Best fragrance-free dishwasher detergent

How we chose

This page covers detergents for machine dishwashing: gels, single-dose packs and a powder. Hand dish soaps are a different product with their own page, fragrance-free dish soap. We have not tested any of these products ourselves. We read the ingredient list on each maker’s page and kept a product only if that list shows no fragrance, parfum, aroma, perfume, essential oil or named fragrance chemical.

That is why we look past the front label. A name such as “Unscented” tells you about smell, not about what is in the formula; the distinction is covered in our guide to fragrance-free versus unscented. Four of the five lists were read by our own fetch of the maker’s page. The Cascade entry was captured in a browser, because our fetch was blocked, and is labelled that way below.

What to look for

Start at the ingredient list and look for “parfum”, “fragrance” or “aroma”, and for plant oils or fragrance chemicals. Our guide to reading an ingredient list and the explainer on what parfum means cover the wording. A “free of dyes” line is a separate claim from a “free of fragrance” line.

A fragrance-free dishwasher detergent still contains plenty of other things. Every list here has a builder or water softener (sodium citrate, citric acid or tetrasodium glutamate diacetate), enzymes, and a surfactant. The differences that show up in the lists are the preservative, if any, and the format. For the wider routine, see a fragrance-free cleaning routine and the general guide to fragrance-free products.

ECOS Dishwasher Gel Free & Clear

ECOS Dishwasher Gel - Free & Clear is a gel; the maker page shows a 40 oz size. Per the maker’s ingredient disclosure, retrieved 2026-11-13, the list is water, sodium citrate, citric acid, tetrasodium glutamate diacetate, xanthan gum, caprylyl/myristyl glucoside, potassium sorbate and an enzymatic blend. The maker’s words are “washing away food residue without dyes or scents”.

It has the shortest list in the set and the only preservative it names is potassium sorbate; no isothiazolinone appears. It suits readers who want the fewest named ingredients. Note that “without scents” is the maker’s wording, and the list is what we rely on.

Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent Packs Free & Clear

Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent Packs - Free & Clear comes in 20, 45 and 72 counts. Per the maker’s ingredient disclosure, retrieved 2026-11-13, the list is sodium carbonate, sodium citrate, sodium sulfate, sodium percarbonate, C12-16 alcohols ethoxylated propoxylated, sodium silicate, sodium polyaspartate, polyvinyl alcohol, a protease enzyme blend and an amylase enzyme blend. The page shows a “Fragrance Free” badge.

No preservative is named. The polyvinyl alcohol is described by the maker as the water-soluble film around the pack. No Amazon listing found; the link goes to the maker’s site (not an affiliate link).

Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent Powder Free & Clear

Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent Powder - Free & Clear is sold in 45 oz and 75 oz sizes. Per the maker’s ingredient disclosure, retrieved 2026-11-13, the list is sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, sodium carbonate, citric acid, sodium percarbonate, C12-16 alcohols ethoxylated propoxylated, sodium silicate, sodium polyaspartate, and protease and amylase enzyme blends. The page shows a “Fragrance Free” badge.

Compared with the packs it has no pack film and uses citric acid in place of sodium citrate; like the packs, it names no preservative. It is the only powder here. It has an Amazon listing, which is an affiliate link.

Seventh Generation Triple Action Clean Dishwasher Detergent Packs

Seventh Generation Triple Action Clean Dishwasher Detergent Packs - Free & Clear are multi-chamber packs in 16, 38 and 54 counts. Per the maker’s ingredient disclosure, retrieved 2026-11-13, the list has seventeen entries: sodium carbonate, sodium citrate, water, tetrasodium glutamate diacetate, citric acid, polyvinyl alcohol, sodium sulfate, C12-16 alcohols ethoxylated propoxylated, sodium percarbonate, a protease enzyme blend, sodium polyaspartate, sodium silicate, sorbitol, xanthan gum, dipropylene glycol, an amylase enzyme blend and benzisothiazolinone. The maker states the product is “free of fragrance, dyes, and chlorine bleach”.

This is the longest list here and the only Seventh Generation product that includes benzisothiazolinone, described as a synthetic preservative. Readers avoiding isothiazolinones should look at the other Seventh Generation products or ECOS. No Amazon listing found; the link goes to the maker’s site (not an affiliate link).

Cascade Free & Clear Gel Dishwasher Detergent, Unscented

Cascade Free & Clear Gel Dishwasher Detergent, Unscented was captured from the maker’s page in a browser on 2026-11-13; our automated fetch could not re-check it. The SmartLabel page, information last updated 2022-07-04, gives the size as 60 OZ in the size field and “60 fl oz” in the title. The captured list reads: water, sodium bicarbonate, tetrasodium glutamate diacetate, a copolymer of acrylic, maleic and sulphonic acids, PEG/PPG/propylheptyl ether, citric acid, sodium silicate, xanthan gum, calcium chloride, sodium benzoate, subtilisin, benzisothiazolinone and amylase. The product name is “Free & Clear Gel Dishwasher Detergent, Unscented”, which we repeat as the maker’s naming, not as a finding.

The list shows no fragrance ingredient, but it is dated 2022, and it names two preservatives, sodium benzoate and benzisothiazolinone. Because the entry depends on one browser capture, check the package. No Amazon listing found; the link goes to the maker’s site (not an affiliate link).

What the label does not tell you

The lists show what a product contains, not how it smells or how it cleans, and we did not assess either. Some surfactants and enzyme blends can have a faint smell of their own, which we cannot judge from documents. The other lists were not checked against certification directories; our guide to the National Eczema Association Seal explains what a seal does and does not cover. For other rooms, see floor cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner and trash bags. Questions about skin reactions belong with a clinician or allergist, not a product page.