Ahh, dishes. The age-old chore that is always there to greet you at the of a long day.  While I can’t totally eliminate this task for you (I wish I could!), I can help make it just a little bit better by reviewing Seventh Generation Lavender Flower and Mint scent dish soap.

Seventh Generation dish soap is plant-based and eco-friendly, that is awesome, but how well does it actually clean?

Join me for this in-depth review where I will be discussing:

• Performance
• Ingredients
• Label Claims
• Sustainability Model
• Convenience
• Cost
• Disposal
• Alternatives

Performance

I have been using this dish soap for about a week now, so I can confidently give my honest opinion on how well it actually works.

Does it foam?

Yes, it absolutely does. One squirt should last the duration of your dishwater, cleaning an average amount of dirty dishes. I wash dishes for five people, and there are always bubbles in the sink when I am finished. Quite often I will leave a load of dishes in the sink to soak and there are still bubbles left when I eventually get back to washing them.

How well does it clean?

I have found that seventh generation dish soap cleans really well. My dishes are sparkling and spot-free when I put them away. I do not have to scrub any harder than any other dish soap I have used. Although, with caked-on food I let it soak for a bit before I scrub but I do that no matter what soap I use. A little note here, I don’t typically cook fatty or greasy foods, so I can not personally attest to its effectiveness on cutting through the grease.

Does it Smell?

I am using Seventh Generation Lavender flower and Mint scent and I can honestly say that it has a very pleasant smell. Would I be able to tell that was the scent just by smelling it? No, but this is because the smell is not overpowering, which I like. It’s just an overall nice smelling product that will not irritate your nose like some dish soaps tend to do.

Will it dry out my hands?

In my experience, it will not. I am currently using this product without gloves in the middle of winter, and I do not have dry hands. However, if you do experience dry hands, try using gloves. I usually end up wearing gloves when washing dishes in the winter simply because the air is so dry. 

Ingredients Deep-dive

What I immediately love about the ingredients list on this bottle of dish soap is that it not only tells you all of the ingredients but their source and function as well. That is amazing. I have never seen that before on a bottle of cleaning solution of any kind. It’s this level of transparency that would keep me coming back to seventh generation products again and again.

Without further ado, here are the ingredients:

• Water: diluent
• Sodium lauryl sulfate: plant-derived cleaning agent
  • foaming agent
• Glycerin: plant-derived foam stabilizer
• Lauramine oxide: plant-based cleaning agent
  • foam booster
• Caprylyl/myristyl glucoside: plant-based cleaning agent
• Magnesium chloride: mineral based viscosity modifier
  • inorganic salt
• Citric acid: plant-derived pH adjuster
• Ylang Ylang flower oil: plant-derived fragrance
• Orange oil: plant-derived fragrance
• Lime oil: plant-derived fragrance
• Lavender oil: plant-derived fragrance
• Peppermint oil: plant-derived fragrance
• Spearmint oil: plant-derived fragrance
• Benzisothiazolinone: synthetic preservative
  • EWG found this ingredient to be a moderate health concern overall, particularly with skin irritation and organ system toxicity
• Methylisothiazolinone: synthetic preservative
• • EWG found this ingredient to be a moderate health concern overall, particularly with skin irritation

Overall, the only concerning ingredients are the preservatives, and maybe the SLS. I commend seventh generation for being honest and providing transparency on the label, but maybe there are other alternatives for more natural preservatives than the ones they use. As for SLS, I am not sure what the alternative would be because without it, there would be very little bubbles and for a dish soap, that’s a no-go for me. I need bubbles.

Label claims 

As we all know, many companies like to throw around buzz words like “green” and “natural” but what do they actually mean and are they substantiated by any third-party certifications? Time to examine Seventh Generation’s dish soap label claims.

Natural Dish Liquid 

The word natural is generally a non-regulated word that any company can throw on a product, so it doesn’t hold a whole lot of value, in my opinion. However, in this case, the word natural is backed by the USDA Certified Biobased Product label.

USDA Certified Biobased Product 

This label ensures that the product contains a USDA-verified amount of renewable, biological ingredients. 

The manufacturers of these products must test the biobased content at an independent, third-party laboratory.

Powerful Clean 

This is an unsubstantiated label claim. There is no scientific backing to support general claims such as this.

Safer Choice EPA Certified 

This is a third-party certification developed by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). Products must pass stringent criteria based on ingredients, product performance, pH, and packaging. Once a product meets the criteria, it is audited annually to ensure standards continue to be met.

0% Synthetic Fragrances, dyes, triclosan 

According to the ingredients list, all of the fragrances used are plant-based in origin. There are no dyes used, and appears to be triclosan (an antibacterial agent)-free as well.

A clean you can trust 

Normally, I would not put too much stock in such a blanket statement, but this seventh generation product is backed by something called Certified B Corporation.  To be honest, I was not sure what this meant, so I of course took to the internet to find out.

Certified B 

According to their website:

Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

Certified B Corporations achieve a minimum verified score on the B Impact Assessment—a rigorous assessment of a company’s impact on its workers, customers, community, and environment—and make their B Impact Report transparent on bcorporation.net. Certified B Corporations also amend their legal governing documents to require their board of directors to balance profit and purpose.

The combination of third-party validation, public transparency, and legal accountability help Certified B Corps build trust and value. B Corp Certification is administered by the non-profit B Lab.

 sustainability model 

It appears like seventh generation actually does care about our environment and people that inhabit it. From the use of plant-based ingredients to recyclable packaging made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, it really does seem like they are putting their money where their mouth is, so to speak.

Not only is seventh generation making sustainable products, they are also active in supporting social movements such as Commit to Clean where communities band together for the use of renewable resources as the main source of energy to help combat climate change.

This is just one of many examples of how seventh generation is trying to make a global impact with social change.

Convenience

You don’t have to go to an all natural health store to purchase this product. I picked mine up at my local grocery store, so it is pretty easy to find.

For your convenience, here are a couple of stores that carry seventh generation products:

Walmart

Bed Bath and Beyond

As well, here is a handy list of online options.

Cost 

The price of this dish soap does not break the bank by any means.

At Walmart, the price is $3.27 for a 25 oz. bottle.

Want to order online? Click here for the most up to date price on Amazon for the 25 oz bottle of Real Citrus scent. 

Disposal

Disposing of the empty bottle could not be more simple. 

Recycle it. 

That’s it. Pop it into your recycling box and be done with it.

Alternatives

This is the first eco-friendly dish soap I have tried, so I currently do not have any other recommendations for green dish soap. As I try more products, I will be updating this section. Thanks for your patience.

Final Thoughts

I really like using this product, It foams up just as well as any other good dish soap I have used in the past. As well, my hands are not totally dried out as they tend to get with other brands of dish soap. Seventh generation dish soap cleans my dishes really well. They are sparkly clean when I put them away.

I also really love their social campaigns. When I visit their website, it really seems like they care about the environment and making the world a better place for future generations. I just get the sense that they really give a damn, and that is important to me.

I would totally recommend buying this product and trying it for yourself. I know I am going to continue to use Seventh generation dish soap. I like it that much.

Have you used seventh generation products? What type of dish soap do you use? Let me know in the comments below.