Dish soap is one of those things that you have to buy even if you have a dishwasher. Sometimes pots need to soak or you only need to wash out a bowl and spoon for a late-night snack. Either way, there’s no real getting around buying dish soap, and there’s nothing more frustrating than using soap that has the consistency of water, or worse, leaves your dishes greasy.
Nothing makes me want to throw dishes in the trash faster than grabbing a “clean” dish from the dish rack and feeling that familiar slimy film slip across your fingertips. That’s it. Paper plates for all eternity. But why does that happen and what does dish soap actually do? Once again, Melissa Pateras, the queen of “laundry-tok,” has an answer and it’s fascinating.
In this particular video, she brought along two friends to help her explain what the deal is with dish soap—a disembodied Ken and Barbie doll glued to two different bottles of dish soap.
Ken is Palmolive and Barbie’s head and extremities are attached to the bottle of Dawn. Pateras uses the dolls to explain that the difference between dish soaps is usually the surfactants. (I think it’s a safe guess that most people aren’t thinking about surfactants when shopping.)
“Think about Dawn as Barbie and Ken as Palmolive. Now think about surfactants as outfits. Barbie has a huge wardrobe of outfits and accessories, whereas Ken only has a few, mostly just the same in different colors,” Pateras says while holding the two bottles. “Now, if Ken is all you have to play with, he’s fine, but he’s never anybody’s first choice.”
@melissadilkespateras What soap would you choose #dishes #dawn #compare #barbie
She explains that while Ken can do things, Barbie has had over 80 careers and has adapted over the years, while Ken has essentially stayed the same. Obviously, we’re still discussing dish soap, but the visual and descriptive explanation helps bring the point around before she does a test with both soaps to demonstrate how the surfactants work.
“I understand surfactant so much better now. Thank you,” one commenter wrote.
“I loved this!!!! And I learned something,” another person said.
One thought she should be compensated by Dawn for her demonstration, writing, “Melissa I stg if Dawn doesn’t pay you for this…”
Through her demonstrations, there’s a clear better choice, and it’s Dawn. Now whether the dish soap giant will send Pateras a check for her entertaining and informative video is yet to be determined, but maybe she’ll get a few free bottles of the good stuff.