After hearing my mother tell the tale of Clone and the Soap to us yesterday, Ktreva reminded me of a story that happened years ago right after we where married. Ever since I moved out of my parentÂ’s house, I always did dishes by hand. It wasnÂ’t until Ktreva and I started dating did I get my first dishwasher. Every time she came over, she would wash my dishes, it was great!

When we bought our current house, it came with a dishwasher, so now I had two. Unfortunately, my original dishwasher decided to break down and no longer do dishes, it was now going to be my job. Fine, so I learned how to operate the new dishwasher and away we went. Everything was fine for the first couple of months. Then something happened that had never been a problem in the past.

After putting a load of dishes in the dishwasher, I reached under the sink for detergent. Pulling out the bottle, I could see that it was empty. What, no dishwasher soap? What the hell?!?! I was lost, what was I going to do. Then I spotted the answer. There, next to the sink is Dawn dish soap, with grease cutter! AHA! ThatÂ’ll work!

After filling the detergent container in the machine, I close the door and start the machine. I mean, if it washes dishes in the sink, itÂ’ll work in the dishwasher right? It did work really well. The problem is that it worked too well.

I leave the kitchen proud of myself and sit down to watch some TV. Half an hour later Ktreva goes walking into the kitchen and screams, “OH MY GOD! WHAT DID YOU DO?”

Thinking that Boopie had done something wrong, I jumped up and ran to the kitchen. Once I stepped in, I was greeted by Ktreva standing there, arms crossed and knee deep in bubbles. The kitchen was filling with bubbles coming out of the dishwasher. “What did you do?” she asked. “Ran the dishwasher,” I responded.

Ktreva, “How much detergent did you use?”

Contagion, “About the same as normal, maybe a little more since it was a different brand.”

Ktreva, “A different brand, I didn’t buy a different brand.”

Contagion, “We were out of the regular kind, so I used the dawn.”

Ktreva, “YOU USED SINK SOAP IN THE DISHWASHER?”

Contagion, “uh, yeah.”

Ktreva, “You can’t use sink soap in a dishwasher!”

Contagion, “Why not?”

Ktreva points around the kitchen.

Contagion, “Oh, yeah. Got it.”

We went about cleaning it up. We pushed a lot of the bubbles out the back door. We used a ShopVac and mops. When we were done, the floor was the cleanest it had ever been since we moved in. The dishes where also very clean when the dishwasher was finished. (The old model didnÂ’t have a shut off, you had to let it finish).

That was a valuable lesson learned that day.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:59 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
Post contains 501 words, total size 3 kb.

1 you can however use clothes soap. 1 Tbsp of powdered laundry detergent will do a full load of dishes. Without redecorating your kitchen in a bubble motif.

Posted by: caltechgirl at February 03, 2006 01:18 PM (uI/79)

2 *snicker* I love bubbles.

Posted by: Oddybobo at February 03, 2006 01:30 PM (6Gm0j)

3 I'm ashamed to admit that I have done that. Hilarious and exasperating all at once.

Posted by: jen at February 03, 2006 01:39 PM (UMVKj)

4 I had a roommate in college to the same thing.

Of course that was the only time the floor wasn't sticky from spilled beer and other adult beverages.

Posted by: phin at February 03, 2006 02:08 PM (Xvpen)

5 .... I have never done that... never.....

Posted by: Eric at February 03, 2006 07:10 PM (r5XsL)

6 Now I know what to do when the floor has gotten out of control dirty!

Posted by: Jay at February 03, 2006 08:36 PM (a6pw5)

7 Well, I've never done that, but it sounds like fun. Thanks for the tip!

Posted by: Eric at February 03, 2006 09:07 PM (7/FpX)

8 You do know that's payback to what Clone did at your Mom's. Right? hehehehehehe

Remember - the Mother's Curse......

Posted by: Tammi at February 03, 2006 09:11 PM (lfQya)

9 I think that everybody makes that error once. Good tip about the laundry soap, CTG!

Posted by: Richmond at February 04, 2006 01:35 PM (e8QFP)

10 I was searching the net wondering if you can use dawn in the dishwasher. SOOO GLAD I CAME ACROSS THIS PAGE. I've run out and it's below freezing here in Wisconsin so I don't want to leave my house. Guess I'll have to go down to the basement for some laundry soap. Thanks for the tip, and thanks for the story!!!! ~M~

Posted by: Mandi at February 18, 2006 05:59 PM (vz5ax)

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