The Lemongrass & Clementine Zest Natural Dish Liquid Soap is just one of many natural household products that the famous Earth-friendly company Seventh Generation produces.

Seventh Generation says that it is “committed to becoming the world’s most trusted brand of authentic, safe, and environmentally-responsible products for a healthy home.” But how do these products really fare when it comes to the word “natural”?

Although many dish soaps today claim to be gentle and safe for your hands, they often aren’t and may not necessarily be when it comes to the environment as many are phosphate and petroleum based. Secondly, many people do not give much thought to the chemical residues left over on their dishes, which end up being consumed, if the dishes are not rinsed properly as is often done when doing the dishes quickly. Hence, it is important to find a health-safe and environmentally-safe dish liquid.

Seventh Generation’s dish liquids claim to be non-toxic, biodegradable, hypo-allergenic, free of phosphates, not tested on animals, kosher certified and safe for septic tanks.

The product comes in two other varieties aside from this one, which are: Clean & Clear and Lavender Floral & Mint. Seventh Generation Liquid Dish Detergent, Lemongrass & Clementine Zest Scent, 25-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 12) variety has a mild orange scent and lathers and cleans the dishes just as well as any other commercial dish soap.

In terms of skin irritability I am not one to comment on this as I normally do not have dry skin or suffer from any irritations. However, based on the complete ingredient list, people with sensitive skin may be irritated by this product.

The full list of ingredients is clearly written out on the company’s web site but not on the bottle. I find this a little disappointing because Seventh Generation gets a lot of good hype amongst many in the “natural” communities and is considered perhaps the leader in “natural” household products. However, if you read the bottle ingredients versus the complete ingredients, you will notice that the bottle ingredients sound a lot more harmless than their complete list counterparts.

The bottle ingredients simply say: “a unique combination of naturally derived cleaning agents (coconut-based surfactants), whole and natural plant essences (a blend of lemongrass, clementine, bergamot, blood orange and elemi essential oils), Presevatives (less than 0.05%), water”. Now read for yourself the complete list below and make your own conclusions, whether you do not find the bottle list just a little misleading as to how natural this product really is.

In conclusion, the product is by no means a superior, natural product and for the premium in price one would hope it would be. The ingredients may be safe for the environment, but they are by no means perfect where our health is concerned. Under safe usage such as wearing gloves and thorough rinsing when washing dishes with it, the product can be considered great, but under typical conditions it may pose small health risks and skin irritations.

Ingredients

(All Plant Based Ingredients Are Italicized)

  • Aqua (water)
  • Sodium laureth sulfate (chemical foaming agent) – moderate health hazard (3-4)*
  • Cocamidopropyl betaine (surfactant) – moderate health hazard (5)*
  • Cocamide MEA (foam and viscosity enhancer) – low to moderate health hazard (2-4)*
  • Coceth-7 (emulsifying agent) – low health hazard (0)*
  • Sodium chloride (salt thickener) – low health hazard (0)*
  • Magnesium chloride (viscosity controller) – moderate health hazard(3)*
  • Citric acid (pH adjuster) – moderate health hazard (4)*
  • Essential oils and botanical extracts (Citrus clementina (clementine), Citrus aurantium bergamia (bergamot fcf), Citrus sinensis (blood orange), Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass), Carnarium luzonicum (elemi)) and D-Limonene
  • Hexahydro-1,3,5-tris (2-hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine (preservative, less than 0.05%) (bacteriocidal agent) – moderate health hazard (4-5)*

* Safety ratings provided by Skin Deep Cosmetic Database

Packaging

The regular bottle of this dish soap is 25oz and comes in a fully recyclable #1 plastic. There is a bigger, bulk size available too.

Price (as of this posting)

  • $3.50 – $4.50 CAD/US per bottle at local stores across North America
  • $31.99 US per 12 pack ($2.67 US per bottle) on Amazon.com
  • $3.69 US per bottle from RevolutionHealthStore.com

Availability

The Good

  • Good ingredients for the environment
  • Pleasant Odor
  • Excellent foaming ability
  • Cleans dishes very well

The Bad

  • Contains sodium laureth sulfate (known skin irritant)
  • Contains a few other ingredients of questionable health safety
  • MSDS sheet outlines risks in case of ingestion, eye and skin contact