Touchless or Press-Top? The Best Kitchen Soap Dispenser

The soap by the kitchen sink gets used more than almost anything else in a cooking kitchen. You wash your hands after handling raw chicken for tinga, after shredding a pot of carnitas, after seeding a dozen jalapeños, and every time you scrub the comal or the molcajete. Half the time your hands are too greasy or too messy to grab a slippery bottle.

That is why a good dispenser is worth choosing with care. This guide covers nine kitchen soap dispensers: touchless sensor pumps, press-top pumps you can work with a wrist, foaming dispensers, sponge-and-soap caddies, and a pump that installs in the sink deck. We used America’s Test Kitchen’s review of automatic soap dispensers, the makers’ specifications and the Amazon listings.

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Quick verdict: which kitchen soap dispenser to buy

The sink area works as a set: a dispenser for soap, a dish drying mat for what you wash, and a stack of dish towels for your hands.

Five kitchen soap dispensers compared

Our five standout picks, one for each kind of kitchen, with type, capacity and sponge storage as each maker or listing states them. All nine dispensers are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Capacities and care instructions are as each maker or listing states them; check the listing before you buy.

Our picks for the best kitchen soap dispenser

These nine cover the real choices: sensor or manual, liquid or foam, a dispenser on its own or one with a place for the sponge, on the counter or built into the sink. Each pick explains who it suits and gives one honest reason to skip it.

How to choose a kitchen soap dispenser for a cooking kitchen

Touchless, press-top or pump

The point of a kitchen dispenser is not touching a bottle with dirty hands. Sensor pumps avoid contact entirely but need batteries or charging. Press-top and wide-headed pumps, like the OXO Easy Press and Joseph Joseph Presto, can be worked with a wrist. A plain pump bottle is the cheapest but the easiest to knock over with wet, greasy hands.

Hand soap, dish soap or both

Decide what goes in it. Hand soap suits any of these. Dish soap is thicker, and Secura warns that thick soaps may clog its sensor pump. For dishes, a design that puts soap straight on the sponge, like the OXO sponge holder, is the most practical, and a pump-and-caddy unit like the Casabella keeps soap and sponge together.

Liquid or foam

Foaming dispensers are for hands. They use less soap per wash, according to simplehuman, but foam is not what you want on a sponge for a greasy cazuela. If you want foam at the sink and liquid for dishes, you need two dispensers.

Sponge storage

A wet sponge sitting in a puddle stays wet. Caddies that hold the sponge upright or raised, such as the simplehuman caddy and the OXO holder, let it drain. Whatever you choose, pick one that comes apart, because the bottom of a sponge caddy collects water.

Capacity and refilling

Look for at least 14 ounces if you wash a lot of dishes, a wide opening for thick soap, and a window or clear body so you can see the level. America’s Test Kitchen found a steel simplehuman pump hard to judge at a glance and liked its winner’s transparent body.

Grease goes in the trash first

No soap makes up for pouring fat down the drain. Houston Public Works asks residents to wipe grease from pots, pans and plates with a paper towel before washing and throw the towel in the trash, and to collect cooking grease in a jar or can for the trash rather than pouring it into the sink. A good oil dispenser also helps you use less oil in the first place.

How we chose these nine soap dispensers

We started with America’s Test Kitchen’s review of automatic hand soap dispensers, which named the Secura its winner and recommended a rechargeable simplehuman pump. We then looked for dispensers from established makers covering each type that matters at a kitchen sink: sensor, press-top, foaming, sponge combinations and built-in. Every specification comes from the maker or the Amazon listing, and we wrote “not stated” where they were silent. Every pick was in stock on Amazon when we checked.

We have not used these dispensers ourselves, and we did not read Wirecutter or Consumer Reports for this guide, so we do not quote them. We left out unbranded sensor dispensers and sponge caddies with little maker information, and wall-mounted shower dispensers, which are built for bathrooms.

Kitchen soap dispenser questions, answered

What is the best rated kitchen soap dispenser?

In America’s Test Kitchen’s review of automatic dispensers, the Secura 17-ounce model was the winner, praised for fast, reliable dispensing and few accidental triggers. For a kitchen sink, we prefer simplehuman’s sensor pump with a sponge caddy, because it keeps the sponge in the same spot.

Are touchless soap dispensers worth it in a kitchen?

They are most useful in kitchens where you handle raw meat or greasy food often, because you never touch the pump. The trade-off is batteries or charging, and some models are limited to thinner soaps.

Can I put dish soap in a hand soap dispenser?

Often, yes, but check the maker’s instructions. OXO lists its Easy Press for dish soap, hand soap or lotion; Secura warns against thick soaps; and Joseph Joseph lists the Presto for hand soap.

What is the best modern kitchen soap dispenser?

For a clean, modern look, a built-in dispenser like the Kraus KSD-43 removes the bottle from the counter entirely. Among countertop models, the brushed steel simplehuman and OXO dispensers are the most understated.

How do I keep a soap dispenser clean?

Choose one that comes apart or has a removable base, rinse the base and sponge area regularly, and wipe the pump. simplehuman rates its foaming pump IP67 for water resistance, which it says makes it easy to clean.

Our final pick for the kitchen sink

Buy the simplehuman Liquid Sensor Pump with Caddy if you want touchless soap and a dry sponge in one place. Choose the Secura for the touchless pump America’s Test Kitchen rated best, the OXO sponge holder for dish soap straight onto the sponge, the OXO Easy Press for a battery-free pump, or the Kraus built-in to clear the counter.

More for the sink and counter: dish racks, sink caddies, paper towel holders, utensil holders, trash cans, compost bins, Swedish dishcloths.

Want the sponge and soap in one spot? See our guide to the best soap dispensers with a sponge holder.

Want it touch-free? See our guide to the best automatic soap dispensers.

The sink is where the cast iron ends up after every batch of tortillas; our guide to the best cast iron skillet covers how each maker says to wash and dry it. And when the dishes can wait, see our menu and call to order.