A Dirty Orlando Affair

I have developed an unusual affair with our dishwasher. No, this is safe to read. Since there are only three of us in our household, it may take a couple of days to fill the machine. I like to save energy when I can so I don’t like running the machine unless it is full. I don’t let it get full often though.

On the other hand, knowing that the dirty dishes may sit a couple of days, I generally lightly rinse them so they will clean easier and not present an odor. Often times though, I place a dirty item in the partially full machine and it bothers me a little to see an almost full top rack of glasses and perhaps my favorite coffee cup sitting dirty with just a few dirty plates on the bottom rack. Then I look over at the silverware. The silverware also gets full very quickly but I need a lot of silverware to cook with. For instance: If I make scrambled eggs and toast in the morning for my 8 year old, I will use at least 5 utensils. One fork to beat the eggs, a tablespoon to stir the eggs while they cook, a knife to butter the toast, a spoon for the jam, and a fork for Wesli to eat with. And if she wants chocolate milk, add another spoon to stir the chocolate syrup. Meanwhile I get a fry pan, bowl, plate, glass and two coffee cups with spoons dirty along with more spoons and knives for making school and work lunches. It just does not end.

Well I just can’t have part of the dishwasher full. I may need more silverware or glasses later. It is about now when I will fill the sink with hot soapy water and wash everything that is in the dishwasher by hand and let the items air-dry. Of course in this high Orlando humidity, it takes plastic items forever to dry.

I have developed this affair with the dishes since I was laid off in April. But I think it may have gotten worse. While striving to economize, it dawned on me yesterday that after I wash the dishes, I have a sink full of mostly clean hot soapy water. I could let it sit all day and have it catch what may get dirty during the course of the day or I could use it for something else.

Then it dawned on me that I had a load of dark clothes in the washer that I was about to start. I also had one of Wesli’s colored shirts that had chocolate stains on it that did not come out from the last wash. I was marinating the stains with Spray and Wash.

I added just a little bleach to the dish soap water and soaked that stained shirt. I did this once before with diluted bleach mixture on a dark shirt and it worked fine. And it worked fine this time too. The stain and just a bit of the blue color were gone from the shirt but not enough to notice, at least for me. So I rinse the shirt very well and then add it to the regular load. I saved a good shirt….

So now I have a sink full of almost clean, tepid, soapy water with a tint of blue color and bleach. It would still be a waste to lose. Then I got another idea. I could freshen drains with the solution. Every couple of months, I like to pour a couple of cups of bleach down all of our drains. The practice keeps growth inside the drains away and it leaves a clean scent. It is almost like cleaning without the work.

So I collected the dishwater in a bucket and I carefully poured enough of the water into all of the toilet bowls, sink drains and tub/shower drains until the solution was gone. About an hour later, I flushed all of the toilets and rinsed the sinks, tubs and showers. The house really had a fresh and clean scent. Wow, I cleaned the place in no time.

I felt pretty good that I economized and was able to accomplish so much with a sink of soapy water. It’s almost a shame we don’t have a dog. Later that day, I sent my lovely wife Hollis an email and asked her if what I had done could be considered frugal or just plain cheap. She replied neither. Hollis related that what I had done was clever. Wow, I never thought of it that way. But I have to believe my wife. She would never lie to me and anyway, she is much smarter than me. Hi honey…

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So the day ended quite well and the dishes were all clean before our evening meal…or so I thought. I missed two dirty glasses hiding is Wesli’s room. There was another dirty glass on Hollis’ nightstand and she had left her dirty coffee cup under a hand towel in the bathroom, all mistakes…even the dirty coffee cup I forgot in my 4Runner...all mistakes….

It just never ends…..

Godspeed

Image by golden_toque via Flickr