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Article updated on June 2, 2023 at 10:30 AM PDT

Throw Out Your Primitive Dish Soap and Use This Genius Stuff Instead

Washing dishes is never going to be fun, but Dawn Powerwash spray-on soap makes it a whole lot easier.

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David Watsky
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David Watsky Senior Editor / Home and Kitchen
David lives in Brooklyn where he's spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips. Since earning a BA in English from Northeastern in Boston, he's toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom. Right now, he's likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or researching the best way to make bacon. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week.
Expertise Kitchen tools, appliances, food science, subscriptions and meal kits.
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A bottle of Dawn dish spray

Dawn dish soap spray is a very welcome addition to my kitchen. 

David Watsky/CNET

I'll bravely admit that I don't love doing dishes. One reason is the constant reaching for a slimy bottle of soap. But keeping enough suds in the mix is tough when a sponge only holds on to it for so long. A wild drizzle strategy helps, but so much of that soap gets washed away and wasted down the drain. And then there's the messy business of handling that slippery, soapy, greasy bottle and cleaning the inevitable mess it leaves on the counter.

Enough already, I say! And the good people at Dawn listened with this smart update to a daily household product that we all thought was done evolving. Dawn's Powerwash Platinum dish spray is new(-ish) to the market and solves the problems above with a "technology" that's been right in front of our eyes the entire time. Even better, it's not much more expensive. In fact, I spotted four-pack of this excellent dish soap spray for $17 on Amazon

How does Dawn dish spray work?

Dawn dish spray being sprayed into a sink

A perfect plume of dish soap headed for every square (round?) inch of a dirty skillet.

David Watsky/CNET

With Powerwash, you spray a mist of dish soap onto your dishes and scrub, or let it sit for a few if you need some time to muster the courage after cooking or eating (where my soakers at?) and then start scrubbing 'em down. The thin soapy liquid is dispersed uniformly across the dishes or pans so you won't need to worry about spreading the love. If you need more, there's no cap to flip or bottle to turn upside down; just grab the stuff and spray some more. 

egg on stainless steel frying pa

One spray of Powerwash helped to lift this stubborn stuck-on egg with ease. 

David Watsky/CNET

I found this soap far more efficient than liquid soap and just as good at cutting grease and helping to lift stubborn, sticky food like fried eggs. It's tricky to prove, but I know dispensing the soap in spray form also wastes less total product, which is good because it's a smidge more expensive than traditional liquid soap. What's more, the replaceable spray nozzle transfers from bottle to bottle, so you're only buying refill bottoms chock full of beautiful dish spray. 

How much does dish spray cost?

dawn powerwash bottle and refill on counter

A 16-ounce bottle of Powerwash with one refill sells for about $8.50 on Amazon.

David Watsky/CNET

A Dawn Powerwash starter kit with one refill included costs about $8.50 on Amazon. Refill bottles go for about $4 each and are sold in packs of two, four or six (currently on sale!). I'm not much of a scent seeker-outer but there's an apple and pear fragrance in addition to the standard fresh scent. 

Listen, when I started my week I didn't think I'd be thinking this much about washing dishes either, but here we are. Doing dishes will never be fun, but Dawn's new dish spray takes a bit of the edge off. Frankly, that's just too good not to share.

$18 at Amazon

Dawn Powerwash dish spray (4-pack)

 

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