Dish Soap

You’ve probably read dozens of articles and posts about the wonders of dish soap as a pesticide, fungicide, and surfactant in the garden. All of those posts are wrong.

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Dish soap claims

Mixing dish soap with water and spraying it on your plants is said to kill ants, aphids, psyllids, spider mites, thrips, whiteflies, and many other garden pests. And it will. In the same breath, those claims assure you that beneficial insects, such as honey bees and ladybugs, are safe from the same actions that kill the pests. How can that be?


The fact is, all insects found in the garden will be harmed by dish soap. And so will your plants.
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Dish soap is bad for plants (Kate Russell)

How dish soap works

Dish soap, also known as dish washing liquid, is a detergent. Dish soap helps us get our dishes clean by cutting grease, oil, and wax. Dish soap generally contains colorants, fragrances, bleach, enzymes, phosphates, and rinsing agents.


Insects and plants have waxy coatings that are also damaged by dish soap. When this protective coating is removed, infection, pest infestation, and dehydration all become more likely.


Dish soap v. insecticidal soap

Insecticidal soap is not a detergent. It is a soap made specifically formulated for use on plants. And it must be used properly to be safe for plants and effective against pests. While liquid hand soap is a soap and not a detergent, it contains fatty acids which are phytotoxic, or poisonous, to plants.


Before trying a Quick Fix on your edible plants, take the time to research what is really going on. Your plants will thank you.