15 Household Uses for Dawn Dish Soap

Dawn dish soap has been a well-known household name when it comes to cleaning dishes. We’ve been using it in our home for as long as I can remember. Even though I have a dishwasher, I still wash some dishes by hand. I usually have several bottles in my stockpile since it’s such a versatile product.

I think that it’s great that people have started to use it to take care of other things around the house as well. You may be surprised at the amount and variety of things you can use Dawn dish soap for! You might fine one or two in this list that you never thought of before.

For Cleaning Purposes

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1. Pretreat your laundry. As soon as you get a stain, thoroughly rub just Dawn into the stain. Throw it in the laundry hamper and then launder as usual whenever you’re ready. The dish soap prevents new stains from setting and will help to remove already set in stains.

2. Homemade window cleaner. Make a homemade window cleaner from 1/2 cup ammonia, 16 oz. rubbing alcohol, and 1 teaspoon blue Dawn dish soap. Put it all in a gallon jug, fill it the rest of the way with water, and shake well.

3. Grout cleaner. Mix Dawn with epsom salt to form a paste that cleans grout.

4. Homemade bathroom cleaner. A mixture of half white vinegar and half Dawn in a squirt bottle will clean your tub, shower, faucets, and sink with almost no effort.

5. Unclog your toilet. Pour in a half cup of Dawn followed by a half gallon of boiling water. Let it sit for 15 minutes, plunge, and flush. If the toilet is still clogged, repeat the process using a gallon of water this time.

Outdoor Uses

Believe it or not, there are quite a few uses for Dawn outdoors as well.

6. Clean your driveway. Use kitty litter to absorb excess gasoline, grease and oil from your driveway. Sweep it up and then scrub with a solution of warm water and Dawn.

7. De-icer. De-ice your walkways with a solution consisting of 1 teaspoon of Dawn, 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol, and 1/2 gallon hot water. Pour it over your walkways and steps and they won’t refreeze.

8. Locate tire leaks. Find tire leaks by rubbing a solution of half Dawn and half water all over the tire. The leak will bubble. This works for your car, lawnmower, bicycle, and any other tires you might have around.

9. Bug killer. Kill ants and other intruders before they make their way into your house. Spread Dawn on windowsills and around the bottom of doors to keep the bugs from crawling inside.

10. Weed killer. Use a few drops of detergent in a gallon of water as an insecticide for your garden.

11. Homemade bubble solution. Just for fun, use Dawn to make bubble solution with the kids. Use one part Dawn to fifteen parts water for giant bubbles.

For Health and Beauty

You can use Dawn for health and beauty purposes too.

12. DIY ice pack. Fill a sandwich bag with Dawn and put it in your freezer. The soap never fully solidifies so when you need an ice pack, you just take it out and use it on the affected area. It molds beautifully to knees, elbows, and other areas that usually need ice pack treatments.

13. Dye job woes. Dawn works amazing on bad hair dye jobs. Use it to wash out a terrible colour faster. This works especially well with red shades of dye. Note: Using dish detergent more than once a week can strip the natural oils and be damaging to your hair so be sure to space out the treatments.

14. De-greaser. Use Dawn to remove greasy or oily residue from hands. An added benefit is that it softens them at the same time.

15. Fog free glasses. To keep your eyeglasses from fogging, rub a drop of Dawn into the lenses and then wipe off. It will leave a thin film that stops fogging but doesn’t affect vision.

Now that you know all of the things it can be used for, be sure to grab a bottle next time you’re at the store! Do you use Dawn for anything not on this list? Please share in the comments!