An everyday staple we use, but is it common to ever stop and think what goes into it? Or the residues left behind that end up in our body. Let's dive in.
After hours of our own research - stretching on years of research. Here is what we've learned. Dish soap comprises of 3 main factors; Water, Surfacants, and Grease cutting agents.
What Do We Need To Know About Surfactants?
The main Surfacants used in dish soap comprise of Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS). Lifting dirt from the surfaces to create foam - giving you that satisfying foamy feeling we all look to when cleaning. This is the workhorse Surfactant for cutting all forms of grease and grime, and food particles. The catch? This ingredient is not looked towards nowadays due to health and skin concerns among individuals. To be simple, it's not as clean as we would like. But it's how you get that sudsy formation in your traditional, harsh chemical soaps.
What Do We Need To Know About The Water?
The Water in your dish soap holds all of the ingredients together, creating a bond so they can disperse and activate. Soap without water is an active paste, with water; it becomes a dynamic grease fighting liquid equally dispersed. This allows food particles to lift up and away from your plates and wash away.
What Do We Need To Know About The Grease Cutting Agents?
The main Solvents used in dish soap comprise of Denatured Alcohol and Propylene Glycol. These stabilize a formula and help break down grease. In our formula, we use alkyl polyglucosides; derived from coconut and plant derived sugars to lift grease up and away.
What Do We need To Know About Additional Ingredients In Dish Soap?
Additional ingredients you may find in dish soap are your common color dyes (Blue 1, Yellow 5) and perfumes. Finishing the formula with aesthetic appeals for sight and senses, also leaving a film behind on your hands and your dishes. Though we wouldn't consider this on our formula, it is not very clean or 'friendly'. But we understand the appeal it has to many people. The effects outweigh the vanity for us. When dish soap really, is simple.
Something Else You May See
Something else you may also see in dish soap is Sodium Chloride (Salt). This gives the formula a thick gel like consistency, rather than being thin and watery. Some may prefer a thicker soap, but performance is also to be considered. Does it run through your dish brush, fall right off and splat into the skink bin, or does it hold flat on your brush bristles for you to scrub and create a lather.
When Finding a dish soap that works for you, your family and your values these days it's good to know all the factors. Some formulations depend on the brand, what is occurring with common companies is the use of petroleum derived compounds for heavy grease cutting while some rely solely on plant derived compounds. It is always good to know before you buy, and maybe next time you get a new appreciation for washing dishes - or your dish soap.
That's it for now,
With Love