I use Seventh Generation Free & Clear. It's very mild, doesn't have any grit or bleach, and works very well. If you hold it up to your nose it smells kind of soapy, but doesn't have any other smell at all.

This stuff is milder than many handsoaps, so we wash our hands with it in the kitchen without a thought or care. Also use it for household cleaning.

If by "watery" your friend means not full of unneeded thickeners and grit, yes, it is. You can't make a mound of it; it'll run. It also makes great suds, and doesn't clog up your dispenser.

How could asking about dishsoap on a kitchen forum be off topic? :)

I second the recommendation on the 7th Generation Free and Clear.

I have terrible allergies, and it is the only thing I can use without gloves.

I can usually find it at target, also at whole foods. If you cannot source locally, try drugstore.com

Thanks everyone. I am going to try Seventh Generation. I do have a Whole Foods near me.

(Enduring - I said "slightly" OT because I figured dish soap isn't about kitchen design and construction and the like. Wasn't sure if I needed to go to the Cleaning Forum..)

Recognize you're asking about unscented but wonder if you might like scented if you found a fragrance you liked.

I hate all the supermarket ones. But was given a gift of some hand lotion in a scent that I just love. And then discovered it is also available as dish soap, hand soap, loads of other things. It happens to be Caldrea Basil Blue Sage but lots of other companies make delicious smelling soaps too.

I too tried the Palmolive Pure and Clear and was disappointed. I think the scent is pretty stong! I will try the Seventh Generation too. Some scents make me sneeze and two of my girls have eczema and sensitive skin (a genetic defect that obviously came from my husband's side of the family). My oldest daughter has a terrible reaction to scented tissues and another can't take scented hand sanitizer. Sadly, they aren't exposed to the dish soap very often. (Now that's OT)

mpagmom, here is some info you may find helpful.....and is also OT at this point, so sorry to everyone else.

Since you brought up your daughters' problems, may I offer some other suggestions that I personally have found helpful in managing my allergies and eczema? Just offering in case it may help...not trying to be a buttinsky, and I apologize if you already know this.

There is a difference between the terms "unscented" and "fragrance free". If something is fragrance free, it has had nothing added to it to change how it smells. If something is "unscented", then it doesn't "smell like anything", BUT this can be because a masking fragrance was used to cover up the smell of what's in it. So if someone is allergic to fragrance, then they can be allergic to formulas that are labeled unscented.

If things get so that you need to find out more triggers, I was helped greatly by a dermatologist who did a "TRUE test". (you can read about it if you google it.) They put these stickers on your back for 48 house, and it has the top 20-30 things that people topically react to. Then you go back and the take it off and see what has caused a reaction, so that you can then try and avoid exposure to it. For me it was fragrances and preservatives. Anyway, it was very helpful.

Another vote for Seventh Generation. We even dilute it since we also use it for hand washing, and don't need the concentration for that purpose. So I would not think of it as watery (in its original state).

Seventh Generation was the first or second top rated brand in a Cooks Illustrated test a few years back -- primarily because it and Method had a higher concentration of cleaning agents compared with more popular brands.

Juliekcmo is right about fragrances in some unscented things that are used to mask the bad smell of what's supposed to be in there, but that doesn't mean that if you're in general allergic to fragrances that you'll be allergic to the covering stuff. It depends on the chemical in question. For instance, a lot of floral fragrances are made out of the same compounds that make people sneeze when they smell live flowers. There are aisles in conventional supermarkets I can't walk down. :)

Sometimes the cover scent is a lot better. I used to use these great vitamins that didn't have the binders I'm allergic to. They decided they weren't "natural" enough because they were using an artificial vanilla (which I believe is chemically identical to real vanilla extract) to mask the sulphur smell of the B vitamins. The vanilla didn't make them smell like ice cream--it was just a neutralizer. Without it, the sulphur was so strong I couldn't swallow them.

Pure soap doesn't have a much of a smell, however, and most household detergents don't either. Soap smells a little sweet. Most detergent smells a bit bitter. Neither smells much if it's pure and gentle.

Funny thing is I'm allergic to a lot of scented stuff, and find scented candles horrific, but fancy scented bar soaps seem to be okay, either the hard milled ones or glycerine. I wonder if the carrier also matters? Or maybe I'm just not allergic to rose, gardenia and lavender?

Anyway, I can't touch Woolite, Cascade or Safeguard, but I could probably bathe with the 7th G. dish liquid.

I've been using Planet for years - no artificial fragrances and no dyes. I have really sensitive skin, and I haven't had a problem using Planet.

Yandj - where can I find "Planet"? The 7th Generation dish soap made dh's skin break out on his face, despite wearing gloves when he used it.

I found it at an independent grocery store here in town. It was the only fragrance free dish soap they had at the time (it's been about 6 years now that I've been using it). I use their laundry detergent too.

I feel for your husband - that's not fun. I had simliar problems - I thought we had fleas :-). Turns out, I was just really allergic.

He googled it in the meantime and the prices were scary. I think he is relieved.... lol....

Yeah, I looked for it at amazon, to see if you could order it online. They have it - but it costs $1.50 MORE per bottle than I pay at the grocery store.

I have been using California Baby Super Sensitive Shampoo & Bodywash for hand washables. It doesn't suds much, but cleans well and rinses well. We are also using it as the name implies - shampooing and bodywash. One of the best I have tried for eczema. We can find it at our local Target in the baby aisles.

I've been using Dawn Pure Essentials, which I bought because it was clear and said hypoallergenic. I could have sworn it was unscented, but I just went to check it and in the smallest print it says "sparkling mist scent." Could've fooled me! The whole time I've been thinking it was unscented! Well, I'll throw my weight behind this Dawn Pure Essentials if anyone's looking for a (mostly) scentless soap that does the trick. I barely have to scrub any of my pots.

Another vote for the clear Dawn! It works wonderfully well, and despite that "mist" scent label, does NOT smell like scent at all. Try it out, for every bottle you buy, a portion goes to wildlife rescue, too!

I think it's wonderful that Dawn donates a portion to wildlife rescue. My only reservation about Dawn is that it's petroleum-based. I wish it weren't! Anyway, I just bought a bottle of Seventh Generation today, and can't wait to test it out. Although it's vegetable-based, I was still dismayed to see a main ingredient is sodium laurel sulfate, an irritant. I am thinking of my Kitchens Forum friends on this thread who have said they or family members have sensitive skin. I guess you can't win everything. I didn't see in the store the Planet dishwashing liquid that Yandj uses, but I checked out the website; but it doesn't list ingredients. I am probably putting too much thought into this! I had started with simply wanting an unscented liquid dish soap, and I think Seventh Generation will fit the bill.

I have to check every label so carefully, because what smells plain to me and says unscented or even fragrance free, has a scent to dh and/or irritates his skin. We have to be so careful with anything that comes in contact with his skin or even very close. I will check out the California baby shampoo because I have never heard of it before.
It is funny because he will play sports with a broken toe, dbl hernia, bone spur, etc... yet I joke that he is like the princess and pea when it comes to products.

Another vote for Seventh Generation. Be sure you get the Free and Clear. They do have others with a lemon or lavender scent.

Eco Max Hypoallergenic Ultra Dish Wash is sold in the "organic" cleaners section of Independent Grocery stores. It has no noticeable smell or scent. I don't think the label states either "unscented" or "fragrance free", but the print is so blinkin' small I can't read most of it! I wash all my dishes by hand in the sink, and if I use Eco Max the skin on the tips of my fingers doesn't split in cold weather. With any other dish soap they do split. An added benefit is that Eco Max doesn't produce or need loads of suds. Question: why would anyone want perfume in their dish soap, anyway?

This is an interesting thread. I use Seventh Generation Free & Clear and am pleased with it. I can't stand scented things, though I have no allergies, it's just a pet peeve. Like Brencbg said, why would anyone want perfume in their dish soap.

I recently had my stone tile floors professionally cleaned and polished (they are 24 years old, and the grout had 24 years of dirt in it). The company instructed me that I should clean the floor mostly with just water and a sponge, but if I had to use soap, use an unscented dishwashing liquid. When I showed him my bottle of Seventh Generation, he said I couldn't use it on the stone tile because it has citric acid in it and would etch the stone. I looked on the ingredient label, and yup, there was citric acid. Who knew? He recommended the Dawn Pure Essentials that was mentioned above. When this bottle of Seventh Generation is finished, I will give the Dawn Pure Essentials a try, but sigh, I do like my Seventh Generation DW liquid.

I spent 2.98 pure and clear today. I agree. It does smell like the green and it is very strong for me. I have perfume allergies. Sadly disappointed. And thanks, I will seek out Seventh Generation from now on. *I thought I saw citrus mentioned on the Palmolive website, I would check there and the label if tile cleaning is concern.*