Choosing a dishwashing liquid starts with how often you wash up, before anything else. That decides the size that suits you, and the size decides the real cost per litre and how often you buy across a year.
Quick answer
Start from your usage: a 600 ml bottle at the sink if you wash once a day, and a 2 or 4 litre bottle in the cupboard to refill from if you wash more. Compare on price per litre, not price per bottle.
Start with how much you wash, not with the shelf
The first question is not which brand. It is how much washing-up you actually do. A household that washes once a day is a different case from one with children washing three times, and both are different from a small café.
That difference decides the size that suits you, which in turn decides how often you go to the shop and how many empty bottles you pay for over a year.
Size: 600 ml, 2 litres or 4 litres?
Small bottles are easier at the tap; large ones are better value on storage and trips. Most households land on the same answer: a small bottle at the sink and a large one in the cupboard to refill from.
| Size | Who it suits | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| 600 ml | Small household, washing once a day | Next to the sink |
| 2 litres | Average family washing more than once | Cupboard, for refilling |
| 4 litres | Large or extended family | Cupboard, as a refill |
| 10 litres | Restaurant, café, cleaning contractor | Store room, decanted |
Scent: lemon or apple?
Scent is not a luxury in a kitchen — it is what stays on your hands and on the dishes after rinsing. Lemon is the traditional Egyptian kitchen choice and is mentally tied to cleanliness and cutting grease. Apple is lighter and sweeter, and suits anyone who dislikes strong citrus.
Una Dishes comes in both scents across every size, so you never have to change size to change scent.
Does more foam mean cleaner dishes?
Foam is an indicator, not a result. People associate foam with cleanliness because it is the part they can see, but what actually cleans is how the product acts on grease, not the volume of bubbles.
The genuinely useful signal: when the foam disappears from the washing water while you are still washing, the water has taken on as much grease as it will hold, and it is time to change it.
Concentration and how much you actually use
Most washing-up liquids are concentrated, which means the amount needed is smaller than what people typically pour. What reduces consumption without reducing results:
- Apply to a wet sponge rather than straight onto each plate.
- Or dissolve a small amount in a bowl of warm water and wash from that.
- Warm water dissolves grease better than cold, so you need less product.
- Soak burnt pans instead of adding more product and scrubbing.
Pouring directly onto every plate is the single biggest reason a bottle empties fast.
Being kinder to your hands
If you wash up often, your hands pay for it. Small things help:
- Use warm water rather than very hot — hot water dries skin more than the product does.
- Wear gloves for a large load or when soaking pans.
- Rinse your hands with clean water afterwards, and dry them.
Una describes its dishwashing liquid as gentle on hands. Even so, any washing-up product combined with hot water and constant repetition will affect skin.
Do not buy the wrong product for the job
Washing-up liquid is made for dishes. People use it on floors or in the bathroom because it is what is to hand. It half-works, but it is neither cheaper nor cleaner — floor cleaner is designed to dilute in a bucket and dry without residue, while washing-up liquid is designed to foam and rinse off ceramic and steel.
For floors and bathrooms, Clorofast Multi-Purpose is the variant made for it. For disinfecting, Clorofast White.
Where to buy, and how to compare cost properly
Compare by price per litre, not by price per bottle. A large bottle costs more but can be clearly cheaper per litre. Do the arithmetic once and you will know which size suits you from then on.
Bio Chemicals products are sold at Metro Markets, Kheir Zaman, Kazyon, Awlad Ragab and ABA Market, and online through Jumia — details on the where to buy page.
Hand washing or a dishwasher?
Dishwashers are increasingly common in Egyptian homes, and the recurring question is whether ordinary washing-up liquid can go in one. It cannot.
Hand dishwashing liquid is designed to foam. A dishwasher works by water pressure, and heavy foam escapes the machine and causes a genuine mess. Dishwashers take their own low-foam products.
What does work: using washing-up liquid to rinse dishes before they go in, and for the large pans that were never going to fit in the machine anyway.
Signs the product is not right for your home
Not every product suits every household. These signs say change something:
- The bottle empties faster than expected. Usually the size is too small for your usage, or you are pouring onto plates instead of a sponge.
- Scent lingers on dishes after rinsing. Either too much product, or not enough rinsing.
- Your hands dry out noticeably. Try slightly cooler water and gloves before changing the product — hot water is usually the cause.
- Grease takes real effort. Try soaking first; soaking does more work than adding more product.
And if you are washing commercial volumes, the right product is a different one entirely: see Al-Amin dish soap in 10 litres.