Bill from down the street kept telling me lemon dish soap was the only way to go because it cuts grease better than anything else. So I bought a big bottle of that Palmolive lemon stuff and used it for like 3 months straight. Turns out plain old Dawn in the blue bottle works way better on my greasy pans, and the lemon scent fades fast anyway. Has anyone else fallen for a scent based recommendation only to find out it doesn't actually perform?
I used to buy Dawn exclusively for 6 years because everyone says it's the only thing that cuts grease. Switched to Palmolive lemon last month after my sister left a bottle at my place and holy crap the scent actually stays on the dishes after rinsing. Anyone else find Dawn's lemon smell fades too fast or is it just me?
I had been squirting soap directly onto a dry sponge for 10 years before my mom in Chicago saw me do it and said I was basically just smearing grease around, and now I'm curious if anyone else has had a basic dishwashing habit completely shattered by a family member.
I got sick of scrashing crusted egg yolk off my plates every morning. So last week I tried heating the plate for 30 seconds with a wet paper towel on top before washing. It loosened everything way faster than my usual soak in hot water. But then I read online that the microwave can mess with dish soap's grease cutting power if you heat the soap itself. So is this shortcut actually helpful or am I just ruining my soap's performance? Has anyone else tested this trick side by side without the microwave?
I used to just dump Dawn on everything and scrub away without thinking. A few weeks ago at her place in Austin, I grabbed that bottle of the blue stuff and started cleaning her old Griswold pan. She yanked it right out of my hand and told me I was ruining 40 years of seasoning... now I only use hot water and a stiff brush on cast iron. Anyone else get schooled by a relative about this?
I swear I wanted to be that eco-friendly person who only uses plant based dish soap. So I grabbed a bottle of some fancy brand at Whole Foods for $12 and figured it would last forever. By day three I was using triple the amount just to get through a greasy pan. Two weeks later the bottle was empty and my wallet was $24 lighter for zero benefit. My regular Dawn barely lasts a month and costs $5. Has anyone else been burned by these overpriced natural soaps that just don't cut it?
Last Saturday at my cousin's potluck in Austin, someone brought Dawn Apple Blossom to wash dishes. Half the people thought the pasta salad smelled like soap. I could taste it in my iced tea from 10 feet away. Never mixing food and floral scents again. Sticking to unscented Seventh Generation for any event with food around. Anyone else had a scent ruin a meal?
Picked up a bottle of Palmolive lemon at the grocery store last Tuesday. I usually swear by Dawn for grease cutting. First wash I noticed it didn't foam up as much. Grease on a bacon pan took two extra scrubs to get off. Now I'm wondering if the scent makes up for the weaker cleaning or if I should just go back.
I was grabbing a new scrub brush at Ace last Saturday when this dude told his friend he's been using liquid laundry detergent instead of dish soap for the last 6 months because it's cheaper. Apparently he hasn't gotten sick yet, but I read online that the chemicals in laundry soap can mess up your stomach lining. Has anyone actually tried this or is this guy just living on borrowed time?
Had a buddy pour cold water on a hot cast iron skillet at a campsite, left a nasty warp. Turns out sliding a cheap aluminum baking sheet under the pan in the sink catches all the grease splatter and keeps your soak water clean too. Anyone else got a dish soap hack from a random mishap?
I was complaining to my dad last weekend about how this new lavender bottle I bought barely suds up even with a big squirt. He just said, "Bubbles don't clean anything, they're just for show, honey." I laughed it off at first, but later while scrubbing a greasy pan I realized he had a point. I started paying more attention to how the soap actually broke down oil instead of just watching for foam. Has anyone else realized they were judging soap by the wrong thing?
I always thought I was just a regular person with dish soap, but last month I grabbed a bottle of the new Dawn Apple Blossom scent at the grocery store. Within 5 minutes of washing a few plates, my nose started itching and I couldn't stop sneezing. I figured maybe it was a fluke, so I tried the Lemon one next - same thing happened after about 2 days. Finally I went back to the original blue Dawn and the sneezing stopped completely. Has anyone else had a reaction to the scented versions or is it just me being weird?
I finally figured out why my sponges always started stinking after just a few days. Turns out I was leaving them sitting in the wet sink basin overnight. Now I squeeze all the water out and set it on a little soap dish that lets air get underneath it. That one change made my sponges last almost two weeks before they get funky. I also started microwaving them for 30 seconds every morning, which seems to help. But honestly the airflow thing was the bigger fix. Has anyone else dealt with this or found another way to keep sponges fresh?
It left a weird film on every single glass and I had to rewash them all with Dawn anyway... has anyone else gotten burned by cheap soap like that?
I bought a big bottle of Meyer's Lavender at Target last month because I love the smell. $8.99 on sale. I used it for a week on my cast iron and now everything tastes like weird flowery soap. Even after seasoning it three times. Had to throw out a batch of chili because it was all I could taste. Has anyone else had this problem with scented soaps on cast iron?
I've been a Method guy for years because I liked the mint scent and the look of the bottle. Two weeks ago I had a greasy lasagna pan situation where I scrubbed for 8 minutes and it still felt slick. Swapped to my roommate's Dawn for one wash and the pan came clean in under 2 minutes. Has anyone else had a brand suddenly stop working for no reason?
I was washing dishes on my back porch last Saturday when my neighbor Tom called over the fence that he switched to Dr. Bronner's because Dawn supposedly strips the seasoning off cast iron pans. I've been using Dawn on my Lodge skillet for years and never noticed a problem, but now I'm second guessing myself. He said his wife read it in some cooking blog from Portland and they banished all Dawn from their kitchen. Has anyone actually tested this or is it just another internet scare?
I had a weird week with dish soap. Monday I used this fancy lavender and mint bottle from a farmer's market. Smelled amazing but I swear my plates still felt greasy. Wednesday I grabbed a cheap lemon one from the dollar store. Cut through bacon grease like nothing but the smell was so fake it made my kitchen smell like a cleaning product aisle. So which side are you on? Do you need the scent to be good or just want it to work?
I was at Kroger last week and saw the Dawn Platinum was like $5.49 for a big bottle and the store brand was $2.99. I've always gone with the cheap stuff because soap is soap right? But I had a greasy baking sheet from roasting chicken that I've scrubbed like 4 times before and it never comes clean. Used the Dawn Platinum on it and it cut through the grease in one pass. Like actually one pass no scrubbing. That never happened with the store brand. Now I'm wondering how many other things I've been making harder on myself just to save $2.50. Anyone else have a random product that made them switch teams?
Honestly I thought I was being fancy picking up a bottle of Method pink grapefruit at Target last week instead of my usual Dawn. First wash it smelled great. Second wash my knuckles started itching. By day three my hands looked like I'd been wrestling a cactus. Never had that with any other soap. Anyone else get a reaction from those natural essential oil soaps or is it just me?
I left a lasagna pan soaking in hot water with a squirt of lemon scented soap for like 20 minutes and the crust just laughed at me. Turns out you need cold water for dairy based stuff, not hot, and I wasted a whole evening fighting it. Anyone else learn a dish soap trick way later than they should have?
Last Saturday I was washing dishes at a cookout at my buddy's place. He handed me a bottle of Mrs. Meyer's lavender and said it was all he uses now. I grabbed a greasy baking sheet and put a drop of his soap on one side and some Dawn on the other. After 30 seconds his side still had a film and the Dawn side was clean. He just stared at it and said 'well I'll be damned.' Has anyone else done a side by side test like that?
She kept telling me to STOP buying those fancy artisan dish soaps with the weird herb smells. I spent like $30 on three different small-batch bottles from a local market last month, and they all made my kitchen smell like a salad. The lemon one I finally grabbed from the grocery store yesterday cuts grease way better too. I had a greasy lasagna pan that took three washes with that rosemary stuff. The lemon soap got it clean in ONE go. Has anyone else found that basic scents just work better than the fancy ones?
I was scrubbing a greasy roasting pan at my apartment in Tucson and the scent was so overpowering I had to open both windows. Anyone else accidentally nuke their kitchen with a too-strong soap scent?