Summary A new technique for the evaluation of dishwashing detergent efficiency in terms of percentages of soil removed has been developed by the adaptation of conventional detergency laboratory equipment. The soils used are synthetic, containing ingredients encountered in home and restaurant dishwashing (egg, grease, milk, flour, etc.). The substrates to be cleaned can be varied to meet the needs of any particular test: glass, pottery, or metal. The test has been shown to be reproducible and provides a sufficiently large range of removal percentages so that minor dishwashing detergent formula variations can be measured. A correlation between this new technique and a more cumbersome and time‐consuming, semi‐practical manual plate washing method has been demonstrated.

Summary A technique utilizing a common household washer for the evaluation of the foaming properties of hand dishwashing detergents has been developed, which has been shown to correlate well with blind‐product consumer‐testing. In contrast with many tests now in use this procedure incorporates the use of a variety of soil ingredients which may be present in actual home and institutional dishwashing practice, namely, fats, egg, vegetable juice, starches, etc. The design of the test equipment makes possible the simultaneous observation of two products or formula variations, thereby permitting the use of a standard of measurement for relative comparisons. Photographing the test at designated time‐intervals makes it possible to study the character of the foams after the completion of the evaluation. The test measures the properties of initial foam build‐up and stability to soil and has shown good reproducibility.