We are two friends living on opposite coasts (Brooklyn, New York and Santa Monica, California) that share a passion for living a minimal, zero waste lifestyle and on a mission to help others do the same.
Harper. Lives in Brooklyn with a +1. Sassy pup. Matcha. Wine. Whiskey. Cheese. Proscuitto.
Charley. Lives in Los Angeles with a +1. Doofy pup. Coffee. Wine. Whiskey. Cheese. Pasta.
All tagged Dish Washing
BUY. We love using Meliora’s Dish Soap Bar along with our kitchen brushes, particularly when we clean pots and pans. We love that there is an unscented (and lemon) option so that we only taste and smell our food when our dishes are clean and dry. The Meliora soap cuts through grease effortlessly, with ingredients that are non-toxic. And of course, we love how affordable the dish soap is: a little goes a long way and switching from a liquid soaps to solid soaps really is cost efficient.
Better, but not great. Given how much we liked Blueland's cleaning products, it is disappointing to report that we wish Blueland Dishwasher tablets worked better. Even though they are zero-waste dishwashing tablets with no chemicals or strong smell, they are too pricey to not work as well as other options. However, given the update regarding PVA in other brands, we believe that it might be worth revisiting Blueland dishwasher tabs. We had previously rated them a NOT buy given the product did not dissolve and was on the pricey side. Since then, other brands prices have increased faster than Blueland’s. Most importantly, Blueland is a PVA-free, convenient tablet option.
This was tough because there are so many good brands minimizing harmful ingredients, emissions, and plastic: Ecover, Dropps, and Thrive Market dishwasher powder were some of our best picks. Based on ingredients that were phosphate free, fragrance-free (optional), hypoallergenic, and chlorine-free. Dirty Labs is great runners up given their limited ingredients and super concentrated powder but it is on the pricy side.
MAYBE buy. Dirty Labs dishwasher detergent has all of the components we love: clean, concentrated ingredients, recyclable packaging, and fragrance free. We also like that there is no PVA since it’s a powder. The only challenge is that it’s pricier than other dishwasher powder options — and even some dishwasher pod options.
Not a buy. We found the experience of using Grab Green’s Automatic Dishwasher Pods to be pretty good (no complaints on the pods themselves). Our two biggest complaints - the plastic pouch isn’t really recyclable and the price is pretty darn high 😔
BUY. Thrive Dishwasher Powder has limited ingredients, the citrus scent is light, there is a fragrance free option, and our dish cleaning experience was pretty good. Each bag (con: it’s plastic, but at least it’s thin plastic compared to the big liquid jugs) contains 75 standard washer loads. The biggest pro yet is that even at the regular price of $6.99, Thrive Market has the most affordable dishwasher powder on the market. At the current sale price, it’s a total steal.
Note: We also reviewed Thrive Market’s Laundry Detergent Powder, which was also a screaming BUY.
NOT a haul we recommend. The recycled loofah was a highlight, but unfortunately not enough for the whole haul. We liked using almost everything in this haul (zero waste dish soap, natural sponges, laundry sheets, laundry sheet), but we were confused at the hand soap sheets. Moreover, many items were on the pricey side - the biggest reason for our overall no recommendation
Not a buy. While we thought Grab Green’s Liquid Dish Soap worked fine, we have some pretty major complaints. We don’t love that it comes in plastic bottles, certainly not plastic free, or even an attempt to reduce plastic here. There are some pretty questionable ingredients, including sulfates and benzisothiazolinone that we really don’t want in our dish soap. The scent (we got the Tangerine with Lemongrass) was too sweet for our taste - smelled too ‘artificial-soapy’ in our book. Finally, the price is pretty darn high 😔
MAYBE a buy. We really loved the experience of using Puracy’s natural liquid dish soap. We liked that the consistency wasn’t too thick (easy to refill) and that the scent is relatively light. Most importantly, we appreciate that this is a sulfate free soap that is naturally derived and biodegradable. The packaging is also generally great — large refill bag means less shipments (less carbon footprint) and the very small spout makes refilling super simple (no mess!). Our two complaints - the plastic pouch isn’t really recyclable (more on this below) and the price is pretty darn high 😔
It’s a mixed buy. Overall we have had a positive experience with rE: Dish Washing Soap Bar (Citrus) - but we’re not convinced that its our favorite option. Dish soap bars are generally much less expensive than liquid dish soap, and this is certainly true here, but rE: Dish Washing Soap Bar doesn’t stand out in terms of affordability, and it also didn’t deliver like we thought it would in terms of scent (we expected citrus, but it is basically unscented). However, from a pure utility standpoint, it cleaned our dishes well!
NOT a buy. Such a sad recommendation given how well the powder worked! Good ingredients, not drying on skin, fragrance-free, and great overall packaging for the zero waste conscious. But unless we figure out that the powder will last 4x longer than the same weight of liquid, we can’t recommend Blueland Powder Dish Soap, solely based on price.
We will keep using our set and if we feel that the powder lasts a really, really long time, we will update the pricing grid and switch our recommendation. OR maybe Blueland will reduce their price. :)
With no cost savings and no true reduction in waste, Grove Collaborative Dishwasher Pods are not a buy.
We love DuJardin’s zero waste, green French style block soap. No residue, scent-free, and extremely affordable compared to any liquid soap.
The Laundress is best known for the lovely laundry products, however, we tried the zero waste kitchen hand soap.
Public Goods Dishwasher pods offer an eco- and greywater-friendly dishwasher pods.
