What Is the Most Eco-Friendly Way to Wash Dishes? A Guide

Washing the dishes is an everyday habit, so making eco-friendly changes to how we wash up can have compound benefits over time. By rethinking the products we use, reducing plastic waste, and being mindful of our water consumption, we can make simple and sustainable improvements to our daily routine.

In this guide, we’ll explore the most eco-friendly way to wash your dishes, whether you prefer a dishwasher or handwashing.

What Makes Dishwashing Eco-Friendly?

Eco-friendly dishwashing is about reducing our environmental impact. We can break down the impact of washing up into four main areas:

1. Water Consumption

Washing up uses more water than most people realise, especially if you’re washing by hand.A study by Which? found that cleaning 14 place settings uses approximately:

• 63 litres when handwashing

• 12.96 litres in a standard dishwasher cycle

• 9.74 litres in a dishwasher’s eco mode

This shows that dishwashers are often far more water-efficient than handwashing.

Eco-friendly washing up means being careful about water consumption. Compared to a dishwasher, handwashing generally uses more water.

2. Energy Consumption

Handwashing only uses the energy required to heat your water, while dishwashers use electricity for washing, pumping and drying.Domestic & General estimates that most dishwashers use 1 to 1.5 kWh per cycle, depending on the model and settings. Choosing eco modes and moreeco-friendly dishwashers can help to reduce this.

3. Washing Up Soap Ingredients

An average bottle ofwashing-up liquid contains surfactants derived from fossil fuels. Once rinsed down the drain, these chemicals can contribute to surfactant pollution, harming aquatic ecosystems (Journal of Applied Microbiology). Switching to natural, biodegradable soaps is an easy way to lower your environmental impact.

4. Plastic Waste

Washing-up liquid bottles, synthetic brushes, and sponges can all add to your plastic waste.Sponges in particular shed microplastics as they wear down, which then enter waterways. Choosing plastic-free cleaning tools, like oureco dish brushes andcompostable Swedish dish cloths, and buying washing-up liquid from your local refill shop can help reduce your waste in the kitchen. 

Choosing plastic-free cleaning tools like wooden pot brushes and organic cotton cloths over synthetic products can help you reduce your plastic waste when washing up.

How to Wash Your Dishes Naturally

If you’re looking for a more natural way to wash dishes, choosing eco-friendly products and plastic-free tools is a great place to start. While many conventional washing-up liquids and dishwasher tablets contain synthetic chemicals and come in plastic packaging, there are now plenty of sustainable alternatives that clean just as effectively.

Refill shops make it easy to top up on zero-waste washing-up liquid from brands likeFill andEcover, meaning you can reuse the same bottles again and again. Solid dishwashing soaps are another natural option, and are concentrated, long-lasting and plastic-free. We like the solid dish soap fromPlanet Detox.

If you have a dishwasher, there are now plenty ofeco-friendly dishwasher tablets available that avoid harsh chemicals and unnecessary plastic wrappers.

Choosing Plastic-Free Dishwashing Tools

Withmicroplastics now being found even inside human bones, reducing plastic in the kitchen has never been more important, both for our own health and for the safety of marine ecosystems.

Many everyday washing-up tools, such as synthetic sponges and microfibre cloths, shed tiny plastic fibres every time they’re used. These microplastics travel down our drains and eventually enter rivers, oceans, and even our food chain.

Switching to plastic-free alternatives is one of the simplest and most effective changes you can make. These tools are often longer-lasting, fully compostable at the end of their life, and add a natural, timeless look to your kitchen.

Here are some plastic-free washing-up tools to consider:

• Acoconut fibre dish brush orwooden dish brush for scrubbing away food residue

• Awooden pot brush to tackle stubborn pans while being gentle on surfaces

• Swedish dish cloths for gentle cleaning and wiping around your sink

• Organic cotton dish cloths to dry your dishes afterwards

We love organic cotton dishcloths for wiping spills and drying pots and pans when you need space. We have ten colours to choose from to suit your kitchen.

How to Wash Dishes With the Least Amount of Water

Reducing the amount of water we use to wash dishes is one of the most eco-friendly changes we can make. The climate crisis means water scarcity is becoming more common, even as the average person uses 150 litres of water per day, according toOfwat.

While dishwashers are the most water-efficient choice, you can save water no matter how you wash up:

Saving Water With a Dishwasher

The average dishwasher uses under 10 litres of water per cycle in eco mode. To help you reduce your impact even more:

• Only run your dishwasher when it’s fully loaded

• Use an eco or low-temperature setting

• Scrape your plates instead of pre-rinsing them

As a bonus energy-saving tip, let your dishes air-dry rather than using the heated dry cycle.

Saving Water When Handwashing

If you’re washing by hand, the key is to only run the tap when you need it. These simple changes can significantly reduce your water consumption:

• Use a bowl in your sink:Fill it with warm, soapy water and wash your dishes in batches

• Scrub with the water off:Then rinse your dishes all at once

• Wash dishes soon after eating:Hardened food takes more water to clean.

• Only use a small amount of soap: Excess suds take more water to rinse away.

With these habits, handwashing can be almost as efficient as using a dishwasher, and quicker too.

Ready to Wash Up?

We hope our guide has inspired you with simple, practical ways to wash up in the most eco-friendly way.

By using less water and energy, choosing natural washing-up products, and swapping to plastic-free tools, you can make a sustainable difference to your washing up.

If you’re ready to add plastic-free dishwashing products to your routine, explore ourdish brushes,pot brush,dish cloths andSwedish dish cloths, all designed to be effective and long-lasting with care for the planet.

At Wild & Stone, we create our products in a conscious way, ensuring they have minimal social and environmental impact on their journey from raw materials to your home.

We’d love to see your eco-friendly washing-up habits! Share them with us at hello@wildandstone.com or tag us on Instagram with #wildandstone.