Can I use Dishwashing Liquid as hand soap?Updated a day ago
TL;DR: No. Dishwashing Liquid is formulated to lift food and grease off plates and rinse away cleanly, and a hand wash is formulated for repeated contact with skin. They are different jobs. Skin contact while you wash up is expected and accounted for, and the product is Dermatest tested for skin tolerance, but for washing hands reach for Hand Wash instead.
Can I use Dishwashing Liquid as hand soap?
✓ Built for dishes
Dishwashing Liquid is formulated to lift food residue and grease off plates and rinse away cleanly. A hand wash is formulated for repeated contact with skin. Two jobs, two products.
That is a positioning point rather than a warning. Use each one for the job it was built for and both do it well.
✓ Reach for Hand Wash for hands
Hand Wash is the Koh product formulated for skin. Made in Australia, and it comes in the same bag-in-box format with a refillable pump.
What about the skin contact I get while washing up?
✓ What the testing covers
Dishwashing Liquid is Dermatest tested for skin tolerance, Eczema Association of Australasia recognised and Sensitive Choice approved by the National Asthma Council Australia.
The formula sits at pH 6.5 and carries glycerin as a humectant, which is in there because washing up is a bare-handed job.
✓ What Koh will and will not say about it
People vary, and Koh does not claim a wholesale 100 per cent for every pair of hands. What is true in general is that a fragrance-free, dye-free detergent is a gentler choice than a perfumed one, and the substantiation is the independent testing above plus an 11-ingredient formula with nothing added for scent.
If your hands are already broken or irritated, wear gloves for the washing up and speak to a pharmacist or GP rather than working it out at the sink.
How do I stop my hands drying out at the sink?
✓ Three things that help
Most of the drying at a kitchen sink comes from hot water and time in it, not from the detergent. Use comfortably warm water rather than the hottest you can stand, let the 5 to 10 minute soak do the work instead of scrubbing, and dry your hands properly afterwards.
Dishwashing Liquid carries glycerin as a humectant for exactly this reason. If you wash up several times a day, gloves and a hand cream afterwards make more difference than swapping detergent.

Dermatest tested, Eczema Association recognised, Sensitive Choice approved, GECA certified. pH 6.5, 11 ingredients, no added fragrance, made in Australia.

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Last reviewed: September 2026 · Koh Australia

