CBL Episode # 131 The Double Life of Dawn Dish Soap...

That iconic blue bottle of Dawn dish soap has found its way from kitchen sinks to professional cleaning caddies, but is it really the miracle cleaner some make it out to be? We tackle this surprisingly controversial topic that's been dividing cleaning business owners.

Dawn's 50-year history includes becoming famous for wildlife rescue during oil spills, thanks to its special dirt-attracting solvent that revolutionized dishwashing in the 1970s. But professional cleaners need to understand both the power and limitations of this popular product. While affordable and accessible, Dawn isn't pH neutral and can potentially damage certain surfaces when used improperly or leave those dreaded "tiger stripes" if not rinsed properly.

We explore where Dawn truly shines - cutting through kitchen grease, pre-treating laundry stains, and exterior window cleaning - while being honest about where it falls short compared to professional-grade, surface-specific products. You'll hear real experiences from cleaning business owners who've incorporated Dawn into their toolkit alongside specialized products like Sal Suds and Longs Donzo degreaser.

Whether you're a solo cleaner looking to economize or a business owner training staff on proper chemical usage, this episode provides practical guidance on when to reach for Dawn and when to leave it on the shelf. Remember our golden rule: always test products in your own home before using them in client spaces. The right tools used properly will keep your clients happy and protect your business reputation.

Have you found Dawn to be a helpful addition to your cleaning arsenal or do you avoid it? Share your experiences in the comments and leave us a review!

Unger Bucket https://amzn.to/3Hw8RZf

Magic Eraser https://amzn.to/4fXkV2n

The Mic Shannon is going to buy https://amzn.to/41ZpFP0

Sal Suds gallon

https://www.maidsummit.com/

It can be crowed when trying to figure out who you are going to learn from

Chapters

• 0:00 Tempo: 120.0

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:54

We've all seen the commercials cute little ducklings quacking, quacking, quacking getting scrubbed clean with Dawn after an oil spill. Unfortunately, we've had more of those than I would like, but what about using it in your cleaning business or around your clients' homes? Is Dawn really the secret weapon that some cleaners swear by, or is it causing more harm than good over time? In this episode of Cleaning Business Life, we break down the pros and cons of using Dawn as part of your professional cleaning toolkit. We'll talk about what's inside that famous blue bottle and how it behaves on different services, and whether it really is grease cutting power. And is it really worth the trade-off? See you inside. Ordering in progress. Miss Jamie, long time, no see. Woo-hoo, yeah, it has been. Totally, I don't know. Okay, my mic's on. It's my little mic. It's got the little mini-me. My other mic stopped working. I'm going to wait until Black Friday before I buy the one that I think I want, but in any case, you have some hold back.

Speaker 2: 2:08

I don't, I'm like oh, I'll get that now.

Speaker 1: 2:13

Well, typically with electronics, we all know that Black Friday is usually the day If you want electronics. That's the day to get an electronic item, tech item, whatever. Today we're going to talk about Dawn dish soap. So it's Dawn or not to Dawn, and this has been a controversial believe it or not topic in the last like six months or so. So I thought maybe we could cover whether we really thought it was a miracle product or just if it's just marketing hype, and what our experiences were like and what we use it for, what we don't use it for. And I will say it with this caveat you, with the exception of toilet bowl cleaner any of those crazy tiktok videos where you see them put like 15 chemicals down the toilet just to see the colors if you're doing weird stuff like that, toilet bowl cleaner is for the toilet.

Speaker 1: 3:05

You guys have all heard me talk about it. I'll call you out on facebook. I don't care. It's a dangerous product, especially if you don't know you're doing. It can take the finish off stone. It can ruin people's glass items. I've seen Jamie and I have both talked about how homeowners are like I don't know if you can fix this. I'm like did you use toilet bowl cleaner and it stays at blue on top of it. So you you know, it's obvious. It's not hair dye and if I heard him, I actually say I use.

Speaker 2: 3:35

You know that TikTok. And if I heard him I actually say I use, you know that TikTok Literally a homeowner say that.

Speaker 1: 3:40

So if I see it, I'll call you out on it, but with Dawn. Want to make more money with your cleaning business? I'm launching a brand new subscription-based series showing you exactly how, starting with short-term rental cleanings, hosting and co-hosting. I've done it myself with my own proof of concept, vellum and Vine Hospitality Company, right on Facebook and on the web, and now I'm sharing the playbook for just $7 a month. We'll be right back. And now. A word from one of our sponsors Want to make more money with your cleaning business? I'm launching a brand new subscription-based series showing you exactly how, starting with short-term rental cleanings, hosting and co-hosting. I've done it myself with my own proof of concept, vellum and Vine Hospitality Company, right on Facebook and on the web, and now I'm sharing the playbook for just $7 a month. First episode lands in a week. Make sure you don't miss it, and I know you girls are out there and guys. The Dawn Power Wash is not really meant to clean everything in someone's house.

Speaker 1: 4:48

You can probably get away with it in a move-out cleaning or a one-time cleaning, because you're taking off layers, but just know that your skin is absorbing that stuff too. I don't what is. What is it hydrogen peroxide?

Speaker 2: 4:59

and there's a couple of no, it's rubbing alcohol and it's rubbing alcohol and it can ruin things. I know, yeah, I know, people mix it their own, which you can do, but there's something about there the way they do it. We do have that in our make ready house home kits for our cleaners and for deep cleans, right? Other than that, we don't normally use it. If there's something really bad, like maybe on a stove or something, we'll let them do power wash. But some of these people, honestly, across the board and this is across all cleaning business owners I've seen some people say that they, you know, take a little fill up their bottles, their 32-ounce bottles or whatever bottles, and then put a little drop of Dawn and that is their all-purpose cleaner and a little bit of essential oils. Do they have?

Speaker 1: 6:09

salicides as well.

Speaker 2: 6:12

Yeah, a lot of salicides, especially if you're eco-friendly. But salicides, there is a difference.

Speaker 1: 6:18

A salicide is a pH neutral, right, so you can use it on anything when you can, especially the Dawn Power Wash, and you can use it to help with kitchen counters. You have to be careful because it has solvents in it that are meant to break down certain things and it has an attractant in it. Solvents in it that are meant to break down certain things and it has an attractant in it and I'm having a brain fart today and I can't think of the name of the actual chemical compound. But it actually makes the dirt stick to it and that's what Dawn does. That's why Dawn is. That's why you see the commercials. You see them. How, oh, dawn helped wildlife with the oil spill. Dawn did this. Dawn did that. It's meant to attract dirt. So and we've seen all the how many times have we it used to be?

Speaker 1: 7:01

When I was a kid, you had the palm olive commercial. Right, it's good for your hands. That was the big. Oh, it's the hands, the big thing. So and so, those cute ducklings getting scrubbed clean with Dawn after an oil spill, you can use it in your business, around your client's home. Is it a secret weapon? And some cleaners swear by it and others don't. So as long as you use it in moderation, I don't see the harm in it. But again it has to be moderation line. We call those tiger stripes, right?

Speaker 2: 7:31

That's why we don't spray directly on anything ever surface, anything ever, and that's with any any cleaner. We do not spray directly on any surface. We spray it onto our towels, unless we're doing, but it's in a spray bottle, not directly from the, and then we're agitating right after right because if you just spray and leave, it's going to make to make the tiger stripes and it's going to cause problems.

Speaker 1: 8:00

Now you can spray directly in the shower, depending on the material it's made from. We have a couple of showers that are stone. You can't spray anything. You have to take your salicides. I wouldn't even use Dawn unless they request it and you have to agitate and then rinse and see where you're at and it's a gentle agitation with a long finger brush. So just be careful when you use it. Don't squirt it and leave it, because you'll you'll get the tiger stripes and you'll be like, oh my God, I don't know.

Speaker 2: 8:28

Yes, you do. You freak out. You freak out especially for these new, new people that are just coming on board into the cleaning industry, especially for these new people that are just coming on board into the cleaning industry and, just like I did, all the research that you're doing right now. Take this as some research if you're listening to this podcast and you're new For other people, I know a lot of people like to see also suds when they're cleaning. A lot of people like to see suds when they're cleaning. A lot of people like to see suds when they're cleaning. You don't have to. This is all we should probably put in this disclaimer, don't you think, shannon, that this is kind of more of a personal choice? This is up to you. It is a great cleaner. Like I said, I know of a lot of cleaning business owners that that's what they supply is the water, a little drop of Dawn dish soap, some essential oil. There's your all-purpose cleaner.

Speaker 1: 9:33

It really is a matter of preference. I know of a cleaning company that does 2.5 million a year and they don't even use any chemicals, they use ph balanced water. They finally dyed the water a little blue because people were like the water's not gonna get it cleaned and when you're and that's a whole different element in itself. What's her face? We came on interviewed and she has that product with the water filters.

Speaker 2: 9:54

I'm not trish oh no, yeah, it's an mlm you are listening to this.

Speaker 1: 10:01

I apologize. I love you and I'm just having brain farts today and I can't remember your name I'll remember.

Speaker 2: 10:08

I'm so sorry too, but that was a good interview and that was an interesting concept.

Speaker 1: 10:15

I'm looking for the name of the languages. Right now I can't, oh, crystal.

Speaker 2: 10:20

Thank you, sorry, I couldn't remember the name Crystal with water, crystal clear water, right.

Speaker 1: 10:27

So there is a whole dynamic of what you're going to use and what not you're going to use. And Dawn became a household name because in the 80s they developed this solvent. And I'm still having a problem reminiscing what the name of the solvent is that attracts all the dirt to it and that was the leaderboard. And that was like remember the Pepsi and the Coke? Right, when I was a kid they used to have Pepsi and Coke commercials and you would have people, they were blindfolded Is this Pepsi, is this Coke?

Speaker 1: 10:56

Well, there used to be this whole rivalry between Palmolive and Dawn. Well, dawn came up with this secret ingredient, installed it and it made all of the dirt stick to its soap. So it rinsed down the drain, right? Well, palmolive didn't have the technology or the wherewithal and by the time they realized that they could get this chemical and put it in, they were already left in the, in the dirt, so to speak, all the way. Yeah, yeah, and they never. They never caught up.

Speaker 1: 11:21

Dawn is the number one dish soap here in america and there are situations in surfaces where dawn probably wouldn't be a good idea. It wouldn't be a good idea if you put a dollop of it on someone's furniture and you left it alone, it might eat away that layer of grime and finish and then it causes damage. You've got to be really careful but it works great with you know. You could use it on mirrors. If you've got the dilution the right way. You could use rubbing alcohol only on mirrors. Dawn works great on making things shiny and it's a great item. I use dawn in my shower. I have one of those old my house is 30 years old. I have one of those old fiberglass prefab showers and or your car kind of. You know, give it a little circle and then we just rinse it and boom it's. You know there's no major scrubbing involved in Shannon's shower we.

Speaker 2: 12:13

We use it to remember we. We would always, if you couldn't do the car wash, you get out there, wash your car, get yourself a bucket and a little dupe, you know, mix it up and get to going and, with the radio in the background, and you're vibing and you're getting suntanned and having a good time. So, yeah, and it's affordable. Let's talk about how affordable it is. I understand why some cleaning business owners, once you get to that hiring process, once you become a solo cleaner, you start thinking of once you get so big, you can't get those bougie you have to buy in stock or bulk and concentrates and then you have to train your people on how to properly dilute mix and stuff. Dawn, I see why people use it and as their all-purpose cleaner. It's a very cough, cost-effective. Is it my go-to cleaner? No sides, I'm a South Suds girl myself. I mean I do once in a while I have it, I have it in stock, but I don't use it all the time. We do my window person. This person does use for outside windows.

Speaker 1: 13:47

Yeah, dawn dish soap and a little cap of ammonia is usually what the recipe is.

Speaker 2: 13:51

Well, he uses a little bit of rubbing alcohol, Just a and a big old under under bucket and it gets to going.

Speaker 1: 14:03

It's safe to use if you're careful with it, like with everything, everything in moderation and it's surface specific. So obviously, don't use it on someone's furniture, don't leave it unattended in someone's bathroom, don't put a whole gob of it in the toilet and try to flush it for a TikTok video. You're going to regret that jamie's laughing because I'm trying.

Speaker 2: 14:29

You know the I'm going to add in 15 chemicals like. I hope that is a first tiktok video.

Speaker 1: 14:32

It's busting power and you can use it um on oily kitchen messes. You can use it with if you're careful now I let me reiterate the word careful you could actually put a dollop of dawn dish soap on a magic eraser. Make sure the magic eraser is wet first, and you could actually take it across someone's hood and go left to right to get the grease off carefully. And don't push really hard with the magic eraser because you could scratch the stainless steel. Don't say Shannon said and then come back to me and go. I scratched it, it's all your fault, so don't do that. But you can use it to help lift up stove tops. Dawn is great on the top of stove tops and it is easy and affordable to find. You can get it almost anywhere, unless there's COVID in town, then everybody hoards everything. I wonder if people are just now getting through their toilet paper and dish soap stocks.

Speaker 2: 16:19

I was watching a documentary the other day about that whole thing. Those were where there are some yeah, how, how a bad video. This guy's taking all his hand sanitizer. He had hand sanitizer and toilet paper and it just went south for him and his family because he was selling it for and it's just the wording of the.

Speaker 1: 16:48

I was a good doctor, there were two kids who and I remember the story, the two, I don't remember their names Two kids pulled their money together, went on Amazon and bought all of the hand sanitizer to get their hands on All of it, all of it, everything that was on the market that day. And then it hit the news. And you, you obviously cannot have a monopoly, especially in times of national emergencies. And they actually made them. They had to get. They ate the 30 grand they invested because they were going to sell it at a print like five times the amount or whatever. And they got in trouble and they're like well't know. I'm like, oh, where were your parents?

Speaker 2: 17:22

no, just where's your moral compass? Where's your moral compass?

Speaker 1: 17:25

there, there is no moral compass. That's where I was at with that yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:30

So I want to make sure that people know that this is not a ph neutral. If you want to know a little more ph neutral because dawn cannot go on everything you know and just know that it leaves a little bit of residue over time if you use much of it, especially right it's. You know you go on with on the rag and then you know with the water, only rag and then back over. Just I really want to tell everybody that it's not a ph neutral right, and I believe that it says it on the bottle.

Speaker 1: 18:11

But south suds is. There's a lot of. I don't know if murphy's oil soap is ph balanced, but it is natural, and there's a lot of other products that are up and coming. I don't know if Atheos is or not. I know we're talking about Dawn today. We can talk about Atheos in another day, and then you know, there's.

Speaker 1: 18:28

There's Long's products cleaning products in in in Louisiana who I just got a nice box of stuff so I'm excited to try that out. I was Ryan. I haven't had a chance to even open the box. I opened it up this morning and I some of the stuff I know what to. I have to look up to see what product goes where. So I don't hurt anything on accident. But I'm excited and we'll do a whole right. Well, we'll do a whole episode on the unboxing and what I thought of the products, cause I'm doing a charity cleaning tomorrow with five other people for someone who needs it and I'm going to be bringing a lot.

Speaker 2: 19:03

We're all learning this together right now, and usually Shannon and I talk about everything.

Speaker 1: 19:09

Right, Right. So it can be a multi-purpose cleaner. In a pinch it works on outdoor furniture, some of the floors and even pre-training laundry stains. I've used it for pre-training laundry stains. You have to take a toothbrush and kind of agitate and circle. Remember Karate Kid? I don't know if Karate Kid was up and down or what he was on and waxed up Round and round.

Speaker 1: 19:30

Who was the one who went up and down? I can't think of that movie either. There is a residue lick. It's not pH neutral and it's not designed for all materials and it's a brand dependency, so it can make it easy to skip professional grade products suited for more specific jobs. I think that this is me personally. This is just my opinion. You can tell me to shove it whatever.

Speaker 1: 19:53

I think that most homeowners don't know how to use chemicals. I think that we have way too many different types of chemicals when we really only need one or two or three. We don't need to have a chemical for every little thing, but the chemical companies and I get it have convinced us that we need to have a product for everything and we don't necessarily do that. There are job specific things that are more handier than others, like when we're doing deep cleanings. I know people. There's hardcore steam cleaners for the inside of ovens and there's oven cleaner for the inside of ovens. I've seen five in one being used inside of ovens. I've seen some longs products. I haven't seen any video, but I've heard and seen people talk about it.

Speaker 2: 20:38

I no longer use oven cleaner at all. So I, I mean I did way back in the beginning, right, I mean like I didn't know you become allergic to it and it actually can burn you if you have long-term exposure to it.

Speaker 1: 20:54

But yeah, it's what are you? What are you using? For you're not using dawn dish soap? Obviously it's an oven I do.

Speaker 2: 21:01

I will use a little power wash and I use long product dunzo degreaser oh, I'm gonna have to check. I hope I have an oven you can buy that from my dead cold body. I don't know what kind of sorcery has been into that product, but it is, and the grind scan, those are my so you're spraying it down with power wash first, letting it sit yeah, and then I watch it melt, I spray whenever it's an oven clean. I, the Donzo, pretty much gets it all.

Speaker 1: 21:41

I mean you don't use any Don power wash. Or you're using Don power wash, rinsing it off, and then you're using Donzo.

Speaker 2: 21:48

No, I'm doing Donzo first and then I'll go do something else and look, and you can just literally. I don't know.

Speaker 1: 21:59

Oh, I'm excited.

Speaker 2: 22:04

My mouth is slithering, I don't know what it is. How weird, how much. It's like wow, I, just I and I remember showing some of my cleaning techs I would wipe a cabinet, a cabinet and we all know how hard cabinet especially if it's got that years of built on grease, it's like man. And then whenever you clean it, it's just still sticky, but not the other layers.

Speaker 2: 22:35

Yeah, it's like what is going on? That's not an odd wipe And'd be like, look at this. They got so sick of me saying, look, I was just. My mind was so like so yeah, that is our, and now we get it to where we make it ourselves. We get in the concentrate again. I'm a cleaning company. I have cleaning techs. I had to train them and show them how to mix the Grime Scant with the Cajun Fresh and yeah, so I still use, like I said, still use the Power Wash Dawn, not so much. I don't know if I've ever been a real big Dawn user, except for, like, whenever it comes to windows and that's outside windows and my car.

Speaker 1: 23:28

I've heard you know Dawn get knocked around in some of the other cleaning groups. So I just want to make sure that there is the option. You don't always have to follow what they say. They are not. It's not gospel and it's it's a product that's been around. I mean, how long has Dawn been around? I? It's not gospel and it's it's a product that's been around. I mean, how long has dawn been around? I, it's got to be like since the 70s. Okay, I'm gonna do a google.

Speaker 2: 23:49

Yeah, please look it up, because now I'm curious when was dawn first manufactured a c t?

Speaker 1: 24:00

u rT-U-R-E-D.

Speaker 2: 24:01

I, almost I was yeah, it's generating.

Speaker 1: 24:04

We're waiting for AI to kick in 1973. Gosh, so let's see. That's it's 2020. 50 years 2-0-2-5. We'll do. We'll have the computer do the math for us yeah. I'm 73. So, yeah, 52 years. So Dawn has been around but it wasn't really popular until they added in this sulfate that I cannot recollect what the name is. But yeah, it's a product that's been around so it's tried and trusted and, like with anything, it has to be used in moderation. But I'm excited. I hope that you try Dawn and maybe it's a fit for you.

Speaker 2: 24:42

Maybe it's not everything just has to be, you know, user friendly company it is your company and you remember to try these on this on in your own home before you go out to a client's home.

Speaker 1: 24:56

That is a big disclaimer also I guess, yeah, don't test thing out in a brand new client's house. Or I'm going to try this new method Test it out in your own house first, even if it's a rental, and then you move. It still gives you time to fix whatever damage it's going to cost, but don't do it. Don't do it in a client's home. I hate those phone calls. Oh my God, they're scary.

Speaker 2: 25:24

Oh no scary. It's scary whenever you're the person, because I've done that. I remember doing that whenever my the cleaning tech destroyed a glass shower door or broke her leg, I made those phone calls to you.

Speaker 2: 25:34

Traumatic events that we walked through, so yeah, and, as always, if you guys have found some value in this episode or any of the episodes, would you please leave us a remark down at the bottom. Put something, a smiley face, something, so that it will generate and we can get reach to more audience. Leave us a five-star review. We would appreciate it and we would like to get ahold of more cleaning business owners.

Speaker 1: 26:09

Definitely, and there's always the Facebook page, Cleaning Business Life Facebook page, which I am guilty of forgetting about sometimes. I'm trying to be methodical about leaving those episodes there, and then one day, Cleaning Business Life will probably have its own website, but for now, you can actually go to Clean Freaks University hit podcast and you can get those episodes there as well. Again, we love you all. Thank you so much for spending the day with us. Take care.