c/dish-soap-wars

My 7th graders brought in 3 different dish soaps for a science fair project and it got weird

So my advisory group decided to test which dish soap makes the most bubbles for their fair project. One kid brought Dawn, one brought Ajax, and the third brought some random store brand from Food Lion. They set up these little jars with water and a drop of each soap, then shook them up for 10 seconds each. The Dawn totally dominated on bubble height, but here's the thing - the Food Lion stuff actually lasted longer before the bubbles popped. I had to explain that bubble height doesn't mean better cleaning, which got them arguing about what the whole point of dish soap even is. One kid legit asked if we should test grease cutting too, and now I'm stuck mediating a full blown debate between 12 year olds about surfactant science. Has anyone else had to deal with a kid getting way too into the technical side of this stuff?

Bought a 3-pack of generic dish soap to save $4... big mistake

Tbh I was trying to cut costs and grabbed some no-name brand at the dollar store. After scrubbing a single greasy pan for 10 minutes, I tossed the bottle and went back to Dawn. Anyone else waste cash on a budget soap that just made more work?

Finally switched from Palmolive to Dawn after a grease disaster last night

I spent 45 minutes scrubbing a single baking sheet with Palmolive and it still felt greasy. Tried Dawn on a whim and had it clean in under 5 minutes. Anyone else have a brand loyalty that took one bad experience to break?

Squeeze bottle hack saved me from dropping the whole dish rack

I kept flinging the soap bottle across the counter when it got slippery, so I wrapped a rubber band around the neck for grip and now I don't chase it across the kitchen anymore, has anyone else rigged up a dumb fix like that?

Went to a diner in Cleveland and their dish soap dispenser was full of Ajax

The grease on my coffee cup was still there after washing and I had to ask for a new one, has anyone else noticed Ajax leaves a film on glassware?

Dawn ruined my cast iron skillet at a cabin in Gatlinburg

I brought my trusty cast iron to a rental cabin in Gatlinburg last month and used the Dawn they had under the sink to clean it after breakfast. That stuff stripped the seasoning right off and left the pan looking rusty by lunchtime. Anyone else had a fancy dish soap mess up their cookware?

Found a stat about how much water dish soap saves me

I was reading through some government site last week about water usage and found out that using a sink full of soapy water instead of running the tap the whole time saves like 8 gallons per dish session. I've always just let the water run while scrubbing, but after that I started filling a basin. My water bill dropped about 12 bucks this month alone. Has anyone else tried switching to a basin method or am I just late to this?

Switched from Palmolive to Kirkland brand and my pans stopped feeling greasy

I used Palmolive for years because my mom always bought it. Last month I grabbed the big Kirkland bottle from Costco on a whim. After three washes I noticed my cast iron skillet didn't have that weird slick film anymore. My glasses came out clearer too. Has anyone else noticed a big difference between the store brand and the name brand stuff?

Appreciation post: my neighbor's one comment about my greasy dishes changed everything

She said my plates felt slick after washing, which I thought was normal until I switched to a different soap. Never realized how much residue I was leaving until I went back to the cheap stuff and felt the difference.

PSA: I used to dump dish soap straight onto the sponge until I tried filling the bottle with water first

Switched to diluting my Dawn about 50/50 with water in a squirt bottle last month and now I use half as much soap per load with zero difference in how greasy my pans get clean, anyone else tried this hack or am I just cheap?

Took me three hours to degrease one baking sheet with regular soap

I usually just use Ajax for everything, but my wife burnt some honey onto a sheet pan last week and it was a disaster. I scrubbed and scrubbed for three hours straight and barely made a dent. Finally grabbed a bottle of Dawn that my neighbor left at our place and it cut through the mess in maybe 10 minutes. Has anyone else run into a pan that just refuses to cooperate with your usual brand?

Found out Dawn kills fleas in 30 seconds flat

I was scrolling through a vet forum last night and saw someone claim Dawn dish soap kills fleas on contact. I looked up a study from the University of Kentucky that said it works because the surfactants strip the waxy coating off the flea and they drown in seconds. Tried it on my dog after a walk through the park near Elm Street and it actually worked better than the $15 topical drops I usually buy. Has anyone else here used dish soap for pest control or am I just late to this trick?

Dawn literally has a patent on some chemical that makes it better at cutting grease

I was bored last night and went down a rabbit hole on Google Patents after my sister swore Ajax works just as good. Turns out Dawn has a specific patent (US 5,879,000 or something like that) for a surfactant blend that breaks down animal fats way faster. I found a study from 2019 that tested 12 brands and Dawn dissolved grease in 4 seconds while Ajax took almost 15 seconds. That blew my mind because I always thought they were basically the same soap. Has anyone else actually looked into the science behind these or am I just nerding out too hard?

Ngl I spent 4 hours trying to get baked on grease off a pan when Dawn would have done it in 10 minutes

Am I the only one who thinks Palmolive beats Dawn for greasy cast iron?

I ran a side by side test last weekend on a pan with 3 days of baked on bacon grease and Palmolive cut through it in half the time Dawn did, but my roommate swears Dawn is better for everyday stuff so which one do you guys reach for when the pans are really bad?

Hot take: My worst dish soap week actually proved Ajax is better than Dawn

Last month I ran out of Dawn and had to use a bottle of Ajax my roommate left under the sink for 4 days straight. That Ajax handled a greasy lasagna pan and a burned pot of rice without needing half the bottle. Has anyone else found that a cheaper soap actually works better when you give it a real chance?

Broke a glass casserole dish in the sink last night and Dawn saved me from disaster

Was washing a greasy lasagna pan from Tuesday and a Pyrex lid slipped right out of my hand. Shattered everywhere, but one squirt of the blue stuff cut through the oil instantly so I could see all the tiny shards. Anyone else have a brand they trust when things get messy like that?

My neighbor swore by Palmolive... I almost got into a fistfight over dish soap last Tuesday

I was out back cleaning my grill grates with Dawn, the regular blue kind, and my neighbor Gary comes stomping over holding a half empty bottle of Palmolive. He tells me I'm wasting my time with Dawn because Palmolive cuts grease better and smells nicer. I told him I've used Dawn for 15 years and never had a problem, and he got all red in the face and started listing off some test he saw online about grease bubbles. Then he shoved his Palmolive bottle at me and said to try it right then or he'd never talk to me again. So I took it, squeezed some on a sponge, and honestly it did pretty good on the grill grates but I still like how Dawn feels on my hands after. Has anyone else had a neighbor or friend get weirdly defensive about their dish soap choice like that?

My mom told me I was using too much dish soap and she was right

She caught me squeezing a huge dollop onto a sponge and said all you need is a nickel-sized amount, now I'm stretching a single bottle of Dawn over 3 months instead of 1. Has anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from watching commercials?

Busted my favorite mixing bowl with gritty Dawn residue

Last Tuesday I was scrubbing a greasy baking pan and used a squirt of Dawn that had dried into a crusty clump around the nozzle. That gunk acted like sandpaper and I ended up cracking my big ceramic mixing bowl right down the middle. I've been using that bowl for like 8 years and it was my go-to for everything. Has anyone else ruined a dish or tool from old dried soap buildup on the bottle?

Can we talk about Palmolive vs. Dawn for greasy cast iron pans?

I spent the last month doing side-by-side tests on my 12-inch Lodge skillet after Sunday roasts. Dawn cut through the grease in one pass but left a weird film that made eggs stick the next morning. Palmolive took two scrubs but my pan stayed seasoned way better. Has anyone else noticed Dawn ruining their seasoning or is it just my water hardness doing something weird?

Shoutout to my $3 sponge trick that made my Dawn last 3 extra weeks

I was scrubbing a greasy lasagna pan last month and got annoyed at how fast my soap was disappearing. So I tried cutting a tiny slit in my sponge and just putting the bottle nozzle inside to squirt the soap straight into the sponge. Now I use maybe a quarter of the soap per wash. I'm on the same bottle of Dawn I've had since late August. Has anyone else tried filling their sponge like that or do you just pour soap out like normal?

Tried that fancy organic dish soap everyone raves about and my glasses came out cloudy

Picked up a bottle of Somebody brand soap at Whole Foods for $8 and after a week of use, all my drinking glasses have this weird film. Had to use vinegar to strip them clean. Anyone know if there's a natural soap that actually cuts grease without leaving residue?

Vent: 10 years of degreasing with cold water

Honestly I just figured out last week that hot water actually breaks down grease better than cold. I've been washing my pans under the tap with freezing water for like a decade because I thought heat 'cooks' the grease on. My aunt saw me scrubbing a bacon pan and just laughed. She ran the hot water over it for 30 seconds and the grease slid right off. Has anyone else been doing this wrong their whole life or am I just uniquely dumb?

Almost ruined my sink with a DIY dish soap hack I saw on TikTok

I tried that trick where you mix your dish soap with white vinegar in a foaming pump bottle to make it last longer. Seemed harmless enough. After about 3 days I noticed a weird smell coming from my drain and the water was backing up real slow. Turns out the vinegar reacted with some buildup in my pipes and made it worse. I had to pour boiling water and baking soda down there for a week to fix it. My plumber buddy in Phoenix told me straight up that mixing acids with soap can mess with your plumbing seals over time. Now I just use Dawn straight from the bottle and skip the DIY hacks. Anyone else have a cleaning experiment go sideways like this?