P&G’s Dawn EZ-Squeeze Inverted Bottle Flips Dishwashing on its Head
New inverted bottle with no-flip cap, self-sealing valve, and one-handed dispensing for Dawn liquid dish soap means no more shaking, flipping, or banging to get out the last drop.
The Dawn EZ-Squeeze inverted bottle with no-flip cap technology enables it to stand on its cap and dispense from the bottom with a self-sealing valve that protects against leaks
In the realm of new packaging for household cleaning products, reusable packaging and concentrated products for greater sustainability have stolen the show of late. Procter & Gamble's new bottle for Dawn liquid dish soap takes a different approach by addressing ease-of-use for all consumers, including those with disabilities. The new Dawn EZ-Squeeze bottle is inverted with a patented no-flip cap that lets it stand upside down, dispensing from the bottom. It also includes a self-sealing valve to prevent leaks.
According to Corey Brugh, Senior Brand Manager, North America Hand Dish at P&G, the impetus for the design came from what the brand saw consumers doing every day: turning the bottle upside down. “We began iterating from there—knowing we wanted to solve the frustration that comes from trying to get the last drop of soap out, in a bottle that would stay clean and wouldn’t require a cap to flip,” he shares.
Dawn spent over five years developing Dawn EZ-Squeeze, testing hundreds of designs, making it one of P&G’s most thoroughly researched products in its 50-year history in the dish soap category. According to Brugh, the goal of P&G’s in-house design, packaging, and manufacturing teams was to create something with beautiful, functional aesthetics that would meet consumer needs and that could also be made at scale.
“We are truly consumer-obsessed,” he says, “so our first area of focus was consumer behavior and how we could make the ease of use better and more efficient.” The answer was an inverted bottle with a multi-patented, no-flip, no-mess cap technology that allows consumers to dispense product with one hand and enables them to get every last drop of the Dawn dish liquid out of the bottle.
Dawn EZ-Squeeze’s one-handed design allows consumers to easily apply the intended amount of soap directly to dishes with greater control.
Cap is key to new format
The special cap is a round, opaque screw-on lid just over 5.5 mm wide, designed to serve as the bottle's base for stability. In the center of the cap is the dispensing valve. Before use, consumers remove an adhesive seal over the valve.
To dispense the dish soap, consumers squeeze the bottle, which causes pressure to build up and results in the valve opening to release product. When the consumer stops squeezing the bottle, the pressure is released, causing the product flow to change direction. The dish soap then stops dispensing, and any residual product is sucked back into the bottle, along with air, to reach an equilibrium pressure. This mechanism allows the bottle to return to its original shape, and the valve returns to a closed position without any product being wasted.
During extensive consumer testing, Dawn found that the bottle's unique valve design not only prevents messes but also makes it easier for people with disabilities to dispense the product with one hand.
In engineering the bottle, Brugh shares that the P&G team wanted to create a counter-worthy design that would be easy to use. The custom 14.7-oz clear PET bottle has an oblong shape that maintains consistency with Dawn's existing packaging design. Vertical ridges on each side of the bottle help consumers grip the package. The cap has a label that reads, “No Flip No Mess.” A How2Recycle icon on the back of the container indicates the bottle can be recycled once the cap is removed.
New bottle, new formula
P&G launched the new packaging design in January and promises it will eliminate time spent by the consumer in “shaking, flipping, and banging their dish soap bottle on the countertop in a messy attempt to make the most of every drop.” Alongside the new bottle, P&G introduced an improved product formula designed to dissolve everyday grease and tough, cooked-on messes quickly and easily. Says Dawn, when compared with its non-concentrate products, the new Dawn Platinum formula removes 99% of grease and food residues with 4x faster grease-cleaning.
Dawn EZ-Squeeze is now available at mass retailers nationwide in Platinum and Original formulas. PW
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