I Tried The TikTok-Famous Dawn Dish Soap Spray And Now Use It Every Day

This is #CleanTok's favorite dish cleanser, and I completely understand why.

No bigger love/hate relationship exists than mine with doing the dishes. On one note, I hate seeing dishes in the sink — I think it's absolutely gross and attracts pests. On the flip side, I internally cry every time I clean them. While, technically, I wouldn't say I like doing dishes, discovering Dawn Powerwash has made it 10X more bearable.

Nickelodeon

In my house, the dishes are done immediately after cooking or eating and never sit in the sink overnight (or even while I'm running errands for that matter). What makes doing dishes the least enjoyable is when I have to continuously scrub things to get them clean. Whether it's dried food or relentless oil, washing dishes never gets better with time. That was until Dawn Powerwash appeared on my TikTok "For You" page, and I was influenced to head to my local Target to grab it, hoping to change my relationship with doing the dishes. Spoiler: It did...sort of. 

I'm not-so-patiently waiting for the day I live in my dream apartment that mirrors the one on my Pinterest vision board. One of the biggest things I want in my future apartment that's nonnegotiable is a dishwasher. But until then, it'll just be me and Dawn Powerwash because it has genuinely made doing the dishes  easier than ever.

The Dawn Powerwash has made its way across TikTok, and naturally, with the popularity has come DIY recipes for the cleaning agent.

Mika Robinson / Buzzfeed

The key difference between the original Dawn dish liquid and Dawn Powerwash is the addition of alcohol. While many of these recipes are calling for isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol to turn OG Dawn dish liquid into Powerwash, the real secret to Dawn's formula is more likely to be ethanolamine, an amino alcohol frequently used in soaps, detergents, and cosmetics for its ability to cut through dirt, grease, etc. With that said, I will not be experimenting with making my own at home and will stick to buying the stabilized product that I know works. 

In addition to breaking down grease and grime on my dishes, the fresh scent of the dish spray smells fantastic. Some people complain about it smelling strong due to the addition of alcohol, but from my experience, it's only so strong if you spray it directly under your nose. Most importantly, Dawn Powerwash is budget-friendly, priced at $4.99 at Target, with the option to save a few dollars on future purchases with refills. 

Using Dawn Powerwash is pretty simple: 1. Spray 2. Wipe. 3. Rinse. It's literally written on the bottle so you can never forget.

Target

I'd also argue that the label should be tweaked to add "sit" as a step, but I digress. The complete directions recommend letting the product sit for "tough messes" — it makes a huge difference. As of late, I rarely ever have to clean a dish more than once to meet my standards. This is primarily because I almost always let the spray sit before I wipe. While the Powerwash spray sits, I usually enjoy my meal or scroll on TikTok.

I'm still not 100% in love with doing the dishes, but knowing that it's a breeze saves the need for a pep talk while I roll up my sleeves.

Mika Robinson, Buzzfeed

Knowing that doing my dishes won't take forever or annoy me makes it easier to get them done. Even cleaning a pan after making scrambled eggs with cheese (see above) takes little to no energy. That means less cooking options I'll want to avoid because I don't want to wash the pan after making it.

If you need a second (and maybe third) opinion on this spray dish cleaner, check out the reviews below from other Target shoppers who, much like myself, want to get the dishes done without all the elbow grease.

Target

"I saw this used online so many times and had to try it out. I LOVE IT! You can use it on just about anything, it’s great at removing stuck-on cooking stains and literally melts away grease. I even used it to do a quick clean in my oven, and it got through the crud so quickly. I will be repurchasing this immediately." —Cheyenne R.

"We recently started using this stuff, and it has seriously cut the time we spend washing dishes in half. We don’t have a dishwasher, and handwashing dishes is seriously the worst, but this makes it a little less horrible. It’s foamy, so it’s kind of fun, and it works really well at getting crusty stuff off. I’ve also used it to get stains out of carpet and to scrub paint marker off a chalkboard, so it’s good for more than just dishes. The only issue I have with it is that you have to be careful not to inhale it when you spray it — It feels like the fumes jump up your nose, and it’s probably not good for you, so I hold my breath for a few seconds when I spray it." —Sara

"Shockingly effective at cutting grease without a full soak. The sprayer casts a broad swathe of bubbles, and I love the smell, even if it’s a bit strong. I no longer feel like I have to have a critical mass of dishes to justify a sinkful of soapy water, which means I’m keeping up better on the kitchen clutter!" —urban frontierswoman

Like many people, I did think this was just another hyped up TikTok product that people were posting just for views and engagement. However, a few months (and a couple of bottles) later, I'm still a fan and don't plan on switching back to my old dish soap.

Mika Robinson Buzzfeed

For the record, one bottle lasts me about a month, which isn't bad in my opinion. For reference, I'm a single person who generally eats most of their meals at home, so this dish spray is getting used daily. Occasionally, I also use it to clean my sink after doing the dishes. While we're on the subject, it's great for general cleaning because it doesn't suds up like traditional dish soap that you'd need to rinse away a million times.

Get the Dawn Platinum Powerwash Dishwashing Liquid Dish Soap Spray from Target for $4.99.

The reviews for this post have been edited for length and clarity.