powerful stuff

A few weeks (months?) ago, 

my friend Sandy mentioned using a mix of Dawn dish soap and vinegar

for cleaning some especially difficult mess. I forget what.

I'd been seeing cleaning recipes using Dawn for awhile, 

but hearing that a real live person that I know in real life

had had success using it, convinced me to buy some and give it a try.

It went against my frugal nature to fill the bottle with just half Dawn, half vinegar,

so I used equal parts Dawn, white vinegar, and water.

I reasoned if it wasn't impressive, I'd add more soap and vinegar....

Color me impressed!
and purple with a streak of magenta...

I first used my 3 part mix a few weeks ago on the nasty ring in my washing machine.

The tall people in the house don't see this, but I do.

It was already looking pretty bad,

but when I pre-washed 3 dark-colored fabrics,

it was downright gross!

I couldn't ignore it any longer.

I ran an empty load with bleach and oxyclean.

It looked better, but there was still a gunky grey ring.

I remembered Sandy's spray and mixed my diluted version of it,

sprayed it on, left it for just a few minutes

and rinsed it off.

No scrubbing required!

I've used it here and there for little messes in the weeks since,

but couldn't be certain that the mess wouldn't have come up just easily with my regular spray.

Last night, though, it really shined!

I try to attack the burned on spills that surround the stove burners every few days.

(I hadn't expected a smooth top stove to require such upkeep!)

I usually spray (the regular spray), sprinkle on some baking soda, and spray again.

Leave it set a few minutes and scrub off. 

Takes some elbow grease, but it's no big deal.

For stubborn spots, I use Barkeepers Friend.

Last night, I lightly sprayed the Dawn mixture on all the burnt-on spots,

sprinkled on baking soda,

then sprayed with my regular spray.

I came back a few minutes later to scrub it,

but all I had to do was wipe it off.

No elbow grease whatsoever!

This stuff really works!!