Hair Brained Ideas

I've told y'all that we had dishwasher problems. The one pictured to the left I brought upon myself.

I read the Artful Parent's post on having a "I'm not a dirty hippie party." It inspired me to make the dishwasher detergent since I had the Borax from making silly putty.

Except that I didn't read the recipe correctly. I bought Arm & Hammer clothes detergent. Bubbles were comming out my ears - and kitchen!! I really wanted to make it work, so the next wash cycle, I filled the dispenser only 1/2 full and still had bubbles.

So, I emailed Jean (the Artful Parent) and she said:

You need to use arm and hammer washing soda NOT arm and hammer detergent. It's sold as a powder in a box (just like the borax) in the laundry section. It's called "Super Washing Soda" and is subtitled "Detergent Booster & Household Cleaner". It's an orange box that looks just like an arm & hammer baking soda box, but it's big, like the borax box. I didn't find it in all the stores I went to. Look in the regular grocery stores, not the health foody ones.

Gotcha. My next trip to the x-mart, I bought more Arm & Hammer. Except I didn't learn my lesson the first time and read the label on the box. This time I bought a big box of baking soda in the laundry section. This concoction left a nasty film on my dishes. I should have read Jean's email again before opening the box and pouring it into my machine!

Sometimes I get in a hurry and don't read the directions. Most of the time I can get away with it. I didn't this time.

All this to say, I'm giving up on making dishwasher detergent.

However there are more hair brained ideas I've tried lately. Tomorrow I'll tell you about them.