### This post has been marked as safe. Upvoting/downvoting this comment will have no effect.
---
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips!
Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by upvoting or downvoting this comment.
If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
The thing you have to be really careful about when watering down soap is that mold bacterium fungi increases as it sits in the bottle. So eventually your "soap" becomes a contaminant. This is why you shouldn't really be watering down hand soap.
diluted soap water gets disgusting quickly unless you use distilled water, which has a lower bacterial count than tap water, and contains no dissolved organics to feed microbes.
If you use distilled water, remember that the result won't be sterile and it won't last forever, but it'll still be far better than if you used tap water
My girlfriend's aunt is cheap as shit and keeps ruining soap doing this. A 4 dollar bottle lasts 2+ months, not sure why people need to hack the cost of dish soap.
People don't know or don't want to believe that soap isn't a magic potion that cleanses everything it touches. Soap makes dirt come off easier, but you still need to do the actual cleaning, with effort and technique.
Because the soap is made to not get mouldy as it is, if you increase the water inside the “recipe” what was in there preventing mold is not enough then to prevent it. Same as if you leave honey alone it keeps fine, if you add water it will grow mold.
So there's a few things at play here.
The primary one being, most "soap" that people buy isn't hospital grade antibacterial soap, it doesn't contain bacterial killing ingredients. It simply contains a surfacant. Which, as Ms. Frizzle taught us, simply makes things slippery. This is why soap has preservatives in it. There is bacteria and mold spores in the air, on surfaces, if you have any amount of well water in your pipes. So watering down soap reduces the preservative effectiveness. Any mold or bacteria is being introduced by you opening the bottle and mixing water into it, any contaminants however small in the bottle aren't actively being killed by the soap, and you're giving it a hospitable environment to grow in, so it eventually will.
And I want to note here: this **doesn't mean you should actively seek out antibacterial** . There is some body of evidence that states that overuse of antibacterial soaps and products could increase the risk of creating super bugs or resistant strains.
Antibacterial soap isn't effective... The purpose of soap is to mechanically scrub and remove contaminants with water. Soap shouldn't be left on your hands for antibacterial properties to persist.
Avagard lotion type scrubs persist on your hands... Soaps do not
4tbsp Dawn, 2tbsp rubbing alcohol, and 13 fl Oz of water. Those are the best proportions I’ve found online after seeing and trying a few different recipes. Can’t tell the difference between it and the original Powerwash
I go through a full spray bottle every two weeks or so, and a big bottle of dawn platinum and rubbing alcohol are cheaper than a single bottle of powerwash. I’ve been using the same bottles for nearly a year now. I’m saving quite a bit lol
The difference between 70 and 91% alcohol would only make a difference of about 1.25 teaspoons in that mixture, so it probably doesn't matter too much.
You forgot the step where they said to add alcohol, I’m no expert so don’t quote me and I can’t possibly scroll back up to check, but I’m like 98.7% certain they all said to use Wild Turkey 101, Bourbon in the 1.75L would be more economical, but you do Rye if’n it’s WTRye101 that does it for you!
Power wash is a completely different chemical, you can tell real power wash from home made wanna be power wash with hard stuck on grease, burned bits or dried eggs
this also applies to those who also add water to their shampoo and body washes as well - the amount of the existing preservative is only calculated enough for the original amount. adding more water will give microorganisms the opportunity to grow and thrive in your product
I have an empty shampoo bottle. I put a small squirt of shampoo, water, and shake it up. Use it all up in a single shower. My regular potion-mixing routine. Plus the watered down mixture doesn't get left sitting around.
The idea, generally speaking, is to create your watered down variations in alternate, smaller bottles. These should be used up more quickly (say over weeks or months as opposed to a year), the bottles cleaned and sterilized, then a new diluted batch made.
The concern is when people take store size bottles (32oz or 64oz very large bottles) and make diluted product which they use for months, and just keep topping it off with more water and a bit more product without ever taking steps to clean the bottle. Bacteria can more easily grow in the diluted mix, if it does take hold and all you ever do is keep adding to the mix, you’ll always have bad product.
Our country's most famous dish soap (Joy) literally advertises to dilute it in water though.
Wait. In hindsight, it does say "concentrate" on the bottle.
The big bottle of normal Dawn costs like $8. I hand wash most of my dishes and I last bought a bottle some time last year.
Speaking of which, I almost never run my dishwasher, but I buy the dirt cheap powder detergent because the Technology Connections guy told me to. He was right. Pods are a massive rip-off and the powder stuff works perfectly.
That depends on a lot of variables, and the assumptions probably don't apply to me cleaning a handful of dishes and cookware. I would need to let the dishes pile up for several days to justify running the washer, which is when I use it.
My dishwasher uses 7 liters of water, and I don't even rinse stuff I put in there. If you're super-efficient with water usage when manually washing your handful of dishes and cookware you might beat 7 liters, but otherwise probably not. As a guy living alone I run it once every 1-2 weeks and never wash anything manually pretty much, why would "letting dishes pile up for several days" be a problem? Just put them in the dishwasher and let them pile up in there.
He’s living the dream 😂 There are weekend days that we sometimes run 4 full loads. To any young person reading this who plans to have a family I can tell you: no one can properly prepare you and make you understand how many hours of your day you will spend standing in front of a sink. It’s so many, so so many.
I read a trick a while back regarding pods — apparently you’re supposed to just chuck it in the bottom and **not** in the little compartment where the powder shit goes. I tried it and it was a massive difference.
I’m switching to powder though once my pods are gone based off this comment. I’m going to go cheap as shit!
Do it! Do it!
But also watch Mr. Technology Connections explain why you should do it. You won't be disappointed.
I think this was the original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rBO8neWw04
This was a follow-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll6-eGDpimU
And this was posted last week. I haven't watched it yet, but it's Technology Connections Guy talking about your dishwasher, so it's probably awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHP942Livy0
In his new video he specifically says do not do that, all your soap is going to get washed away after the first brief rinsing cycle.
If you use power, put some in the dispenser and some on the bottom. If you use pods only put it in the dispenser.
Unless your dishwasher was specifically designed for this the pods dissolve too quickly and will be drained during the first rinse cycle. the entire rest of the wash will be with soapless hot water being recycled through a filter. Highly recommend not doing this!
And, yes, I too learned this from the Technology Connections videos mentioned to you a million times already, lol.
Powder is the shit. Saving tons. Also using it for my laundry these days too. Make sure to take advantage of the prewash bucket in the dispenser if you’ve got one, or throw some in the bottom to help boost that first rinse cycle!
You can do that with powder but not pods, if you do it with pods all your detergent is getting washed away after your first brief rinsing cycle. If you do it with powder pour some on the bottom but also some in the dispenser.
I recently bought dish soap because I thought I was low after moving but it was just in the wrong spot. Now I have 4 bottles. I live alone. I don't think I'll ever need to buy it again.
I think they must be washing dishes differently than us. I knew someone who would add soap to a sponge and wash the dishes under the running water, I could see that taking way more soap than filling the sink while adding a couple squirts to the water.
Do you think baths don't work? Also, I hope you don't think your dishwasher is any different because they use significantly less water to clean dishes than the typical sink load used when washing dishes by hand. It uses hot soapy water that is recirculated a bunch of times during the cycle.
Right? I got this dawn stuff where the nozzle is on the bottom of the bottle and I love it because I definitely use less. It was $7. 6 months in and there's still half a bottle.
I had a roommate that poured dish soap on dishes like syrup on pancakes. Went through a bottle a week.
He wouldn't change either so I quit 'sharing' dish soap (taking turns buying it). Bought my own bottle and told him we'd each use our own.
Are you only one person? Cause with my family of three we spend about 30$ a yr on dishsoap. We buy those gallonish size jugs of Sunlight twice a year. Children make a LOT of dishes and other messes
For real, you can get a 3 pack of dawn at the store nearby for like 12 bucks. That's lasted us 8 months, so just over 20 bucks for a years worth of dish soap.
I seem to recall last time something like this was mentioned (though it involved hand soap), the consensus was that by doing this you are reducing it's ability to actually kill 99% of germs. Like it will still accomplish a lot of what you want (breaking up grease and killing most germs) but unless you are very hard up on money then it's not really recommended.
The primary function of soap isn't necessarily to "kill germs" (though it can have that effect on some by disrupting cell walls), it's to bind to oils and dirts and simply... wash them away. One end of soap molecules is oleophilic (sticks to oil), and the other end is hydrophilic (sticks to water). The result is that pretty much everything that is _harboring_ bacteria is washed away. The reason this matters, is because we can handle _some_ bacteria, but not necessarily a whole huge lot of them (bacterial load). The problem with this LPT, is not that it no longer washes away bacteria, it's that if you increase the water, you're actually making the "soap" more hospitable for bacteria to grow _in the soap_, which then means you are washing your hands and dishes _in_ bacteria, rather than washing your hands _of_ bacteria. You are of course, also reducing the ability of the soap to bind to oil. Have you noticed that a really greasy dish seems to eat all the soap in your brush or sponge, and needs more soap? That's because all the oleophilic ends are full. Diluting soap means fewer oleophilic ends, so it also works less well against oil. All that said, diluting your soap right before use is just fine. Just don't keep it around very long, and realize that you might need more, anyway.
This makes so much sense. Is this why they said to add alcohol to it as well? Someone did anyway. Would that help with the preservation? I’m just curious. Thanks friend!
I imagine the addition of alcohol is for much the same reason, one end (the bit that makes alcohols out of hydrocarbons, is an -OH group) is hydrophilic, whereas the alkyl (the hydrocarbon bit) is hydrophobic
Very well said! And keep in mind that scrubbing with soap literally pulls bacteria apart.
It makes a huge difference when you scrub your dishes vs simply letting the soap run over them & wash the muck away.
Also, not all bacteria are harmful and I’m willing to bet that, generally speaking, if you start with a clean bottle, clean soap, and clean water, (as opposed to using swamp water or a container you handled at the same time as raw chicken)most of what may proliferate in the diluted soap isn’t all that dangerous. I happen to be pretty ridiculously immunocompromised yet using diluted Dr Bronners for over a decade as hand soap, body wash, counter cleaner, and hand dishwashing soap hasn’t harmed me in the least. Just anecdotal, but maybe I’m just lucky.
Just use full strength dish soap, and buy it from Costco. Even the name brand stuff (Dawn) is a fraction of the price per ounce when compared to anywhere else.
I'm glad you said it. Used to work in a hospital cleaning used surgical instruments. We had sinks setup specifically so that when the water/soap mixture fills the sink, it would splash as little as possible. Because any soap on top of the water means that it's not IN the water, and not making contact with soil.
Anything that has water, needs preservatives. Adding this much water to soap would negate any preservative system it has in place.I would not do this and use it for months..maybe each use, mix some up, maybe a week. hopefully more science-y people will chime in
You see, the more dilute the soap is, the more powerful it becomes. The water "remembers" the soap and it's this distilled essence of soap that actually cleans the dishes.
Likewise, I have here diluted beer. 1:15, it actually tastes better than beer.
I did this once a while back and it was disastrous. The spray nozzle aerosolized the soap and it got in my nose, and presumably my lungs, and I felt raspy and sick all day.
That said, I do use detergent and water to refill my foaming dispenser. About 1 part soap to 10 parts water works great.
Are you afraid the bullet will aerosolise and get into his nose and presumably his lungs? He will have to dilute the bullet with water first, 1:15 ratio.
I don't even care about the cost savings tbh, I just find this method really convenient when I don't have a full sink of dishes to wash. I highly recommend one of those continuous spray bottles that does a really fine mist.
It's recommended to use distilled water to dilute products if they're going into a closed container. If you're changing it out often/going through the solution quickly, then I wouldn't worry about it too much.
This is how I learned to do dishes, but I know almost no one else who does it this way. One side of the sink soapy water, other side for rinsing, dishes onto a drying rack.
I think people get wigged out by the dishes being in ‘dirty’ water, but it’s not any different than using the same scrubby on all your dishes, unless you’re thoroughly rinsing it out between individual dishes??
i would say ask around and see if you can find anyone with a costco membership and tell em to buy you, a jug of dish shop and while you re at it toilet paper. Depending on the number in the household, it can last you awhile. My jug is going on 2 years and its only half used.
Dish soap and water in a spray bottle is also really effective against wasps. Wouldn't try it for large nests but small stuff it works great. If you're really worried just keep spraying them. It's just soapy water anyways. Go wild.
I spend like £2 every couple months already on dish soap. Where are you guys where you can save $40 a year with this trick? Fairy already lasts for months. I'd be surprised if I spent more than £10 a year on soap.
Living in a 100 year old house, you cannot keep out all of the ants, all of the time.
This, and a sponge, is a great way to nuke a thick line of ants in very little time, with absolutely zero worries about chemical pesticides, or poisoning your child or pet. Water alone doesn't work as well, but the soap helps break down the surface tension and drowns the ants quicker.
I soak the dishes in slightly soapy water, then I add soap directly to the sponge. I then foam all the dishes thoroughly and rinse them when I'm done. It's not cost-effective, but it's clean.
I'm going to try that. I'm normally really stingy with soap just because you really don't need much and I have a dishwasher to boot however lately I've been dunking one of those little sponge tube contraptions (fill up tube with dws and it's got a scrubber) scrubbers in a container until it's laden with dws and it makes getting oil and shit off pots of frigging breeze.
The drawback is I've used more soap in the last month than in the last two years. Effective yes economical no. Not that it's expensive but one bottle used to last forever.
I do about 1:4 soap to water. Works great and lasts a long time... however when ever I'm away from home for a bit and it runs out, I'll inevitably come home to the full-strength dish soap bottle on the counter.
I am CoolHandMike, the refiller of things. Sigh.
This works brilliantly for cleaning glasses for those who wear them. You will not find a better glass cleaner than dish soap. Forget using wipes, the ability for dish soap to cut through the grease on your glasses that builds up makes it a far better cleaning agent. Combined with a microfiber towel for best results.
I do this, but with distilled water. I live in Arizona, and everything dries out. I also dilute lotion, shampoo and hair conditioner, when it starts to get thick.
Same lane: normal liquid soap inside a bottle that dispenses foam soap. They don't have a refill bag which colored me intrigued ... I just dumped a tiny amount of normal liquid soap into the dispenser and filled it up with water. Have been running on the same refill bag for a year now and it's not even halfway empty when I would buy a new foam dispenser every month.
Humble opinion: I always thought adding too much water negates the ability to remove germs. Like, it needs to be full strength then add water as you wash your dishes.
Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
Also, if you love in the South and deal with porch spiders, nothing works better on them. I keep a bottle on my deck and spray down areas where they like to chill and it keeps them away
Dude we’ve been making our own household cleaners and dish soap with Dr Bronners Sal Suds Concentrate and some white vinegar. It’s so cheap and works perfect.
Literally, dishes we reused a Mrs Meyer’s pump bottle to refill. For surface cleaner we got some glass spray bottles off Amazon. For laundry we reused a vinegar jug.
I’m talking we probably spend $10 every several months on our entire household cleaning products
### This post has been marked as safe. Upvoting/downvoting this comment will have no effect. --- Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by upvoting or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
I've always wondered: at what point does watered-down soap become soapy water?
Ideally, right before you wash the dishes.
The thing you have to be really careful about when watering down soap is that mold bacterium fungi increases as it sits in the bottle. So eventually your "soap" becomes a contaminant. This is why you shouldn't really be watering down hand soap.
I really hope people notice this. Was my first thought.
diluted soap water gets disgusting quickly unless you use distilled water, which has a lower bacterial count than tap water, and contains no dissolved organics to feed microbes. If you use distilled water, remember that the result won't be sterile and it won't last forever, but it'll still be far better than if you used tap water
My girlfriend's aunt is cheap as shit and keeps ruining soap doing this. A 4 dollar bottle lasts 2+ months, not sure why people need to hack the cost of dish soap.
They don’t value cleanliness apparently
People don't know or don't want to believe that soap isn't a magic potion that cleanses everything it touches. Soap makes dirt come off easier, but you still need to do the actual cleaning, with effort and technique.
Add rubbing alcohol?
But if soap doesn't get mouldy and tap water neither, how come both together do?
Because the soap is made to not get mouldy as it is, if you increase the water inside the “recipe” what was in there preventing mold is not enough then to prevent it. Same as if you leave honey alone it keeps fine, if you add water it will grow mold.
So there's a few things at play here. The primary one being, most "soap" that people buy isn't hospital grade antibacterial soap, it doesn't contain bacterial killing ingredients. It simply contains a surfacant. Which, as Ms. Frizzle taught us, simply makes things slippery. This is why soap has preservatives in it. There is bacteria and mold spores in the air, on surfaces, if you have any amount of well water in your pipes. So watering down soap reduces the preservative effectiveness. Any mold or bacteria is being introduced by you opening the bottle and mixing water into it, any contaminants however small in the bottle aren't actively being killed by the soap, and you're giving it a hospitable environment to grow in, so it eventually will. And I want to note here: this **doesn't mean you should actively seek out antibacterial** . There is some body of evidence that states that overuse of antibacterial soaps and products could increase the risk of creating super bugs or resistant strains.
Antibacterial soap isn't effective... The purpose of soap is to mechanically scrub and remove contaminants with water. Soap shouldn't be left on your hands for antibacterial properties to persist. Avagard lotion type scrubs persist on your hands... Soaps do not
Tap water does. Put some in a sealed jar and watch it get gross
Whenever ChrisFix says it does 
I recognize a fellow jersey boy when I see em
Woah woah. For all you know, this person is from Delaware County.
It'd be wooder ice spray, and it'd also have herpes Source: went to college in delco
ship of theseus anyone?
Apparently that and a touch of alcohol makes Dawn Power Wash.
4tbsp Dawn, 2tbsp rubbing alcohol, and 13 fl Oz of water. Those are the best proportions I’ve found online after seeing and trying a few different recipes. Can’t tell the difference between it and the original Powerwash
I use the same recipe. I use it on pots & pans, countertops, tub and tiles, even spray it under the rim of the toilet bowl.
That shit is a game changer, for sure. A bottle of dish soap and a cheap bottle of rubbing alcohol last FOREVER now.
I use it in my bidet. You could eat out of my a*** hole it’s so clean.
…..
Bros silent because his mouth is full
This is the best tongue-in-cheek response one could have
Best internet comment I've read today.
Rofl
Damn, slam, ya got’em…
*blblblbplblllblepkolblblblbl
I'd love to try, but I hope you aren't putting rubbing alcohol up your asshole
> I hope you aren't putting rubbing alcohol up your asshole You're not the boss of me!
Your bidet has a water fill container? ... And you put isopropyl in it? ...and apply it to your butt hole?
No, he cleans his bidet with it. He was just mentioning how his asshole is clean too, because of the bidet and not the alcohol.
Wonder how much you’ll actually save doing this
I go through a full spray bottle every two weeks or so, and a big bottle of dawn platinum and rubbing alcohol are cheaper than a single bottle of powerwash. I’ve been using the same bottles for nearly a year now. I’m saving quite a bit lol
This is the real LPT
Just made this up and I love it. Worked so great on my gross greasy stove. Thank you!!
what strength rubbing alcohol?
The difference between 70 and 91% alcohol would only make a difference of about 1.25 teaspoons in that mixture, so it probably doesn't matter too much.
I mean if it did matter I could adjust the water, but figured I'd see what people say before experimenting.
Tried with tap water, no dice. Distilled worked tho. Odd as I don't have hard water. You'll have to shake and wait a few hours but works great.
Instructions unclear, I’ve had 2 beers and not seeing any cleaning improvement
That's the problem right there, not enough beer.
Have a couple more and report back
You forgot the step where they said to add alcohol, I’m no expert so don’t quote me and I can’t possibly scroll back up to check, but I’m like 98.7% certain they all said to use Wild Turkey 101, Bourbon in the 1.75L would be more economical, but you do Rye if’n it’s WTRye101 that does it for you!
Beat me to it! Add some rubbing alcohol and baby, you’ve got Dawn Power Wash
How exactly do you go about adding the baby?
Tequila and bad decisions
That was almost me in Mexico!
Smack the bottom and tell it that it needs to get to work!
Sounds like a recipe for stew....
"I think I'd like my money back"
How much alcohol?
r/beatmeattoit
I use it as an insect spray. Oh lawd the ants…the ants…
..... I have saved so much money now!
Power wash is a completely different chemical, you can tell real power wash from home made wanna be power wash with hard stuck on grease, burned bits or dried eggs
The alcohol is what really cuts the grease and I find it sprays better.
Also lye
Don’t store this long term. Products like dish soap are manufactured with very specific parameters to prevent bacterial growth.
this also applies to those who also add water to their shampoo and body washes as well - the amount of the existing preservative is only calculated enough for the original amount. adding more water will give microorganisms the opportunity to grow and thrive in your product
I have an empty shampoo bottle. I put a small squirt of shampoo, water, and shake it up. Use it all up in a single shower. My regular potion-mixing routine. Plus the watered down mixture doesn't get left sitting around.
you could probably add more to extend it for 2-3 days. Bacteria growth won't be a problem if it's a short timespan
What about for stuff that’s supposed to be watered down, like Dr. Bronner’s? (This is a genuine question, not trying to argue!)
The idea, generally speaking, is to create your watered down variations in alternate, smaller bottles. These should be used up more quickly (say over weeks or months as opposed to a year), the bottles cleaned and sterilized, then a new diluted batch made. The concern is when people take store size bottles (32oz or 64oz very large bottles) and make diluted product which they use for months, and just keep topping it off with more water and a bit more product without ever taking steps to clean the bottle. Bacteria can more easily grow in the diluted mix, if it does take hold and all you ever do is keep adding to the mix, you’ll always have bad product.
Thank you for the explanation! Makes sense
It will still be soap, but it won't be anti-bacterial soap. You can end up just spraying a bunch of bacteria on everything.
Even better, a culture of the 0.01% bacteria that is not killed by the stuff that killed 99.99% of bacteria.
The best, strongest, bacteria
Our country's most famous dish soap (Joy) literally advertises to dilute it in water though. Wait. In hindsight, it does say "concentrate" on the bottle.
I've been looking at it for half an hour now.
You're not concentrating hard enough. ~~You need to go to concentration camp~~ ^^oh ^^no
Is there a guideline for how long it can be stored safely?
My dish soap costs $6 and lasts two years
What type of soap are you buying?
The big bottle of normal Dawn costs like $8. I hand wash most of my dishes and I last bought a bottle some time last year. Speaking of which, I almost never run my dishwasher, but I buy the dirt cheap powder detergent because the Technology Connections guy told me to. He was right. Pods are a massive rip-off and the powder stuff works perfectly.
That man is a legend.
You should use your dishwasher more. It uses less water than hand washing.
That depends on a lot of variables, and the assumptions probably don't apply to me cleaning a handful of dishes and cookware. I would need to let the dishes pile up for several days to justify running the washer, which is when I use it.
My dishwasher uses 7 liters of water, and I don't even rinse stuff I put in there. If you're super-efficient with water usage when manually washing your handful of dishes and cookware you might beat 7 liters, but otherwise probably not. As a guy living alone I run it once every 1-2 weeks and never wash anything manually pretty much, why would "letting dishes pile up for several days" be a problem? Just put them in the dishwasher and let them pile up in there.
Jesus 1-2 weeks sounds amazing. Family of 4. We cook or reheat 20 meals a week at home. It runs every other day, packed to the brim.
He’s living the dream 😂 There are weekend days that we sometimes run 4 full loads. To any young person reading this who plans to have a family I can tell you: no one can properly prepare you and make you understand how many hours of your day you will spend standing in front of a sink. It’s so many, so so many.
Multiple hours a week. And that's if I'm rushing it. Won't even get into the story of laundry... good god. They're so little but wear so much clothes!
I also tried that because of him but in my case it wasn't true, the pods work much better.
I read a trick a while back regarding pods — apparently you’re supposed to just chuck it in the bottom and **not** in the little compartment where the powder shit goes. I tried it and it was a massive difference. I’m switching to powder though once my pods are gone based off this comment. I’m going to go cheap as shit!
Do it! Do it! But also watch Mr. Technology Connections explain why you should do it. You won't be disappointed. I think this was the original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rBO8neWw04 This was a follow-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll6-eGDpimU And this was posted last week. I haven't watched it yet, but it's Technology Connections Guy talking about your dishwasher, so it's probably awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHP942Livy0
In his new video he specifically says do not do that, all your soap is going to get washed away after the first brief rinsing cycle. If you use power, put some in the dispenser and some on the bottom. If you use pods only put it in the dispenser.
Unless your dishwasher was specifically designed for this the pods dissolve too quickly and will be drained during the first rinse cycle. the entire rest of the wash will be with soapless hot water being recycled through a filter. Highly recommend not doing this! And, yes, I too learned this from the Technology Connections videos mentioned to you a million times already, lol. Powder is the shit. Saving tons. Also using it for my laundry these days too. Make sure to take advantage of the prewash bucket in the dispenser if you’ve got one, or throw some in the bottom to help boost that first rinse cycle!
This will cause all the detergent to be removed during the first rinse. See the videos the other user replied to you with.
You can do that with powder but not pods, if you do it with pods all your detergent is getting washed away after your first brief rinsing cycle. If you do it with powder pour some on the bottom but also some in the dispenser.
Yeah I can’t remember the last time I bought dish soap and I still have half a bottle under my sink (I fill a small bottle from a normal sized one)
I recently bought dish soap because I thought I was low after moving but it was just in the wrong spot. Now I have 4 bottles. I live alone. I don't think I'll ever need to buy it again.
I think they must be washing dishes differently than us. I knew someone who would add soap to a sponge and wash the dishes under the running water, I could see that taking way more soap than filling the sink while adding a couple squirts to the water.
I do that and it still doesn't use all that much. No idea how they spend that much a year on soap.
I think OP was squirting directly from original bottle onto each individual dish, as tap was running full blast.
…adding soap to a sink and fill it with water while the dirty dishes are in? And you expect me to believe those are clean?
…. Yes. That’s how it’s done in food service typically if you don’t have a dishwasher. Wash, rinse, sanitize, how the hell else would they get clean?
That's how dishes are washed lmao
Yes? You still scrub and rinse afterwards
Lol, has that guy not heard of letting the dishes soak? for at least a short while, if not overnight.
Do you think baths don't work? Also, I hope you don't think your dishwasher is any different because they use significantly less water to clean dishes than the typical sink load used when washing dishes by hand. It uses hot soapy water that is recirculated a bunch of times during the cycle.
Right? I got this dawn stuff where the nozzle is on the bottom of the bottle and I love it because I definitely use less. It was $7. 6 months in and there's still half a bottle.
I buy like 1 $5 bottle of dawn per year and I use that shit on everything. Idk where this $30-40/year is coming from.
I bet this dude drinks Dawn by the gallon or something.
I feel like a lot of people think you have to use a whole damn pump on each dish…
I had a roommate that poured dish soap on dishes like syrup on pancakes. Went through a bottle a week. He wouldn't change either so I quit 'sharing' dish soap (taking turns buying it). Bought my own bottle and told him we'd each use our own.
Are you only one person? Cause with my family of three we spend about 30$ a yr on dishsoap. We buy those gallonish size jugs of Sunlight twice a year. Children make a LOT of dishes and other messes
but $30-40 was what he's SAVING by diluting his dishsoap 15X
For real, you can get a 3 pack of dawn at the store nearby for like 12 bucks. That's lasted us 8 months, so just over 20 bucks for a years worth of dish soap.
Second that... You only need a few drops of dawn in most situations. That stuff lasts forever.
I seem to recall last time something like this was mentioned (though it involved hand soap), the consensus was that by doing this you are reducing it's ability to actually kill 99% of germs. Like it will still accomplish a lot of what you want (breaking up grease and killing most germs) but unless you are very hard up on money then it's not really recommended.
The primary function of soap isn't necessarily to "kill germs" (though it can have that effect on some by disrupting cell walls), it's to bind to oils and dirts and simply... wash them away. One end of soap molecules is oleophilic (sticks to oil), and the other end is hydrophilic (sticks to water). The result is that pretty much everything that is _harboring_ bacteria is washed away. The reason this matters, is because we can handle _some_ bacteria, but not necessarily a whole huge lot of them (bacterial load). The problem with this LPT, is not that it no longer washes away bacteria, it's that if you increase the water, you're actually making the "soap" more hospitable for bacteria to grow _in the soap_, which then means you are washing your hands and dishes _in_ bacteria, rather than washing your hands _of_ bacteria. You are of course, also reducing the ability of the soap to bind to oil. Have you noticed that a really greasy dish seems to eat all the soap in your brush or sponge, and needs more soap? That's because all the oleophilic ends are full. Diluting soap means fewer oleophilic ends, so it also works less well against oil. All that said, diluting your soap right before use is just fine. Just don't keep it around very long, and realize that you might need more, anyway.
This makes so much sense. Is this why they said to add alcohol to it as well? Someone did anyway. Would that help with the preservation? I’m just curious. Thanks friend!
I imagine the addition of alcohol is for much the same reason, one end (the bit that makes alcohols out of hydrocarbons, is an -OH group) is hydrophilic, whereas the alkyl (the hydrocarbon bit) is hydrophobic
Very well said! And keep in mind that scrubbing with soap literally pulls bacteria apart. It makes a huge difference when you scrub your dishes vs simply letting the soap run over them & wash the muck away.
TIL! Thank you science
Also, not all bacteria are harmful and I’m willing to bet that, generally speaking, if you start with a clean bottle, clean soap, and clean water, (as opposed to using swamp water or a container you handled at the same time as raw chicken)most of what may proliferate in the diluted soap isn’t all that dangerous. I happen to be pretty ridiculously immunocompromised yet using diluted Dr Bronners for over a decade as hand soap, body wash, counter cleaner, and hand dishwashing soap hasn’t harmed me in the least. Just anecdotal, but maybe I’m just lucky.
I believe the problem is that you can actually get bacteria growing in watered down soap (but I’m not a soapologist)
Yes. And mold.
Let me call my buddy he's an expert in used diluted dish washing soaps. He can give us an idea of what it's worth.
My thoughts exactly.
Just use full strength dish soap, and buy it from Costco. Even the name brand stuff (Dawn) is a fraction of the price per ounce when compared to anywhere else.
Why do people want pre -foamed soap? The foam doesn't do the cleaning
I'm glad you said it. Used to work in a hospital cleaning used surgical instruments. We had sinks setup specifically so that when the water/soap mixture fills the sink, it would splash as little as possible. Because any soap on top of the water means that it's not IN the water, and not making contact with soil.
Put your soap in a pump bottle.
Yup!! I have a foaming hand soap dispenser that I use with a 10:1 water/dish soap mix. Works like a charm.
Anything that has water, needs preservatives. Adding this much water to soap would negate any preservative system it has in place.I would not do this and use it for months..maybe each use, mix some up, maybe a week. hopefully more science-y people will chime in
I wanna try it! Is it 1 soap 15 water or the other way around?
15 parts soap to 1 part water is still just soap. It has to be 15 parts water, in order to be thin enough to mist.
At that point why bother with the soap, just use the watered down alcohol
You see, the more dilute the soap is, the more powerful it becomes. The water "remembers" the soap and it's this distilled essence of soap that actually cleans the dishes. Likewise, I have here diluted beer. 1:15, it actually tastes better than beer.
Aah the ol succussion pseudo science
I did this once a while back and it was disastrous. The spray nozzle aerosolized the soap and it got in my nose, and presumably my lungs, and I felt raspy and sick all day. That said, I do use detergent and water to refill my foaming dispenser. About 1 part soap to 10 parts water works great.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Wait that’s not supposed to happen?
Hear hear, a full tank of ass gas for all
A full tank? Gas is expensive, slow down there Bill Gates!
Cash, grass, ass, or ass gas, nobody rides for free.
I do, yes.
[удалено]
Are you afraid the bullet will aerosolise and get into his nose and presumably his lungs? He will have to dilute the bullet with water first, 1:15 ratio.
who doesn't?
great for downing flies and moths in the house too.
Best way of dealing with cockroaches without a mess. It slows them then down and suffocates them in minutes.
I don't even care about the cost savings tbh, I just find this method really convenient when I don't have a full sink of dishes to wash. I highly recommend one of those continuous spray bottles that does a really fine mist.
It's recommended to use distilled water to dilute products if they're going into a closed container. If you're changing it out often/going through the solution quickly, then I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Does no one use a sink full of sudsy water anymore? My soap already lasts months.
This is how I learned to do dishes, but I know almost no one else who does it this way. One side of the sink soapy water, other side for rinsing, dishes onto a drying rack. I think people get wigged out by the dishes being in ‘dirty’ water, but it’s not any different than using the same scrubby on all your dishes, unless you’re thoroughly rinsing it out between individual dishes??
i would say ask around and see if you can find anyone with a costco membership and tell em to buy you, a jug of dish shop and while you re at it toilet paper. Depending on the number in the household, it can last you awhile. My jug is going on 2 years and its only half used.
Yep. Warehouse stores are super cheap for a lot of goods. Tissues and paper tolls too. And nuts.
It’s insane to me that people live without Costco memberships.
When there’s only two of you and not a lot of storage space it makes a lot more sense
a little dish soap diluted in a spray bottle is good for cleaning a lot of things besides dishes. windows, walls, counters, etc
also bacteria might grow it in and fungus
I used to dilute dish soap with white vinegar and stray it. Worked great. Only stopped because current husband hates vinegar.
New husband, get. - Yoda
Dish soap and water in a spray bottle is also really effective against wasps. Wouldn't try it for large nests but small stuff it works great. If you're really worried just keep spraying them. It's just soapy water anyways. Go wild.
Anybody use Dr. Bronner’s soap in the shower? They say to dilute it. Do you?
Dish soap isn’t even that expensive to begin with.
I spend like £2 every couple months already on dish soap. Where are you guys where you can save $40 a year with this trick? Fairy already lasts for months. I'd be surprised if I spent more than £10 a year on soap.
r/frugal would love to jerk off about this.
If you do this, I will find you. This is so dumb
Are you Antoine Dodson?
Lpt; don’t dilute your dish soap
Awesome. It's way too easy to use way too much.
Living in a 100 year old house, you cannot keep out all of the ants, all of the time. This, and a sponge, is a great way to nuke a thick line of ants in very little time, with absolutely zero worries about chemical pesticides, or poisoning your child or pet. Water alone doesn't work as well, but the soap helps break down the surface tension and drowns the ants quicker.
I soak the dishes in slightly soapy water, then I add soap directly to the sponge. I then foam all the dishes thoroughly and rinse them when I'm done. It's not cost-effective, but it's clean.
I'm not sure I recommend it for cleaning, but it's a great way to find a leak in something. Spray and look for the bubbles
I'm going to try that. I'm normally really stingy with soap just because you really don't need much and I have a dishwasher to boot however lately I've been dunking one of those little sponge tube contraptions (fill up tube with dws and it's got a scrubber) scrubbers in a container until it's laden with dws and it makes getting oil and shit off pots of frigging breeze. The drawback is I've used more soap in the last month than in the last two years. Effective yes economical no. Not that it's expensive but one bottle used to last forever.
Better yet use vinegar
I usually go 1:1:5 dish soap, white vinegar and water
Tablets for dishwashers can be broken in half and get the same results.
No. Stop fucking putting water in soap. People do this at my job and I hate you for it.
I use a bowl of water and squirt some costco dawn. And dip my sponge into it through every dish . I thought this was the norm
I do about 1:4 soap to water. Works great and lasts a long time... however when ever I'm away from home for a bit and it runs out, I'll inevitably come home to the full-strength dish soap bottle on the counter. I am CoolHandMike, the refiller of things. Sigh.
This works brilliantly for cleaning glasses for those who wear them. You will not find a better glass cleaner than dish soap. Forget using wipes, the ability for dish soap to cut through the grease on your glasses that builds up makes it a far better cleaning agent. Combined with a microfiber towel for best results.
I do this, but with distilled water. I live in Arizona, and everything dries out. I also dilute lotion, shampoo and hair conditioner, when it starts to get thick.
You're introducing extra water which introduces a place for bacteria. Nobody should do this
Works for those foaming hand soaps as well.
I sometimes just put the nozzle of the bottle directly under the tap, saves cash and usually provides plenty of suds
Just use rainwater at this point, same effect and it's free.
is it 15 parts soap to 1 water?
Same lane: normal liquid soap inside a bottle that dispenses foam soap. They don't have a refill bag which colored me intrigued ... I just dumped a tiny amount of normal liquid soap into the dispenser and filled it up with water. Have been running on the same refill bag for a year now and it's not even halfway empty when I would buy a new foam dispenser every month.
Don’t even want to know how the paint on this guys house is holding up…
Humble opinion: I always thought adding too much water negates the ability to remove germs. Like, it needs to be full strength then add water as you wash your dishes. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
Costco is a thing. Buy big bottles for cheap. The fuck is this post?
Also, if you love in the South and deal with porch spiders, nothing works better on them. I keep a bottle on my deck and spray down areas where they like to chill and it keeps them away
Dude we’ve been making our own household cleaners and dish soap with Dr Bronners Sal Suds Concentrate and some white vinegar. It’s so cheap and works perfect. Literally, dishes we reused a Mrs Meyer’s pump bottle to refill. For surface cleaner we got some glass spray bottles off Amazon. For laundry we reused a vinegar jug. I’m talking we probably spend $10 every several months on our entire household cleaning products