Monday, September 12, 2011

I've found the secret formula

Every time I hear the words "secret formula" I think of this creepy scene from the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:


Creepy Slugworth

Anyway- so I made my homemade detergents and cleaners a little while back and finally had a  chance to use the dish washing detergent.  I forgot to add Epsom Salt to the recipe and I found out why it is so important to have that ingredient added!  Our dishes have been coming out SO DIRTY the last few loads.  Like gross dirty... like dirtier than when we put them in the dishwasher in the first place dirty!  EEWW!  There was soap scum and hard water deposits all over the dishes both glass and plastic.  I was at my whits end!  Well the Epsom salt helps to soften the water so that the detergent can work its magic.  BUT- that is NOT the secret formula entirely!  


We took apart the innards of the dishwasher last night to try and figure out what the crap was wrong with it.  NOTHING!  All the filters were clear and on a scale of 1-10... the limescale and soap scum build up was only at about a 4 or so.  Anyway... I poured about 2 cups of regular vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher and....


VOILA!


That is the trick!  The "secret formula"... VINEGAR!  The hard water is ridiculous here in Vegas.  The water is really bad... but the vinegar totally helps!  So- we will be using a lot of vinegar from now on in our house!  Harrison thinks we need to buy stock in vinegar.  Is that even possible?  Probably.


So for all you peeps out there not getting squeaky clean dishes from your dishwasher... pour some vinegar in the bottom the next time you take your dirty dishes for a spin!


OK- that is all for now.  I felt like I needed to shout this wonderful bit of information from the rooftops (well in blog-land that is)!  Most of you will read this and go, "DUH! We already knew that vinegar was the miracle product." but thank you for humoring me through the end of this post anyway :)


Have a wonderful day!  PS- I heard this quote and I liked it:


Never look down on somebody unless you are helping them up.  


That made me smile.  I like it a lot.

3 comments:

kathbot said...

Woot! Vinegar is great all around the house. I've been using it as a daily shower spray and to clean the bathroom.

Also, I've read that you should run a cup or two of vinegar in both your dishwasher and your washing machine once a month. After taking my washing machine completely apart, I definitely agree with this!

kathbot said...

Oh, also, use vinegar in the rinse agent reservoir of your dishwasher.

kay said...

vinegar water and newspaper to wash windows...pretty soon your whole house is going to smell like a salad bar