Choosing a detergent for your baby’s bottles is important. The wrong detergent can lead to your baby refusing to take the bottle or having health issues due to the detergent’s chemical makeup.
The best dishwasher detergent for baby bottles will come with as many natural ingredients as possible. These ingredients will combine with your dishwasher to get unrivaled cleanliness that doesn’t come with any health risk.
There are so many dishwasher detergents on today’s market, so where do you even start when trying to find the best one?
Luckily we are here, and we’ve chosen some really effective detergents for you to consider before you do your next shop.
All of these detergents are free from harsh chemicals but still do a fantastic job.
List Of Dishwasher Detergent for Baby Bottles
- Dapple Baby Bottle & Dish Soap
- Dr. Bronners Pure Castile Liquid Soap
- Elysium Baby Natural Baby Bottle Liquid Dish Soap
- Puracy Platinum Dishwasher Detergent Pods
- Baby ECOS Bottle & Dishwash
- Dapple Baby Dishwasher Detergent Pacs
- Puracy Natural Dish Soap
- SimpliGrown Bath Co. Dish Soap & Bottle Wash
- Better Life Natural Dish Soap
- Grab Green Natural Baby Bottle & Dish Soap
Comparison Chart of top 10 Dishwasher Detergent for Baby Bottles
| IMAGE | PRODUCT | |
|---|---|---|
  | our Top Pick Dapple Baby Bottle & Dish Soap
| |
  | Dr. Bronners Pure Castile Liquid Soap
| |
  | Elysium Baby Natural Baby Bottle Liquid Dish Soap
| |
  | Puracy Platinum Dishwasher Detergent Pods
| |
  | Baby ECOS Bottle & Dishwash
| |
  | Dapple Baby Dishwasher Detergent Pacs
| |
  | Puracy Natural Dish Soap
| |
  | SimpliGrown Bath Co. Dish Soap & Bottle Wash
| |
  | Better Life Natural Dish Soap
| |
  | Grab Green Natural Baby Bottle & Dish Soap
|
5 Best Dishwasher Detergents for Baby Bottles Reviews
1. Dapple Baby Bottle & Dish Soap
Dapple Baby Store is selling this pack of 3 detergents, each with a 16.9oz weight, for a very reasonable price.
This detergent is fragrance-free, so your child shouldn’t reject the bottle because of any left-over scents after a wash.
As with all the best detergents for baby bottles, Dapple has ensured a plant-based formula that means no harsh chemicals. So effective is their detergent; Dapple claims it will remove more milk film and odors from bottle parts than any of its competitors. They have even put the figure at 50% more.
With this detergent recommended by doctors and coming with a mightily impressive 5-star rating from close to 9000 reviews on Amazon, it seems that their claim has some strong backing.
Finally, the pump top dispenser ensures you don’t overload the dishwasher with detergent by accident.
Highlighted Features
- Clean Label Project Certified to be free from harmful chemicals
- Tested by and recommended by pediatricians and dermatologists
- Independent testing shows 50% more effectiveness in removing proteins than other brands
2. Bronner’s Pure Castile Liquid Soap
Don’t be put off by the brand name nor the look of the bottle this liquid soap comes in. Yes, it gives off vibes of the hair tonic sold by quacks at carnivals in the 19th century, but unlike those formulas, this is a concentrated soap that is highly effective.
Made from over 90% organic ingredients, this is a product that is about as natural as it is possible to make any soap. Not only that, Dr. Bronner tries to source as many of its ingredients as possible through fair trade, so they are a very ethical company.
You’ll be getting two 16oz bottles of highly concentrated liquid soap that can be used for baby bottles and whatever else you wish to clean, including your baby as well.
With no synthetics, this is a soap that should cause you no skin issues or problems with allergies.
The only thing we would be wary of is the peppermint scent which, while incredibly refreshing, could put a baby off a bottle.
Highlighted Features
- High concentration soap needs diluting for use
- 90% organic and 70% fair trade ingredients
- 100% recycled packaging
3. Elysium Baby Natural Baby Bottle Liquid Dish Soap
Elysium Baby has produced a dish soap so friendly you wouldn’t be shocked if the bottle gained sentience to welcome you home and ask you how your day was before giving you a foot massage.
This soap is eco-friendly, animal-friendly, vegan-friendly, plant-based, toxic, and alcohol-free. So it’s very friendly indeed, especially towards your baby.
With an organic formula, you’ll get incredibly clean baby bottles. Elysium Baby has perfected its soap to ensure your bottles come out residue-free once the dishwasher has finished, meaning all your baby is putting into their mouth is milk from a sterile bottle.
For convenience, the bottle comes with a pump-action lid, which leads to nicely measured shots of soap in your dishwasher and little in the way of wastage.
So confident is Elysium Baby that they offer a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied.
Highlighted Features
- Formula made from naturally sourced ingredients
- Packaging made with ecological, recyclable materials
- Scented with refreshing spearmint
4. Puracy Platinum Dishwasher Detergent Pods
Hard water can be a massive problem when it comes to getting clean baby bottles. With the wrong detergent, even the best dishwashers can still leave white marks on the bottles.
Fortunately, Puracy Platinum’s plant-powered detergent works especially well in hard water areas. This dishwasher detergent can break down even the toughest of milk residues to ensure a clean bottle. Even if you’ve left a bottle out for longer than normal, the detergent is powerful enough to get rid of milk film and any odors.
So effective is this detergent that you’ll be able to use it with all items you put in the dishwasher. Therefore you don’t have to run a cycle exclusively for the baby bottles.
One tablet is enough for one dishwasher load, and you won’t need to do any pre-rinsing nor use any rinse aid at all.
Highlighted Features
- Puracy rates their product to be 99.5% natural
- Leaves bottles residue-free even with hard water
- The company guarantees your satisfaction, or you’ll get your money back
5. Baby ECOS Bottle & Dish Wash
The fact this detergent comes with Disney’s version of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger on the packaging already makes it a winner in our eyes before we even get to the key details.
Baby ECOS is committed to producing a detergent that’s gentle for your baby but effective on baby bottles. Their product is USDA Certified as being a 94% biobased product. It is also U.S. EPA Safer Choice Certified. You have nothing to worry about using this to clean your baby’s bottles and other accessories.
With a plant-based formula, you will get clean items out of the dishwasher that are residue-free. The detergent is also fragrance-free, which makes it perfect for any babies that might become fussy with a smell they don’t recognize.
Highlighted Features
- Produced sustainably in a carbon-neutral, water neutral, and True Platinum Zero Waste facility
- No toxic ingredients
- Concentrated, plant-based formula designed specifically for babies
6. DAPPLE Baby Dishwasher Detergent Pacs | baby safe dishwasher detergent
We already looked at one Dapple Baby product, with their liquid detergent getting a rave review earlier on.
This toxin-free, scent-free detergent is slightly different in form, coming as a pod rather than a liquid.
In total, you will get 50 pods, coming in 2 separate packets. So the question, really, is why go for the pod over the liquid form?
While pods may be more expensive than a liquid detergent, you won’t have to use guesswork to measure things when using them. Measuring liquid detergent can often lead to underusing or overusing the detergent. It’s very difficult to get an accurate amount.
Equally, pods have a less environmental cost than a liquid. Liquid detergents tend to be heavier to transport, so this could be a consideration when ordering detergent online.
However, the advantage that liquid has is the packaging could prove safer for a baby. Pods can drop and be picked up by babies, so you need to be more careful using them.
Highlighted Features
- Plant-based ingredients
- Recommended by doctors
- Holds a Clean Label Project Purity Award
7. Puracy Natural Dish Soap | Best Dishwasher detergent for washing baby bottles
We end with the second Puracy entry on this list, with much the same things we said for the Dapple Baby detergents applying here. Puracy soap comes highly recommended; it’s just a choice of whether to go for the pod/tablet form or the liquid form.
There really is no right or wrong answer here, as both forms are highly effective. It’s just a matter of personal preference and which form of the detergent you feel most comfortable about having in your house.
Personally, we’d choose the liquid version of the detergent until we’re sure that our kids are aware of what they should and shouldn’t put into their mouths. We don’t see the need to bring any extra risk into the house.
Should you choose the liquid form of the Puracy Dish Soap, you’ll be getting three 16oz bottles as part of the deal.
Puracy puts the liquid form of their soap at 99.96 natural. We’re not scientists, so can’t tell you why there’s a 0.46% difference between this and the pod form, but it seems like another reason to opt for the liquid first.
Highlighted Features
- Plant-powered liquid soap with no harsh chemical
- Green Tea and Lime scented for a fresh finish
- Three bottles should be enough for 450 washes
Dishwasher Detergent for Baby Bottles Buying Guide
Soap to wash baby bottles can be difficult to choose from with so many dishwashing liquids for baby bottles and a few pods as well to read up about.
We’ve been trying to find the best dishwasher detergent for baby bottles and have come up with a list of features you should definitely look out for in your search for safe dish soap for baby bottles.
a) Natural Ingredients
Mother nature has provided a lot of ingredients that do just as good a job as any of the harsh chemicals we were prone to throw into the dishwasher even as little as ten years ago.
Thankfully, detergent manufacturers have realized that you don’t need artificial elements to get a good clean, and baby dish detergent has never been safer.
Check the ingredients of any baby dish soap you want to buy to make sure that they are naturally sourced. You will find most natural baby bottle soap utilizes plant-based ingredients.
Some products will have a certification showing you just how natural they are. Keep a lookout for this.
With all the products we’ve reviewed, you can be assured that they are phosphate-free and without the horrible chemicals that can lead your baby to have health issues.
b) Scent
A lot of baby-safe dish soap comes fragrance-free. This lack of fragrance is because babies are sensitive to smells, and a smell they don’t like will stop them from taking the bottle.
However, if you find your baby isn’t fussy, you can try some of the scented detergents. Should you go down this route, make sure the fragrance is natural and not chemical derived.
Artificial scents can lead to a baby having health problems.
c) Form
While we have some tablet and pod form detergents to choose from, we only recommend these if you have somewhere to store them safely away from a crawling child.
Liquid form detergents come with caps that are difficult for any baby to unscrew. However, with tablets and pods, there is the risk of one dropping or a lid not being closed properly. A crawling, curious baby could come across one of them and try to eat.
So, as we say, only go for this option if there is zero chance of any accidents occurring.
d) Recyclable
Most baby detergent manufacturers seem to have environmental concerns, but just check if their packaging can be recycled so that you can do your bit for the environment as well.
FAQ
Do dishwashers sanitize baby bottles?
There is some debate over a dishwasher’s ability to sterilize baby bottles on a normal clean cycle. The bottle may end up clean but not necessarily be sterile.
Your dishwasher’s hottest washing cycle alone may not be enough, but if you combine this with a heated drying cycle, then the bottles should be both clean and sterile.
Alternatively, you can buy a dishwasher with a dedicated baby care mode. This baby care mode should see the dishwasher steaming the baby bottles after they have been cleaned in order to fully sterilize them.
Can I use a dishwasher for baby bottles?
Yes, baby bottles can be cleaned in a dishwasher and made sterile if your dishwasher has the option for this.
However, a problem you may face with baby bottles is the smaller parts ending up in the dishwasher’s filter if they are put loose into the dishwasher.
The best option for avoiding this is to purchase a dishwasher basket to hold all the extra pieces of the bottle or a mesh laundry bag. If going for the basket option, make sure it is able to close fully so that the high-pressure water jets in the dishwasher don’t force bottle parts out of the basket.
When can I put baby bottles in a dishwasher?
So long as the baby bottles are dishwasher safe, you can start putting them in the dishwasher once the baby is six months old.
At six months old, babies develop a higher immunity level, meaning they are less prone to getting ill and are able to better combat any bacteria that may grow on dishwasher cleaned bottles.
When should we stop sterilizing bottles?
For your own peace of mind, you don’t ever have to stop sterilizing things. However, your child will put their fingers into all sorts of non-sterile items, so sterilizing bottles is redundant after a certain time.
We’d recommend you continue sterilizing bottles for 12 months. After that, if the baby is healthy, you don’t need to.
How often should I sterilize baby bottles?
We think it is best to clean and sterilize a baby bottle after every feed until a child is at least 12 months old. This sterilization is especially important in the first 3-6 months where a baby’s immune system is still developing.
Bottom Line
There are a few considerations you now have to make before getting the best dishwasher detergent for baby bottles.
All the detergents we’ve looked at are highly effective, plant-based formulas, which care for your baby and the environment.
Your main considerations will be whether you want to buy the liquid or the tablet/pod form, whether you want a scented on unscented detergent, and whether one brand offers better value per wash than another.
Overall, you can’t really go wrong with any of these detergents. It might even be a great idea to test each one before choosing the soap you’ll use for the long term.
