Dawn Settles the Debate: This Is Why Dish Soap Is Blue

While we were diving deep into the suds of the most surprising uses for Dawn—and putting those beyond-dish soap tricks to the test to ensure they worked—we started wondering, why is Dawn dish soap blue anyway?

Bright blue Dawn Original is the classic, the one you probably remember seeing on kitchen counters as a kid (and in those heartstring-tugging wildlife cleanup commercials). The brand’s soap also comes in dye-free Dawn Ultra Free & Clear, Dawn Antibacterial Orange, green-colored Dawn Antibacterial Apple Blossom, pretty-in-pink Dawn Gentle Clean Pomegranate & Rose Water, and also-blue Dawn Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray.

With all of those options on the shelf, we couldn’t hang up our towels until we got the dirty details about the colors, as well as what they mean, and if one tackles grease better than the rest.

Morgan Eberhard, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based senior scientist for Dawn, reveals that when Dawn debuted in 1972, the product developers were looking for ways to differentiate the product from its sudsy competition that was already being sold in the cleaning aisle. The researchers wanted to find a color that hinted at the soap’s “unparalleled grease-cutting power,” Eberhard tells us, and after testing several options with users, blue reigned supreme.

Why Is Dawn Dish Soap Blue?

“Dawn’s ‘clear blue’ color was seen as unique, represented something new in the marketplace, and was preferred 2-to-1 over other colors shown at the time, even against competitive products already in the market,” Eberhard adds.

That signature blue hue has grown to become synonymous with the brand, a Dawn Dish soap spokesperson reveals exclusively to Allrecipes—and with being pristine.

“The blue color is commonly associated with cleanliness and freshness, which is exactly what we strive for when we make our Dawn products,” the spokesperson says.

Which Dish Soap Color Cleans the Best?

As far as which product requires the least elbow grease to remove grime and take dishes from caked-on to clean, Eberhard confirms that “the darker blue Dawn Platinum gives you the best cleaning power. It cuts through grease four times faster than Dawn non-concentrated, and helps to remove up to 99 percent of grease and food residue.”

This doesn’t have to do with the color, however. It’s the fact that the Platinum product is concentrated, and delivers more of the key grease-fighting, colorless ingredients called “surfactants."

“Surfactant molecules have a water-loving head and a water-hating tail, meaning the heads want to stay in the water, while the tails go out of the water and into something else,” Eberhard says. “Since water and oil don't mix, the oil or grease on your dishes is the perfect place for those tails to go. This allows the surfactants to surround the grease, lift it off, and remove it from your dishes.”

Not all surfactants are created equal. They come in different sizes, strengths, and charges, all of which can determine their ability to remove grease and other food soils. After spending “a lot of time understanding and optimizing the relationship between our surfactants and different types of foods,” at Dawn, Eberhard says, the scientists landed on the mix of biodegradable surfactants that lead to squeaky-clean dishes in less time.

That liquid Platinum actually earns the silver medal for best cleaner, however. Dawn Platinum’s spritzable counterpart, Dawn Powerwash Dish Spray, is a nose more effective, plus it scores points for efficiency and water savings.

“The three cleaning boosters in Powerwash Dish Spray help break down and loosen grease five times faster. All you need to do is spray, wipe, wait a few, and rinse,” Eberhard says.” Because you don’t need water until the final step to rinse, you’ll use 50 percent less water compared to running the tap while hand washing dishes with non-concentrated soap.”

Analyzing the rest of the Dawn line-up, the clear, green, orange, and pink soaps are tied for third, and are equally powerful at removing bacteria from hands and loosening up the vice grip of those scrambled egg remains or burnt-on bacon bits.

Now that you know why Dawn dish soap is blue and how the other colors and formulations stack up, don’t miss our brilliant hack for the easiest way to remove baked-on food and the two-minute trick that will keep your dirty dishes from piling up; both of which will make the least-favorite chore feel like child’s play.