Dirty Talk

For single person households or others where you can't or don't run the dishwasher everyday, put a scoop of oxygen enzyme powder in addition to dishwashing powder in the prewash cycle and it will do a good job on dishes that may not be going to wash up properly. Running this also keeps dishwasher smelling fine.

To make short work of cleaning your oven shelfs put them in the dishwasher on a hot wash. They will easily clean off with little effort.

this is a question rather than a tip: I went away for a week and left a fully loaded dishwasher of pots and pans ( i was sure that i had set it before i left) so anyway i come back and you can imagine the bacteria on the pots and pans ! i have put all the pots through the dishwasher twice and washed them all again by hand do you think this will have killed all the bacteria?

I live in an apartment, that has really inefficient old appliances. The worst being the dishwasher. If I leave just the littlest bit of food on a dish, it'll stay or wind up on my glassware. Yuck! This is what I do now to fix this problem. If I have stuck on food (like hard stuck on food left on the counters for hours), I add to the dishwasher, my dishwasher tablet, and fill the dispensers with cheap distilled vinegar. It's roughly a 1/4 to 1/3 cup of vinegar for a full load (roughly the amount of dishes 3 meals a day x 2 days x 3 people). My dishes come out sparkling and squeaky clean every time!

Family been ill? It's good to replace the toothbrushes when you're all over it. However, if you can't do that = the dishwasher is great to clean and sanitize them.

After you have finished sqeezing the juice of a lemon, put half in your dishwasher and put on quick wash. It's a cheap way to clean your dishwasher and get rid of nasty smells. Fill the other half lemon with salt and sit in the fridge to absorb nasty smells.

I put my children's bath toys into the dishwasher to clean them. If they are really funky I will soak them in bleach solution first. If the toy won't make it through the dishwasher, it wasn't really worth it! Also, I removed the squeaky from the toy shark, after discovering that it was growing black mold inside. It doesn't make noise anymore, but I know it won't hurt the kids either. :) Love Kim & Aggie my heroes!

To clean an automatic dishwasher put EITHER a cup of white vinegar OR 1/2 cup Citric Acid in the bottom and run it through a cycle. You can get Citric Acid in most Pharmacies.

A suggestion for getting dishwasher clean. I make a paste out of warm water and baking soda. With those new "cleaning erasers", I scrub all the insides with the mixture. Then take a clean rag or towel and dip it in warm to hot water and go over the entire surface. It not only cleans, but neutralizes odors. For the outside, I use a soft cloth and window cleaner. I wipe my dishwasher, inside and out about once a week to keep it clean and fresh. That way, you don't have to ever work hard scrubbing it.

I love a clean house. We have 2 cats who are NOT allowed on kitchen surfaces. We all know that cats do what they want, when you are not looking. So, before I cook, I take my dish rag and run it under hot water with dishwashing liquid. I carefully add a splash of my mixture of 1 gal. of water to 1 Tbsp of household bleach to the dish rag. I wipe down all the kitchen surfaces with the rag. I also use that method as I'm cooking to catch spills and again when I'm finished cooking. I don't sit down to eat until the kitchen is clean, and as many pans as possible are clean. I enjoy eating much more, knowing the kitchen is clean. When we're finished eating, all that's left are the dishes we ate from. They're rinsed and put in the dishwasher. I can spend the rest of the evening doing whatever I like.

Any tips on cleaning automatic dishwasher?

To the person asking about the enamel over iron pot, are you sure that it is stained and that your enamel hasn't worn to show the iron beneath it? One thing that I've found to get baked-on stains off is to soak the pot with only an inch or so of water and powder dishwasher detergent. That way it's super-concentrated and should break up any grease or baked-on badness.

To keep your wooden cutting boards fresh, rub lemon wedges over the board after you've used them. Remember never to put wood in an automatic dishwasher, and NEVER let it soak in standing water. It'll soak up the nasties, get warped, and be more prone to get smelly. :)

Clean your gold jewelry on the cheap. The following applies to gold alone or with all stones but for opals, pearls, turquoise, mother-of-pearl, or any other delicate stone. Take out a coffee mug. Put one single drop of dishwashing liquid (for dishes by hand, not the dishwasher type) in the bottom and fill with LUKEWARM water. Carefully place the ring, bracelet or necklace you wish to clean on the bottom. Leave overnight. In the morning you will find a lot of dirt specks floating on top. Rinse jewelry gently with warm (never hot) water and dry thoroughly. Warning: Again, NOT for use with opals (which absorb water and are sensitive to extreme heat and cold) or turquoise or pearls, or any other stone which might absorb the water or be damaged by it or the chemicals in the dishwashing liquid.

the Ultimate Stain Remover for laundry is 1/4 cup automated dishwasher powder (cascade) 1/2 cup non chlorine bleach(clorax 2) and 1 gallon of hot water. Let the clothes soak for 8 hours and wash in the normal wash mode with this solution, no additional soap required. This gets out blood and other stains that have been set in for years. The only thing it hasnt gotten out it ink.

Debra, your question regarding your ice and water dispenser reminded me of an episode that concerned a mucked up sauna-tub. What Aggie ended up doing was use a few dishwasher tabs (like electrosol, here in the US) dissolved in a bucket. She had them soak into the tub (and ran the lines) for a good while and it kicked up all sorts of filth (ew!) --so maybe try one tablet and rub it through the dispenser a few times. You could also try adding some jet dry OR run the last couple of times with white vinegar. Hope this helps. :)

f you have a dirty pan that you just can't seem to get clean or you burned something this really works! Squirt a little dishwasher detergent in the pan and fill with hot water. If it is encrusted inside and out then fill the sink and immerse the offending pan. You can leave it overnight but if it is just stuff burned or dried on a few hours will suffice. Works great even on old baked on stains! Scrub with nylon brillo pad. It usually wipes right off with no effort. The best brand I have found is Cascade Complete. It eats right thru all the food and grease. It only takes about a teaspoon for the average pan. You can also use it on stovetops and ovens.

An easy way to clean the fridge is to put the shelves in the dishwasher. Remove the top rack of the dishwasher to accommodate the size of the shelves and run it with detergent. Put the top rack back in to wash the smaller door shelves and bins. While the shelves are out you can wipe down the interior. Works for large upright freezers too.

Computer keyboard - (not laptop) Clean on the top rack of a dishwasher. No soap. Turn off the heat dry settings. Let the keyboard dry COMPLETELY (in the sun works) before re-connecting to the computer.

If you have any left over lemon from making dinner, pop it in the cutlery drawer of the dishwasher and it’ll give a nice smell and sparkle to your dishes.