Consumer Reports Articles

Dish Drops liquid dish soap (9/91)

18 products were tested. For this test, CU first assigned each product a "usage factor"—basically an index of the products strength or concentration—and then used that to determine the real cost of using the product to obtain effective results. Despite the protests of Amway distributors who claim that CU ignored the concentration factor of their product in testing, CU did quite the opposite and specifically tested the products for concentration before using them in the actual cleaning tests. Products were then listed in order of increasing real cost. Dish Drops were listed dead last, and again the Amway product was singled out as being a particularly poor value.

"But strength is not the full measure of detergent. When you multiply a liquid's usage factor by its price, you can determine the products REAL cost--what you actually pay for a given amount of cleaning power.

"The strongest detergent we tested was Amway Dish Drops, sold by the well-known direct marketing company. Dish drops has a usage factor of 0.8. But at $6.80 per quart, it's far and away the poorest value. It's real cost is $5.44 per quart [$6.80 X .08]--four times as much as Kroger, the top-rated brand.

"The Amway label suggests diluting the concentrate with water for 'maximum economy.' We tried that, adding two parts water to one part concentrate. The real cost remained $5.44--the same poor value, no matter how you dilute it.

"The Amway label also claims that 'lab tests show quart-for-quart, Dish Drops cleans up to 800 more dishes than the other leading competitor.' A teaspoonful of a high-rated product--Kroger liquid, say, with a usage factor of 1.0--will wash about 20 dishes. That's about 120 dishes per ounce and nearly 4000 dishes per quart. With a usage factor of 0.8, Amway Dish Drops should wash 20 percent more dishes. Sure enough, 20 percent of 4000 is 800, precisely the number of additional dishes claimed on the label. But Kroger liquid will do 4000 dishes for $1.35. Amway Dish Drops will wash 4000 dishes for $5.18.

"The strongest dishwashing liquids are often the most economical to use, but not always. Three liquids at the top of the Ratings--Kroger, Sunlight, and Ajax, all with a usage factor of 1.0--have a real cost of less than $1.90 per quart. As the usage factor increases, the real costs tend to rise, too. Kroger Cost Cutter and Pathmark No-Frills, two supermarket brands that are cheapest to buy, actually have a real cost of about $3.70 per quart. And the Amway Dish Drops, though the strongest, is BY FAR THE WORST BUY." [emphasis mine]

The real cost of Dish Drops, according to CR, was $5.44 per quart, the most expensive by far and 4 times the cost of top-rated Kroger. Cost per quart at distributor pricing would have been about $4.65, still the most expensive and the worst value.