Curiosities: What’s the difference between dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent and dish soap?

Quoted: Allen Clauss, a UW-Madison chemistry lecturer who previously worked at consumer products company Procter & Gamble Co., saying the main differences are in the pH, presence or absence of bleach, and the types of surfactants – long molecules that are water-loving at one end and oil-loving at the other. “Surfactants are active ingredients we put in cleaning products that bridge the gap between water and greasy dirt and help wash it away,” he says.