Day 69: Doin’ Dishes

I finally changed my dishwashing detergent. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, since I have been a Cascade fan since childhood. There were a lot of considerations to make in changing my dishwasher detergent. Remember, I make mountains out of molehills all the time!

First, I really wanted to go back to the individual packets of detergent where all you do is plop this tidy little plastic packet into the soap holder in the dishwasher door and you never have to wonder if you used too much or not enough. But, I had been told that the packets were not completely biodegradable, and the remaining plastic would clog up the dishwasher drain lines and cause mucho problemos. So, I stopped using the cute little packets when I got a brand new dishwasher. I didn’t want to gunk-up my pretty new machine quite so fast.

Second, I wanted to be sure that if I switched to another brand that it was actually going to get my dishes clean. I CANNOT STAND to see streaks and such on my dishes as I’m putting them back into the cabinet.

And, as a natural result of my research, in the last couple of months I’ve felt the need to use something friendlier. We run our dishwasher every-other-day at minimum, twice a day if we’re home for any length of time (like our lovely stay-cation in June). At that rate, if I’m using a product that is essentially poisoning the water supply or leaving any kind of soap behind on my dishes, then I consider that to be problematic. (This excessive use of the dishwasher is on the list of things to be addressed, by the way.)  And I may be only one household who is willing to change in favor of an earth-friendly option, but I am one household who is willing to change, nonetheless.

Once again, I turned to Mrs. Meyers Clean Day products for my solution, the largest selection of which is found at Sunshine Health Foods. And no, I don’t get paid for this unabashed promotion of the two, in case you were wondering. I just love the store and the products! Mrs. Meyer’s has BOTH the dishwasher packets and a dishwasher liquid in practically any of their wonderfully herby fragrances. I bought the basil scented packets for the dishwasher. And guess what…they work!!! They’re great! My dishes are squeaky-clean and I’m using a product that is safe and natural. And the basil scent in the products is very mild.

I scoped out the safety of their products on their website. They are very direct about their ingredients and their philosophy in manufacturing them. Aside from being completely biodegradable, “Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day products are safe to use in the presence of children, pets, and expectant women.” What’s not to love?

To quote one of my favorite early ‘90s movies, “Dishes are DONE, man!”

Day 58: Every Hand Shall Scrub

It’s not enough that I’m constantly seeing and looking for things to change; my kids are doing it too. This weekend Aaron emerged from the downstairs bathroom with the pump bottle of Softsoap in his hand and asked, “Mommy, are you planning to replace this? It has Yellow 6 in it.”

On one hand I am befuddled by the fact that these ingredients are almost inescapable. I tell you, that crap is everywhere! On the other hand, I am so proud of my kids for 1) taking interest, 2) accepting the change, and 3) expecting more change. What troopers they are!

So yesterday on my lunchtime jaunt to Sunshine Health Foods, where they now know me on sight and can predict my lunch order, I wandered down the cleaning products aisle to price-compare on the countertop spray I wrote about the other day. (Brief side note: I used that spray on my stovetop, an antiquated blast from the past pull-out drawer that contributes to my oven being the bane of my existence. Anyhoo, I sprayed it and then assisted Dom at the sink for a minute or so, grabbed some paper towels and expected to just make the crud on the stovetop a little less nasty. OMG!!! I got the stovetop AS CLEAN as if I had used an SOS pad! And I did this with a PAPER TOWEL, people. Granted, it took a few paper towels because my stovetop was due for a good cleaning. Hey, it’s a 40-year old pull out drawer, okay? I’m sure it looked great in the late 60’s when they built my house around it! All this to say that Mrs. Meyers Clean Day countertop spray ROCKED my oven cleaning!!!!)

Back to Sunshine’s cleaning aisle. See? I’ll get us back on track…

While I was snapping pics of all the products and their corresponding prices so I can enter them into my phone’s grocery app (did I just tip you off to my OCD?) I noticed that Mrs. Meyers has a liquid hand soap in a pump bottle in several scent choices – all natural! Voila!!!! It’s a lot of soap, too. 12.5 ounces for a bargain price of $3.59. I filled one decorative soap dispenser and put the Meyers bottle at the kitchen sink. Now the kids can scrub up with complete confidence.

Day 56: A Lean, Mean Kind of Clean

Once all this natural stuff started infiltrating my brain, I knew I was going to have to do something about my household cleaning products. I had NO idea where to even begin, but I did notice that Sunshine Health Foods had a selection of household products. And then when Jessica turned me on to Kroger’s natural and organic section, I found similar products there. The first one I settled on was Mrs. Meyers Clean Day countertop cleaner. We simply HAVE to have a good countertop cleaner for our kitchen area, since coffee and numerous PB&J’s are made there.

So far I really like the Clean Day cleaner. I have used it for more than just the kitchen. What I like most about it is that you can easily dilute it if necessary without losing any of the cleaning power, AND it’s all natural. (Although the lemon smell is a tad strong at times; I am going to get the lavender refill.) Also, I won’t hesitate to have the kids using these products too. Whenever they grimace at my request for their manual labor, I remind them that they will need to know how to do all this on their own before they go off to college. In the back of my mind I know that when the time comes for them to leave home, they're going to wonder: If she prepared me so well for this adventure, then why is she crying her eyes out? 

Anyhoo, the countertop cleaner is a good purchase.