What Happens If You Mix Hydrogen Peroxide With Dawn Dish Soap?

Looking for a powerful, affordable cleaner that can be used all throughout your home? You might already have everything you need to make one yourself. If you combine Dawn dish soap with hydrogen peroxide, you'll get a strong, foamy liquid that you can spray around your home to remove stains or cut through grease. While there are several household chemicals you should never mix, Dawn and hydrogen peroxide aren't one of those combos — it's perfectly safe to combine them. 

Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound that has many consumer purposes. It can disinfect surfaces, whiten laundry, take care of tough stains, and lift grime away from grout. It's already quite powerful on its own, but there are a few reasons you might want to mix it with Dawn dish soap. 

Dawn dish soap is renowned in the cleaning community for its ability to lift buildup and cut through grease and oil. Despite its name, it's used for far more than just dishes — and by combining Dawn soap with hydrogen peroxide, you'll get an effective cleaner that disinfects, lifts buildup, and leaves surfaces looking brighter all at once. Because hydrogen peroxide bubbles as it breaks down, mixing it with Dawn dish soap also means that you'll get a foamy mixture that can penetrate surfaces more easily. 

There are plenty of ways to use Dawn dish soap and hydrogen peroxide together throughout your home. No matter how you use it, you'll generally want to mix one part soap to two parts hydrogen peroxide. You'll typically find hydrogen peroxide sold at 3% concentration, which works well for cleaning. It's easiest to pop this solution in a spray bottle — just keep in mind that it will break down quickly, so you probably won't want to keep large quantities of it around for very long.

Together, the two are great for removing stains, especially on laundry. Spray your mixture directly onto the stain and let it sit for a few minutes. Then, rinse off the mixture — if you're removing common laundry stains, wash it as usual. Hydrogen peroxide and Dawn soap will also work well to brighten your grout and remove mildew from it; just spray, wait, and scrub away the grime with a small bristled brush. If you have appliances that are gathering grease, like an oven or microwave, you can use this spray on them, too.

While 3% hydrogen peroxide is safe to use at home, it's still a good idea to take care when cleaning with it. Prolonged exposure can cause skin dryness or irritation, so consider wearing rubber gloves while you clean. You should also use it in an area with ventilation, so turn on a fan or open a window before you break out this spray.