Everything You Need To Know About Blue Dawn® Dishwashing Liquid (2024)

Let’s discuss everything you need to know about blue Dawn® dishwashing liquid when it comes to using it in DIY cleaners.

Many readers have asked over the years, why does blue Dawnwork better in recipes?

I would like to go more in depth on this! This way you can know more about WHY everyone loves blue Dawn® and why I prefer it!

To view all the ways you can use it around your home, check out this post!

BTW this is not sponsored! Just sharing why I love it and what you need to know about it for homemade cleaners.

Disclaimer: This is a blog post. If you are seeking medical information, please contact a doctor or medical group. If you are seeking chemical analysis or laboratory testing, you need to reach out to the manufacturer of the product. This post is about DIY Cleaners and Blue Dawn….if you are looking for ANY other type of information, please go to the appropriate source.

What is Dishwashing Liquid?

Dishwashing liquid(also called dish soap)is in the category surfactant. Surfactants are pretty neat substances that allow for all types of cleaning.

Surfactants basically work to lower the surface tension between two items like a solid and a liquid. One part of a surfactant is attracted to water while the other part is attracted to a solid like dirt, food, or grease. It works to break down the item, thus cleaning it. This is how we have dishwashing liquids and detergents. This is also why so many of our homemade cleaners contain dishwashing liquid, it is truly the BEST HOME surfactant you can find.

Dawn Ultra

Water (Solvent), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (Cleaning Agent), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (Cleaning Agent), Lauramine Oxide (Cleaning Agent), Alcohol Denat. (Solvent), Sodium Chloride (Viscosity Adjuster), PPG 26 (Viscosity Adjuster), Sodium Hydroxide (PH Adjuster), Phenoxyethanol (Solvent), Methylisothiazolinone (Preservative)

You can find more science and ingredients on the SDS here.

Dawn Platinum

Water (Solvent), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (Cleaning Agent), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (Cleaning Agent), Lauramine Oxide (Cleaning Agent), Alcohol Denat. (Solvent), C9 11 Pareth 8 (Cleaning Agent), Sodium Chloride (Viscosity Adjuster), Tetrasodium Dicarboxymethyl Glutamate (Water Softener), Phenoxyethanol (Solvent), Methylisothiazolinone (Preservative)

You can find more science and ingredient break down on the SDS sheet here.

As you can see, the difference between these two is the Platinum version has an extra cleaning agent and water softener! This makes it more powerful for stuck on stains or food.

Dawn Free & Clear

This is an update in 2023…some of my readers are using Dawn Free & Clear now.It contains no dyes! I haven’t used it, but it should be the same formula.

What Does This Mean?

Initially, you might look at these ingredients and think WOW, that is a lot of chemicals! It is really not. In fact, you can buy a non-toxic, organic dishwashing liquid and see many ingredients listed on the back, they will all have a similar purpose.

Although, you always want to be cautious when it comes to anything like this around children and pets. This goes for things like natural soaps too (Castile soap).

Don’t be mislead by these ingredient names, they are all proper chemical names. Like sodium chloride is salt.

Dawn is safe for animals too. You have probably seen their wildlife campaign. Before making our homemade dog wipes, I asked my vet about using it for dogs. She said yes! Very mild and does a great job of cleaning off allergens.

Blue Dawn Compared to Other Dishwashing Liquids

If you compare ingredients of dishwashing liquids, 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 will usually have more preservative ingredients.

So, many years ago I chose to test a few different brands (before I even had a blog) to see if it made ANY difference. You can look at ingredients on each label, but it is impossible to know the percentage of each one because they don’t talk about that on ingredient lists for cleaning agents. It is not required by law at this time. It also doesn’t necessarily matter what order they are in like it does on skincare ingredients.

You can always reach out to the manufacturer to see if they have any additional information. A few brands have sent me things like chemical breakdowns and lab testing. If you want anything like that, it is worth a try reaching out to 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 🙂

A Few Common Brands I Have Tested:

Palmolive®
Joy®
Gain®
Ajax®

Results:

The blue Dawn Ultra I feature in most of my recipes cleaned better and removed things with less elbow grease. To me, the quicker something cleans up, the better. Each time, blue Dawn seemed to get things up quicker. Especially in homemade cleaners. I have had hundreds of readers write in over the years to say this as well.

Of course, you are welcome to use any concentrated dish soap in our cleaning recipes, but just remember we have tested the Dawn to give the best performance.

Another result I noticed was more suds, but less residue. It has a thicker solution too. It was also more concentrated, so I liked it better for things like my homemade weed killer.

I have been using it since!

What About Other Types of Dawn?

There are other types with different colors. I haven’t tested all of them out, but most of these aren’t concentrated and are scented. I prefer not to use them and stick with the original.

What Is the Closest Thing To Dawn

Many of my readers in other countries have told me they cannot get blue Dawn, so I always recommend to use a concentrated thick dishwashing liquid in it’s place. 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 substituting Dawn for Castile soap as more natural option. I have tried Castile Soap in multiple homemade recipes and it did not remove stuck on food stains very well. I love Castile Soap, and you are welcome to try it in any of our recipes, but just keep in mind it will not be as strong of a surfactant.

Is Blue Dawn Safe For Any Surface?

Yes! It is safe for absolutely anything! In fact, here is a list of how to clean your ENTIRE home with Dawn! That’s right, every thing in your home!

I also have this great SCIENCE based DIY cleaning guide with some tips on using dishwashing liquids to clean.

What If I Have Skin Allergies?

If you have any type of allergy to certain ingredients, I would ask your personal doctor about any product and share the ingredients with them. Many people have skin sensitivities to all types of ingredients. I get hand eczema when I touch any type of pepper, so I have to be careful about certain ingredients.

Skin allergies depend on your personal situation, so always check with a doctor if you have skin allergies.

Which Type of BlueDawn Should I Use?

I typically use the Ultra for almost everything. The platinum version is neat to have on hand. The Simply Clean has good uses too. Really any of them are good, just be sure to see what I use in homemade cleaners. If you have our eBook, all solutions use ultra 🙂

Now you know why I like blueDawn! Remember to come back for the cleaning guide!