Please clarify. Is there not as much suds as before & the dishes are clean. OR no suds & not clean. I haven't notice much of a difference with Dawn but we have soften water.

Are suds necessary to get dishes clean?

Although most of us like lots of suds, they're really not necessary to get your dishes clean. It's the surfactants in the dishwashing Liquid that really do the cleaning.

Why do detergents make suds, then?

The main reason we make sudsing detergents is that people prefer sudsy dish water. Suds also help keep the water temperature warm. (And, they do a great job of hiding the dirty dish water!)

Do low suds mean the detergent is weak?

No. If you like a lot of suds, try adding your dishwashing Liquid to the sink before running your tap water at high pressure. Then, swish the solution with your hands until you have the suds level you like. If you have hard water, are cleaning very greasy dishes, or use a scouring pad with soap, you may want to use more dishwashing Liquid.

Vickey-MN

I haven't noticed but then after I pour the detergent into the water I take the sprayer and really suds it up.

I guess what I was trying to say is that I keep having to add liquid detergent as I continue to wash the dishes. It seems years ago I just squirted some in as the sink was filling with hot water and had enough suds to clean all the dishes, glasses, and silverware.

It seems to me that the detergent is weaker if I'm having to add more after washing just a few items. Is this just me or do you think there is something to this.

And, what liquid dish detergents do you recommend as lasting through a medium-sized sink of dishes - 2 or 3 plates, a couple of mugs, a couple of glasses, and 8-10 pieces of silverware?

What is your water supply? We have well water in our subdivision and not every house has the same water. They drill until they hit water (duh) and some wells are deeper than others. So the water is different. Also the water seems to have changed somehow as new homes have been built.

A lot of the towns around Chicago have changed from local wells and are now using Lake Michigan water - which is different.

I have regular city water, FWIW.

Suds do not clean!!...In fact they impede cleaning. It seems that the consumer ( as you seem to be doing) equate suds with ability to clean, so manufacturers added sudsing ingredients. In years past Ivory was the sudsiest but also the most difficult to rinse off.
Ignore the amount of suds....judge by if it's washing the food off your dishes.
Plain washing soda does a fine job of cleaning things.....and all without suds.
I repeat, suds have nothing to do with cleaning!
Linda C

We noticed that a few years ago and called the 800 phone # on the Dawn bottle. She said the same as replies here. Don't need suds to clean. Something about long ago when soap was actually soap. So I stopped trying to renew suds and the dishes really are getting clean. But I agree, I like suds too. Sandy

By the way, she sent me 2 coupons for free dish detergent!

I've been using Palmolive (any of the ultra) and there always seems to be enough suds. I switched from Dawn a while ago because it was drying out my hands too much. I have Lake Michigan water.

I wash dishes by hand piece by piece and rinse as each is done. Palmolive original and Dawn ... A squirt of Palmolive lasts way longer than an equal squirt of Dawn when I have a sink full of dirties.

Dawn smells nicer and rinses quicker is the only reason I waste money on it,, I'd rather be doing darn near anything rather than washing the same old dishes over and over.
To me the Palmolive is way more economical because it last so long. MOre soapier and takes more effort and time to rinse, which maybe a good thing for killing those invisable wigglies. Wash hands for 20 seconds I read to kill those things,,, same with dishes I would imagine.

I put some dawn in a little restaraunt style tomato juice glass to see if it would radiate that lemon odor,,, it evaporated so quick. I was wondering if maybe the maid tasted it to see what it was.

I definitely have noticed the same thing. I have used Dawn for years and feel like no matter how much more I pour in, I don't get the type of sudsing that I used to get and that soaks gunk off as quickly. I have public water, on the hard side--but I've been in the same home for 18 years--so either the water supply is changing, or the soap has changed, or . . . .

I have also notices this...especially on my kids' plastic dinnerware, not enough soap to get them un-greasy, but they often have a "soapy" smell and taste when dry. Grrrrr. (and yes, I do rinse them...sometimes twice)

I suggest testing your water hardness, Sears and others sell test strips. Easy to do, you test your self. Any number over 10 and you have "hard" water and it is going to take more soap to make suds - not saying whether you need them or not.

The detergent companies realize that you add more product when there are less suds, therefore causing you to use more product. We have become a society of "more is better" and the big companies make their money off of consumers who fall for this.

Linda C is absolutely correct: suds do not clean!

This goes for laundry detergent as well: one tablespoon actually cleans your clothes better than a full scoop, and is better for your washer. This has been confirmed by a washer repairman who told me that most of his repairs are because people use the recommended (by the detergent company) amount of soap which clogs the washing machine and wears it out much quicker. He told me that less is more!

Michelle

A few weeks ago I bought a bottle of Sunlight dish detergent (which is a cheaper brand, btw) and I can definitely say that I have more suds and better cleaning of the dishes than I experienced with Dawn when I first posted this thread.

I agree completely that "less is more" in many cases, but one of the main reasons for using soap, liquid dish detergent, or powdered laundry detergent is to break up fats, grease, skin oils, etc. and lift them off our bodies, the plates, and the clothing. If we didn't need suds to help do this, then we could all just bathe in plain water and scrub really hard, right?

I will give the Palmolive a try in the future, but I won't be buying anymore Dawn.

Teresa.....suds do NOT clean. Fats and oils can be broken up without suds. Detergents contain "foaming agents" because we expect them. What cleans is surfactants. A strong alkaline solution will break up grease and not create suds.
Linda C

Dawn has changed. Dawn 'Ultra' is less 'soapy' than the original. I remember using a sungle drop to wash my hands, or a single dish and still having too much suds left over.

The 'surficants' argument sounds like a cop out. Dawn Ultra bottle claims I can use less detergent than before. When washing, I suppose I'm supposed to squirt an even smaller amount of Dawn Ultra in there, and just know that I'm getting the same performance, even though I feel nothing but water. True, suds are not needed to cut Grease (like with Fast Orange, with no suds at all) but that product is intended to be used without water. If you use it with water, it very quickly washes away (no surface tension? no suds??) Dawn Ultra is also easily washed away. The orig Dawn was not. It stuck around, and thus did more cleaning. I find myself replenishing my sponge over and over again with Dawn Ultra, and feeling nothing. Dawn knows this. They are not stupid.

If 90% of the consumers use more Dawn Ultra than they did the original Dawn for whatever reason, then the makers of Dawn have pulled on over on them. But alas, people use Dawn Ultra becuase Dawn orig. was such a great product. But it is no longer special, and people (like myself) will eventually switch. But there was only one Dawn, it WAS the best. It is no more!

I have noticed the same thing, little to no suds! I know something has changed but I'm not sure just what. But I do know it's across the board. I think all laundry detergents was slotted to be changed by 2015. Maybe the same thing has happened to dish soap. Deloris

It's because they took out the Phosphates

I'm a little late joining the conversation but its so true. After Thanksgiving my mother in law mentioned she had to continue putting the detergent in the water for even a few suds. She's tried more than Dawn it hasn't changed the outcome. I convinced her that it was the water, we are in the middle of one of the worse droughts I ever remember. Once home I loaded my dishwasher with what was left from dishes taken and brought home to simply stick in there to clean. I had 5 dishes, JUST 5, left to wash by hand and the suds didn't last long enough to clean even 3. You might say it was the water since my mother in law lives across from us except she has city water where I have Well water. So explain that one. I can remember as a child washing dishes and it was never like this. I guess using a dishwasher for so long I just had not noticed.

guarinoelaine can you give me some good source information on why they took out the phosphates, and if that really is why there are fewer suds? I have heard that before, and would like to understand that issue better. Environmental issues or ??

Apparently here is some info on phosphates:

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/15/132072122/it-s-not-your-fault-your-dishes-are-still-dirty

I bought a 100 pound bag of the correct phosphate 5 years ago. My dishes are clean again. And I have only used two thirds

I always save lemon and lime slices or wedges that I used for preparing dinner at my sink. The acid will literally “melt” away goo and gunk from dirty pans. Great natural degreaser!

, .

Has this really been a noticeable issue for 14 years? I, too notice the dishsoaps for hand washing dishes (still after all these years, it is getting worse!!) .... to be producing less suds in t he dishwater...that same water source I have been using that same period. It was in this Coronavirus period where we learned that it was the suds that carried the grease away, and I notice way too much soap needed than before for removing food from dishes.

No matter what the manufacturers say, there is a huge difference, in all the brands...watering down over 14 years means lots of water! Far less suds...almost just use water and it is as good. We do see a difference in cleanliness of dishes with more suds.

Judy, longer than 14 years. Suds come from phosphates, phosphates pollute water.

I believe they adding less suds and additives to protect the environment and other health issues. I use palmolive or dawn and my dishes aren't as greasy. Otherwise dish soaps with less suds means greasy plastic dishes. Not good.

Teresa, how great that you are bringing attention to this issue. Yes, I use the same liquids you do and have been finding that the bubbles remain stubbornly at the top of the water, no matter how much detergent I add. I live in New York City in a very nice building, and there is nothing wrong with my water. The new formulas are just not working, I agree. Let's hope this issue bubbles over to the right people.

-Deslie Lawrence

ps. I am trying to use my dishwasher less often for all the right reasons (water and energy), and am new to sink washing. But this problem is not making it easy. Maybe we should use bar soap on a sponge?

old shampoo apparently works.

Thank you, yes, what you say is true. But my husband died and i don’t have enough dishes to warrant using my dishwasher very often unless i have people over (which I’m not about to do during the pandemic). I avoid allowing dishes to pile up in my sink. So i am trying to be mindful and play Cinderella at the sink. To music. Alas, no bubbles. I know, why not wash our dishes in champagne? The alcohol will leave them sparkling.

I also am a widow......and I wash as little as possible by hand. I may run the dish washer every 2 or 3 days, but I avoid washing by hand.

And as I have repeated again and again, suds actually impede cleaning. They do NOT Carry away grease, it is dissolved in the water. Suds are for show. Anyone have a front loading washer? Know about low sudsing detergents?

You can clean your dishes very well using just TSP and no sudsing soap at all....but that's hard on your hands.

Thank you. this is not a topic that generally comes up in ordinary conversation, so i appreciate your good information. (And … your point is clear…) Seriously, i think you have helped a lot of people,

Ok. i understand all of the complaints the enviro problems etc. im just going to say i have been in my hone fir 22 years using the exact same water source. i do not have a dushwasher. i have used dawn this entire time. some say the suds don‘t do the cleaning hmmm may be true but i feel like they do and Ii miss my bubbles! To me it makes a difference on the feeling of hot soapy dishwashing!! i want the suds back of my childhood!! 😊

I found this thread looking for an answer to my "no suds in my dish water" occurrence. Normally I use Dawn Platinum for dish washing and making foaming hand soaps for around the house. IT'S NOT THE SOAP! My bottle of Dawn bubbled and suds up perfectly fine. Utility had to shut the water off for about 24 hours. When it was restored you could see all the bubbles disappearing before your eyes. I tried Clorox and Palmolive, same results.

Something had to have changed with the water. It's now either too hard or too soft or something else, I don't know. I do know the soaps I use haven't changed. Dishes are still getting squeaky though. Just odd, used to the bubbles.

I just opened a new Dawn Platinum with 3x power and my suds lasted about 6 dish pieces, I added a longer quirt of Dawn. Suds lasted about another 6 pieces, added a third long squirt, and same thing. Very frustrating!! I was mad at dawn, but you made me think it could be the water, as I am on city water!

One more thing: the Dawn was not cutting through the grease from the gitgo.

Take a sudsing dispenser and mix the concentrate Dawn with about 20% rubbing alcohol. Shake it real well. you may need to put a little more alcohol in it to get your sudser to give suds. I will clean anything. Working on you car? I cuts the grease without much effort. Get house paint on your hands? Takes more effort but does the job. Clean your dishes one at a time squirt a little on the dish or pan and use a wet paper towal and it does it with little effort. Clean your coffee pot with ease. I sent this idea tp Dawn (P&G) and told then I didn't want any money because they gave free dawn to clean oil soaked birds. Got an email from the that they were not interested at this time. They have just come out with it for less than three dollars and you can get refills. They used denatured alcohol.

Same thing here. Dawn doesn't suds nearly as well as it used to. I've used original (now )Dawn since '6 when I got married. I've never had a dishwasher, always done dishes by hand. Even with 5 of us. Suds are low and fast dissolving now. WHY????

If suds don't clean, why does Dawn use suds in its Powerwash commercials as its hook?

I find Dawn Ultra has very strong smell that lingers even after rinsing and not effective at cutting food oils and grease as is supposed to be its forte.

Totally agree with you. I used to use Palmolive as it seemed "sudsier" than Dawn. But lately it is horrible and like you I have to keep add more soap and more water to get the dishes even relatively clean. For the commenter that said to "use your dishwasher" as it uses less water--many plastic, fragile and even some cookware items CANNOT be washed in the dishwasher. So you still need a hand dishwashing alternative for those items. I believe the changes are due to environmental regulations that we don't even have any idea were passed that the companies have to abide by. Or they are doing it themselves to improve their ESG scores. If that is the case I think the fact we are all using MORE soap and MORE water to get dishes clean defeats the purpose of changing formulations. I'm going to be asking several of the manufacturers exactly this. If I hear back I will share what they have to say here.

I completely agree with you! i have loved and used Dawn for years! im looking for a new product that holds its bubbles! Bye Bye Dawn!

John Curran

Not sure what Dawn did, however, I know what I'm going to do! The dawn should be awakening for P&G if they expect me to continue buying their crap. Bidenomics has affected everybody but I won't continue buying failing products from failing corporations...

YesYesss OMG my mom and I were JUST discussing this even the cheap stuff in the 80’s out bubbled these pricy ones of today i want my bubbles back! i rememberJOY was always bubblbubbly now there is NO JOY and few bubbles