After consulting medical professionals, we have good news: Yes, dish soap is an effective way to clean your hands.
``The short answer is yes, as long as you don't have a skin condition like eczema, you can use dish soap as hand soap because the ingredients in dish soap are used in skin-safe concentrations,'' Ford told me. ``Safety-wise, it's no worse than bar soap.''
Although both products are considered soap, there are key differences that set them apart. To answer the immediate question: An occasional dish soap vs hand soap crossover won't cause any long-term damage to either your hands or the tea mugs you need to quickly wash.
All of the ingredients we use in our products are safe for people and the environment.
Traditional dish soaps often contain harsh chemicals that can irritate the skin, leading to conditions such as dryness, redness, or even dermatitis. By contrast, dish soaps that prioritize skin safety are typically formulated with mild, non-irritating ingredients.
Procter & Gamble Dawn Gentle Clean EZ-Squeeze Dish Soap
And good cleaning shouldn't come at the expense of your hands.
Dish soap is often used for cleaning a variety of surfaces and household items. Dish soap has also been used for removing oil from wildlife found near oil spills, since it contains ingredients that help remove oil and grease but is still gentle enough to use on skin, hair, feathers, and fur.
Solid soap bars such as Palmolive Moisture Care with olive oil extract can be used to cleanse the hands, face and body in the shower. Body soaps like this are very hydrating and keep the skin moisturised, soft and clean.
Dish Soap & Dishwashing Liquids - Palmolive®
"Dish soap is designed to be extremely efficient at removing grease, which is oil," he explained. "It's not designed to be gentle on your skin. It's designed to be harsh on your pots and pans." In short: Stripping that much oil off your face runs the risk of making your face more sensitive to irritation.
Just as you can't use dishwashing soap in your dishwasher, you shouldn't use detergents when hand-washing dishes. Because it doesn't suds up the way dishwashing soap does, you might waste detergent in pursuit of achieving the desired bubbles.
This product is designed to be used on dishes, but also works to kill bacteria on the skin when used to wash your hands. The information on the label needs to be there to meet government requirements.
While you can technically use hand soap to wash dishes in a pinch, it's not the best solution for several reasons. Let's talk about why dish soap, especially one designed for optimal performance, is the superior choice for cleaning your dishes.
Palmolive Regular Original dishwashing liquid is specially formulated to be tough on grease and soft on your hands.
Dawn excels in professional settings with powerful surfactants for tackling heavy grease and oil, while Palmolive provides balanced grease removal tailored for frequent, gentle cleaning, ensuring dishes are free from residue.
Ultra Palmolive® Antibacterial liquid dish soap eliminates 99.9% of bacteria* in 30 seconds on dishes. This dish liquid uses a plant-based active ingredient** for residue-free cleaning and antibacterial action.
Made of coconut, palm and olive oils, Palmolive bar soap was introduced in 1898. Originally, the bar soap floated like Procter & Gamble's Ivory bar soap. By the turn of the 20th century, Palmolive bar soap was the world's best-selling soap.
Ivory Classic Dish Soap
Many big-name dish soaps can be notoriously rough on your hands if you don't use gloves, but this formula from Ivory isn't. It has a nicely emollient texture and a pleasant scent that isn't overpowering.
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the B. J. Johnson Company was making a soap from palm oil and olive oil, the formula of which was developed by Burdett J. Johnson in 1898. The soap was popular enough to rename their company after it in 1917—Palmolive.
Palmolive Ultra Gentle Care dishwashing liquid is hypoallergenic and dermatologist tested for sensitive skin.
Avoid harsh soaps (Ivory) or soaps which contain additives such as deodorants (Safeguard, Zest, Lever 2000, Irish Spring), perfumes (Bath and Body Works), or lanolin (Palmolive). Gentle, bland soaps (Cetaphil, Unscented Dove, Aveeno, Oilatum, Oil of Olay, Aquanil) are the best.
Bar soap and body wash can both be good for cleaning your skin. The better option depends on your personal preferences and needs. For example, “body washes are often more hygienic as you're dispensing what you need every time you use it, rather than rubbing the whole bar on your body,” says Yadav.
Dyes – Often added for their aesthetic appeal on your counter, dyes in dish soap can contain irritating compounds such as benzidine, a known carcinogen. They have also been linked to many mood disorders, like hyperactivity.
While you can buy antibacterial dish soap from brands like Palmolive and Dawn, they really aren't necessary. The FDA has said that there is no concrete evidence showing that antibacterial soap is more effective at removing germs than regular dish soap and water. It's more about the actual physical action of washing.
Several substances can cause allergic reactions on the skin, and dish soap is one of them. Certain ingredients in dish soap are known irritants and allergens that can lead to redness or rashes on the hands. This reaction is called contact dermatitis. It may also be referred to as eczema on the hands.