Can You Add Dawn Dish Soap To Laundry?

It's a standard comedy gag in movies and sitcoms: The hapless protagonist pours dish soap into the washing machine and walks away, only to return to an overflowing, sudsy disaster. Bubbles are everywhere, and chaos ensues. Adding a dish soap like Dawn to your laundry has been making the rounds on the internet as a clever cleaning hack. And technically, yes, you can add Dawn dish soap to your laundry. But just because you can, doesn't necessarily mean you should. 

Washers are made for laundry detergent, developed to handle the subtle suds from traditional detergents. None of the best (or worst) washing machine brands actively recommend adding dish soap to their washing machines. That's because the abundance of suds isn't just a comedy routine. Dish soap is made to create bubbles that fight grease and remove tough food stains. Laundry detergent is made to be less sudsy, anticipating the large agitation and movement of the washing machine. It's also designed to treat and protect a variety of fabrics. While dish soap can treat small stains on clothing, it can cause a load of clothing to become stiff or rough.

Dish soap can actually damage your washing machine, even if you take steps to prolong the life of your washing machine with regular maintenance. Bubbles can build up inside the drum, causing an odor, and the overflow of suds can damage interior equipment like the pump and drain. Using a tiny amount of Dawn dish soap once or twice should not harm the washer, but prolonged use might.

All that said, you can add a small amount of dish soap to certain washing machines and clothing without causing too much harm. There is no guarantee that any amount of dish soap is safe and won't harm your drum, and it may reduce the average lifespan of your washing machine. And since it is not meant for clothing, dish soap will not soften the fabric the way laundry detergent will. In fact, use too much and your clothes may come out still soapy despite the rinse cycle. But if you need to use dish soap, here's how to do it safely. 

High-efficiency (HE) front-load washers will require the least amount of Dawn dish soap possible. Most HE washer manufacturers recommend using HE-compatible laundry detergent to prevent residue buildup, since HE washers are made to reduce the amount of water used each cycle. Use only 1 teaspoon of Dawn dish soap for HE washers. Add an extra rinse cycle to ensure all of the soap is rinsed from your clothing. 

For top-load and standard washers, slightly more Dawn dish soap can be used, but not much. These washers use more water in the rinse cycle than the HE models and can handle suds better. Add 2 teaspoons of Dawn dish soap instead of 1, but no more. And as with the HE washer, it wouldn't hurt to add an extra rinse cycle, just in case.