3 Cleaning Tips Using Dish Soap (that even I know!)

I’ve told you how hard it is for me to keep my house clean.

In fact, I don’t do it. If you walked through my kitchen right now you would see a dirty floor, a cluttered cabinet and dishes in the sink. But on the rare occasion I do clean…I make sure I have lots of pretty colored dish soap on hand. I don’t use a particular brand; I buy whatever matches my kitchen.  Right now that would be blue or green. Here are my tips for using that lovely smelling stuff: 

Dish soap will remove oily stains from clothes (even after they have been through the dryer). 

That’s right! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pulled shirts from the dryer only to find a spot that should have been pretreated. A friend told me years ago to use dishwashing liquid. It gets oily foods off your dishes so it will remove oily stains from your clothes as well (of course it is better if you use it BEFORE you wash and dry them). When I see a stain I just grab the dish soap, apply it, rub it in and let it set for about 30 minutes. It usually works the first try. If not, I do a second treatment. On a rare occasion, I’ve had to repeat it a third time.  I’ve used this on clothes that I thought were ruined and it has restored them to as good as new. I’m sure there are stains it won’t get out, but I haven’t found them yet.

Dish soap and a paper towel will soak off stove grime.

Again, dishwashing liquid isn’t just for washing dishes. Years ago someone told me that when I had sticky residue that would not clean up (usually baked on gunk on my stovetop from burning dinner) to try dish soap. Simply take a wet paper towel, lay it over the spot, squirt a generous portion of dish soap on it and rub the soap all over so it will soak through the towel. Then walk away.  (My favorite kind of cleaning.) Leave it alone for about twenty minutes. After that, most foods will come off with just a swipe or, at the worst, with a bit of additional scrubbing. I used the same concept when I have stains on my countertop – only I use a powdered cleanser with bleach. It nearly always soaks it right off.

Dish soap in the shower will get the ugly, greasy footprints up. 

We don’t have this problem as much anymore, but when my son played baseball, we often had gunky footprints left on the bathtub/shower floor. I used to try to scrub them with powdered cleanser. Then I discovered that dishwashing liquid would soak it right off. I basically do the same thing as I do on the stovetop, I just don’t use the paper towels. Simply squirt a VERY generous portion of the soap into the tub, wipe it around so it is coated thickly on the offending areas, and leave it overnight. The next day it washes right down.  (But be careful, the floor will be slick. Rinse it REALLY well before you get in.) 

One extra…I always use dish soap in the liquid soap container near my sink.

I figure if Madge thinks it is good for my hands, it must be so. (And only if you are old will you know who Madge is.) 

What is your favorite use for dish soap besides washing dishes?