I Swear This Dish Soap Makes It Easier to Do the Dishes—Here’s Why

Dawn’s new dish spray is a time-saving innovation.

In the dishwasher versus hand-washing debate, I’m solidly with the machines. And when my roommate and I moved into an apartment with a dishwasher, I practically cried with happiness. No more chiseling out baked-on messes, scalding my hands with hot water, or playing Jenga with piles in the sink. It was a blissful two years—then my beloved dishwasher broke.

My super isn’t known for his speediness, so I knew it’d be a while before the appliance was back in commission. But not all was lost: Around the same time, Dawn rolled out its new Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray, which promises to help you clean as you cook. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out.

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Unlike traditional dish soap that needs water to create bubbles, the Powerwash bottle activates suds by spraying. The brand claims the new formula “cuts through grease on contact,” working five times faster than other dish soaps. All you need to do is spray, wipe, and rinse.

Using the spray certainly felt faster than sudsing up regular dish soap, and I really liked how I could squirt the cleaner directly to the mess. The Powerwash was especially helpful when cleaning oddly shaped tools, like whisks or colanders, and it even worked on stubborn stains in my stainless steel skillet (I just needed to let it sit a little longer to break up the debris before scrubbing).

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But what I loved most about the Powerwash was that it made it much easier to clean as I cooked. Rather than wait until after eating, I like to wash my pots, knives, and cutting boards as soon as I’ve used them to reduce clutter in my tiny kitchen. The spray is better for these touch-and-go cleanings, and I found I used less soap to clean the same amount of stuff.

The Powerspray comes in three scents—Fresh, Apple, and Citrus—and costs just under $5, which isn’t much more than the typical dish soap I buy. Of course, I still miss my dishwasher, but even after it’s fixed I’ll keep using this incredible spray.

<p><img alt="Dawn Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray Fresh Scent" src="https://www.realsimple.com/sites/default/files/1583852515/dawn-platinum-powerwash-dish-spray-dish-soap-fresh-scent.jpg" width="100%" /></p>

To buy: $5; walmart.com