Reminiscent of the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding,
whose faith in the restorative powers of Windex knew no limits, my friend Judi, whose house, unsurprisingly, is much cleaner than mine, addresses just about any household cleaning conundrum with bleach.
So,
when I had the bad judgement this morning to look inside my dishwasher wearing
glasses for a change, I immediately knew what to do. We inherited the
dishwasher, along with all the other appliances, with the purchase of this
condo. I suspect that, aside from the fridge, they are the originals, which
would make them about 20 years old. Not a plate or a bowl goes into my
dishwasher wearing any food, and yet this morning I noticed postage stamps of
onions and a few very tired looking noodles, in addition to a dappled
gray effect way in the back.
In
lieu of actually hunting out the manual, which I promised myself I would do
eventually, I took out the bleach. I splashed some on the gray mosaic in back
and more on the floor of the dishwasher just for good measure. I then set the
empty machine for “light” and settled down in the living room with my cup of
tea.
After
I’d eaten my mint chocolate chip yogurt - granola added for my conscience - my tea had reached that state of perfection: not too
hot, not too cold, and perfectly steeped. I needed that last oatmeal cookie waiting
for me in the cookie jar.
What
I found instead was an episode of I Love Lucy.
I
hadn’t added any soap, and yet somehow I had oozing out of my closed dishwasher,
suds enough to ensure the modesty of any bubble-bathing 6’5” linebacker.
On
the plus side, I also now have a very clean kitchen floor.
Well, guess I will not try that solution!
ReplyDeleteSigh.
ReplyDeleteWe had a similar floor flooding when someone (not mentioning any names) didn't quite shut the door before turning it on. The water seeped under cupboards and took an age to dry. I would rather take a more conventional approach to floor washing.
Uh-Oh! when you notice bits of things that shouldn't be there step one, always, is to clean the filter. Step two is to run the dishwasher while empty using a cup of vinegar in place of dishwasher liquid or tablets, whichever you use. Run it on the hottest water you can and repeat if necessary. Then do that at least once a year, preferably twice.
ReplyDeleteFar too many people don't know or forget that a dishwasher has a filter which can and must be cleaned.
Thank you, River. Truly. Now I just need to figure out where thr filter is. Couldn't find the manual in the stack of papers the last owners left.
DeleteIt's usually under the arms that spray the water at the bottom of the machine. The arms should be removeable for easy access to the filter. Can you find an online manual?
ReplyDeleteThat's on today's agenda.
Delete20 years seems very old for a dishwasher, or almost any modern appliance when it comes to that.
ReplyDeleteMy front loader washing machine is 22 and a few months, has moved house 5 times and is still going strong despite being dropped off the trailer when being lifted down during my last move.
DeleteAt least the bleach didn't seem to damage the floor. Good luck! :-)
ReplyDeleteoops
ReplyDeleteoh, my. My favorite movie as a 10 year old was Mister Roberts, and our favorite scene in it was when Ensign Pulver overdid the soap in the laundry room and it exploded. We got the giggles over that one for weeks. This reminds me of that.
ReplyDeleteMy go-to for almost everything that needs cleaning is hair shampoo. i have bottles of the stuff that i don't like, for some reason, and i found if you need to polish anything safely, from the hood of the car to the toaster, even the kitchen cupboards, this is the stuff to use. Works a treat on the shower stall too, just a quarter sized piece on a damp sponge, and you've got embarrassingly shiney walls...'oh my goodness is THAT what I look like now..'
(Bleach, for me, is scary stuff. It can burn your hands and your lungs if you get too friendly with it.
Shampoo also makes a wonderful detergent for delicate clothes which require hand washing.
Delete