review: dish soap

Recently, I was sent a bottle of Dawn Direct Foam dishwashing foam to try and review. Their marketing claims "you can do an entire sink full of dishes with just one pump of foam!" Seriously, I'm not really excited about hand-washing an entire sink full of dishes!  Let me try a day on the beach, or a pedicure, please - but hand-washing dishes?

I digress...

We have people over often, so getting pots & pans washed quickly (rather than wasting space in the dishwasher) is good. Plus, there are those parties, gatherings, etc. when I want to get things cleaned up as we go, rather than let a pile fill the sink.  So, I tried it.

I'm particular about soaps & cleaners in my house. I don't like running phosphates (this has none) and other chemicals into our local aquifers. I'm concerned about residues that can linger from soaps & affect our bodies. We try to conserve water, too, and our dishwasher is actually far more efficient than hand-washing dishes. Crazy? Maybe. Particular? Definitely.

Summary of the positive: I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this stuff. One squirt of foam on a damp sponge really did polish through an entire pile of wine glasses, serving ware, and pans.  I like how little water I used, yet it had good cleaning power & it's gentle on the hands. It cleaned dishes well, even greasy or baked-on gross ones. It made quick work of counter-top cleaning, too.

A few downsides: It is really foamy, so I had to make sure the dishes rinsed well. The foam also made it hard to see if you'd gotten everything off the corners. I'm not convinced the sponge isn't carrying germs from one dish to another. Of course, that's always a risk with hand-washing.

Finally - it works best with a sponge, not dishcloth. Trader Joes has little "pop up" sponges in 12-packs, which I recommend so you don't keep yucky sponges around the sink for long.  Go here for a coupon to try it yourself.  Also, Dawn has a "love it" policy & will give a full refund if you don't.

May you have more to your weekend than dishes,
MamaToo

thank you, monk & neagle

...for the fantastic tunes that have had us dancing and smiling since we opened the envelope last night. Imagine my surprise and delight when your CD arrived at my doorstep for me to enjoy & review! Yes, of course, I will tell my friends & family & blog readers about it. First, though, I wanted to thank you. Not just for the album, but the break from our usual dance music.

The music is fun, although some (especially the title track) were wonderfully challenging & thought-provoking. Obi-1 especially enjoyed Into Orbit, perhaps because it suits his personal music style. :) Personally, I liked each of them, and I thought Beautiful You set the perfect tone for the whole collection. One reviewer said something about track 3's likelihood of being loved & echoed by millions around the world. Hmmm... was that a mysterious description? Order the album and see if you're not singing along after one listen.

I put the link for all the sample tracks in that cool little flashing album graphic below. Yes, I figured out how to do something new with the technology of this blog. Yes, I know, you've probably known how to do that for 4 years. Please still feel obligated to applaud and congratulate me. Thank you. This is me doing a little bashful curtsy:
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Ahem... I always get a little self-conscious when I recommend music or books. However, I can confidently give this one a high-five because we truly liked this album. I think a lot of other people will, too. Blessings & best wishes on the release, Monk & Neagle!