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Home>Cleaners : Dawn Dish soap isn't just for scrubbing
13 years ago
One thing I've found a recurring theme for being helpful around the house has been Dawn dish soap. Sure, it's great for hand-scrubbing your dishes, but it's also a great cleaning agent for other things.
Running out of laundry detergent? Prices too high at the local store? Use between a teaspoon and a tablespoon of Dawn liquid dish soap in your washing machine. It fights grease, oils, and removes stains just as well as most detergents. If you're worried about too much sudsing, err on the side of caution and use a smaller amount until you know what your washing machine can handle.
Heavily dried-on foods in your dishwasher load? Need a little pre-wash to help get rid of it? Add a small amount of Dawn to the open detergent container in your dishwasher. True, you could just put more of your dish detergent in there, but if you're running low, or perhaps you use the detergent pods (like I do), and don't have a liquid detergent for the dishes, Dawn is a great substitute. This WILL get sudsy, so use a SMALL amount. I have a small, generic dishwasher (I live in an apartment, so it came with the place), so I use a green pea-sized amount. If you use much more than that, your dishwasher might leak (like mine did).
Got aphids on your roses, or other plants? find a spray bottle and fill it most of the way with water, then add a nice little squirt of soap, and spritz your plants with it. It shouldn't hurt the plants or your kids or pets, but it'll kill the aphids, and it's a lot cheaper than aphid spray sometimes.
Got ants in your kitchen, and can't find the bug spray? They hate most any cleaning agents, including Dawn. Windex, comet, 409, and similar products will make them pretty ill, and not make your kitchen smell like Black Flag. Just keep away from food, kids, and pets. Ingesting any kind of cleaning agent is bad for ya.
Need to scrub away some stubborn gunk or stains in your bathroom, but don't have any tough cleaners handy? Break out the Dawn. It won't get rid of everything you could possibly find in your bathroom, but it's a lot better than just plain water or hand soap, and it's a lot less smelly or dangerous than some of the harsher cleaning agents out there.
Want something safe and efficient to clean your pet's terrarium? There are specialty cleaners you could pay out the nose for, or you could use some gentle dish soap, i.e. Dawn. Some small pets are especially sensitive to smells though, so you might want to look for an unscented one. And don't go cleaning the thing with all that soap while they're still in it!
Running out of laundry detergent? Prices too high at the local store? Use between a teaspoon and a tablespoon of Dawn liquid dish soap in your washing machine. It fights grease, oils, and removes stains just as well as most detergents. If you're worried about too much sudsing, err on the side of caution and use a smaller amount until you know what your washing machine can handle.
Heavily dried-on foods in your dishwasher load? Need a little pre-wash to help get rid of it? Add a small amount of Dawn to the open detergent container in your dishwasher. True, you could just put more of your dish detergent in there, but if you're running low, or perhaps you use the detergent pods (like I do), and don't have a liquid detergent for the dishes, Dawn is a great substitute. This WILL get sudsy, so use a SMALL amount. I have a small, generic dishwasher (I live in an apartment, so it came with the place), so I use a green pea-sized amount. If you use much more than that, your dishwasher might leak (like mine did).
Got aphids on your roses, or other plants? find a spray bottle and fill it most of the way with water, then add a nice little squirt of soap, and spritz your plants with it. It shouldn't hurt the plants or your kids or pets, but it'll kill the aphids, and it's a lot cheaper than aphid spray sometimes.
Got ants in your kitchen, and can't find the bug spray? They hate most any cleaning agents, including Dawn. Windex, comet, 409, and similar products will make them pretty ill, and not make your kitchen smell like Black Flag. Just keep away from food, kids, and pets. Ingesting any kind of cleaning agent is bad for ya.
Need to scrub away some stubborn gunk or stains in your bathroom, but don't have any tough cleaners handy? Break out the Dawn. It won't get rid of everything you could possibly find in your bathroom, but it's a lot better than just plain water or hand soap, and it's a lot less smelly or dangerous than some of the harsher cleaning agents out there.
Want something safe and efficient to clean your pet's terrarium? There are specialty cleaners you could pay out the nose for, or you could use some gentle dish soap, i.e. Dawn. Some small pets are especially sensitive to smells though, so you might want to look for an unscented one. And don't go cleaning the thing with all that soap while they're still in it!
