Conventional dish soap swap to Fragrance-free dish soap

Why make the swap

• Why switch to fragrance-free dish soap

  Pick a formula with no added fragrance or dye. Our pick also leaves out ethoxylated ingredients such as sodium laureth sulfate, which can carry a trace of 1,4-dioxane; New York limits 1,4-dioxane to 1 ppm in household cleaners. The Seventh Generation pick carries EPA’s Safer Choice label.

• What's the concern with conventional dish soap

  Fragrance mix was the second most common skin allergen after nickel in a review covering 20,107 people. Dish soap is on your hands at every wash-up, and the dye is only there for looks.

• General information, not medical advice. Ask your doctor, especially if you’re pregnant, nursing or have a health condition.

• Good to know before you buy

  Squeeze a little into a basin of warm water instead of straight onto the sponge, and each bottle goes further.

  ATTITUDE Baby Bottle & Dish Soap, Unscented, 23.7 fl oz: No added fragrance or dye, and none of its listed ingredients is ethoxylated. Preserved with sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate.

  Palmolive Ultra Pure + Clear Fragrance Free Dish Soap, 32.5 fl oz: Contains sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), which can carry a trace of 1,4-dioxane; New York limits 1,4-dioxane to 1 ppm in household cleaners.

• Sources (4)

  1. Alinaghi et al. 2019 meta-analysis, 20,107 people: fragrance mix was the second most common contact allergen after nickel (3.5%) (opens in a new tab)
  2. EPA Safer Choice: label flags products with safer chemical ingredients; a separate label marks fragrance-free products (opens in a new tab)
  3. NY DEC: 1,4-dioxane limit of 1 ppm in household cleansing products from Dec 31, 2023; sodium laureth sulfate and other ethoxylated ingredients can carry it (opens in a new tab)
  4. EPA risk evaluation for 1,4-dioxane, including the 2024 supplement on byproduct 1,4-dioxane in detergents and cleaning products (opens in a new tab)

  Health and safety facts on this page come from these sources. What a pick is made of comes from its maker's listing or website, as stated on the date we checked.