplace brands and any soap without a named review, because this is something you use on the things you eat from. We checked the saferproducts.gov recall database by brand and found no recall of these dish soaps. We did not use any of them ourselves, and nothing here is a health or safety claim beyond what a maker’s label says.

Dish soap questions, answered

What is the best dish soap for greasy pans?

Among the reviews we read, Dawn has the strongest record. Reviewed found Dawn Ultra dissolved bacon grease better than the other soaps it tried, and House Digest reports Good Housekeeping’s testers rated Platinum Plus PowerSuds above the rest of the Dawn line. Let the pan soak in hot water first.

Does an expensive dish soap clean better?

Not by much, on the evidence we could read. Consumer Reports says all 12 soaps it evaluated cleaned dishes really well and that its earlier tests found no meaningful differences either. Scent, ingredients and cost are where they part ways.

Can I use dish soap in the dishwasher?

No. Consumer Reports says never to use it in a dishwasher or washing machine, because the extra suds can overflow and cause leaks or residue. Dawn’s label, as shown by retailers, says the same about dishwashers.

Can I use dish soap on countertops or anything else?

Often, but check first. Consumer Reports says it cuts grease on stainless steel if you buff dry afterward, and lists marble countertops among the places not to use it. It also advises against using it on your face, hair or pets.

Is free and clear dish soap weaker?

It depends on the bottle. Bob Vila rated Seventh Generation Free & Clear and Palmolive Pure + Clear highly on every stain, while Reviewed and TODAY found Seventh Generation needed more work on grease and rinsing. Expect a good everyday soap, with a second pass on the fattiest pans.

Why does my soap leave a film or sticky feel?

It may simply need more rinsing. TODAY saw a slight residue from one soap and advised an extra rinse, and Reviewed saw a light haze from bacon grease with another. Using less soap and rinsing well is the first thing to try.

Our final pick for a clean sink

Buy Dawn Ultra if you want the one bottle that most reviewers trust, and the PowerSuds jug if grease is your daily problem. Choose Seventh Generation Free & Clear if you would rather have no scent or dye. Then give the clean dishes somewhere to go: see the best dish rack, the best dish towels and the best kitchen scrub brush, or read dish cloth vs sponge before you buy your next pack.

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And on a night when you would rather not face the sink, see the menu or call to order.