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Dishwashing liquid

Detergent used for cleaning dishes

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  • 6 chapters

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Dishwashing liquid has been in use for a long time in various compositions and under different conditions. Most modern dishwashing liquids function best with hot water. However, there are dishwashing products designed to work well with cold water or seawater.

History

Household dishwashing predates modern detergents by many centuries. Before the development of synthetic detergents and liquid dish soaps, crockery and utensils were usually scrubbed with hot water and abrasives such as sand, ashes or washing soda (sodium carbonate), or with the same bar soaps and soap flakes used for laundry and personal washing.

In the early 20th century, chemists developed the first synthetic detergents, initially in Germany, as substitutes for soap in situations where shortages of natural fats and the tendency of soap to form insoluble “soap scum” in hard water limited its usefulness. During the 1930s and 1940s, companies such as Procter & Gamble commercialised household synthetic detergents for laundry, including Dreft (1933) and the heavy-duty powdered detergent Tide (1946). These low-suds synthetic surfactants could be formulated as liquids and performed better than traditional soaps in hard water, paving the way for specialised dishwashing detergents.

Dedicated dishwashing detergents emerged alongside these developments. Industry accounts describe liquid dishwashing detergents being manufactured in the United States from the 1930s and 1940s, while in Europe the synthetic detergent Teepol, introduced in the United Kingdom in 1942, was promoted for washing dishes as well as industrial cleaning. Liquid formulations for hand dishwashing gradually replaced traditional bar soaps in many markets.

Commercially packaged liquid dishwashing detergents became widely available in the post Second World War period. In the United States, Procter & Gamble introduced Joy in 1949 as one of the first nationally marketed liquid dish soaps, promoted for fast foaming and grease cutting in household sinks rather than in mechanical dishwashers. Company and brand histories describe Joy as the first widely distributed liquid dish soap in the U.S. market and note that it remained an important brand for several decades.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, liquid dishwashing detergents spread to other markets. Unilever’s Sunlight brand launched a dishwashing liquid in 1957, reflecting a wider shift from general purpose soap bars toward purpose made household cleaners. In Europe, Procter & Gamble developed Fairy Liquid, sold from 1950 in the United Kingdom and later in other European countries, advertising both its grease removal performance and its relative mildness on users’ hands.

By the 1950s and 1960s, dishwashing liquids had become standard household products in many industrialised countries, competing on lather, fragrance and convenience as part of a broader post-war boom in branded cleaning products. Colgate-Palmolive introduced Palmolive dishwashing liquid in 1966; company histories describe it as a liquid dish soap that was “tough on grease, soft on hands”, a positioning reinforced by long-running television commercials featuring the fictional manicurist “Madge”.

In 1973, Procter & Gamble launched Dawn in the United States as a high foaming liquid detergent for hand dishwashing. Trade and popular accounts describe Dawn as becoming the leading dishwashing liquid in the U.S. market over the following decades and note the later introduction of “ultra” concentrated formulations in the 1990s. Other manufacturers likewise introduced concentrated liquids, color and fragrance-varied products and private-label alternatives, while continuing to market legacy brands such as Joy, Fairy and Palmolive.

From the 1960s onward, environmental concerns increasingly influenced detergent and dishwashing liquid formulation. Synthetic detergents, including dishwashing products, frequently contained phosphate “builders” to improve cleaning in hard water, but phosphates were later linked to nutrient pollution and algal blooms in lakes and rivers. As regulators restricted phosphates in household detergents in the 1970s, manufacturers reformulated products with alternative builders and enzymes and began to promote “phosphate-free” or “low-phosphate” detergents.

Since the late 20th century, dishwashing liquids have also been affected by broader trends toward milder and more environmentally benign household cleaners. Manufacturers introduced products advertised as gentle on skin, “biodegradable” or based partly on plant derived surfactants, alongside conventional petroleum based formulations. Some dishwashing liquids incorporated antibacterial agents such as triclosan, but regulatory reviews in the United States and elsewhere concluded in the 2010s that such ingredients offered little benefit in consumer wash products and raised health and environmental concerns, leading to bans or restrictions and further reformulation of liquid soaps and detergents.

Dishwashing liquids have also found uses beyond domestic sinks. Wildlife rescue organizations and U.S. agencies report using diluted Dawn dish detergent to remove petroleum residues from birds and marine mammals contaminated in oil spills, a practice that has been widely publicised since the late 20th century and incorporated into cause-related marketing by the brand’s owner.

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