Don't do this
On Monday night it was time to run a load of dishes in the dishwasher. We were out of our usual detergent, but I knew we had more somewhere. Digging under the sink, next to the big bucket of rags and towels, I found some "Seventh Generation" natural detergent. I squeezed the full amount of soap into the little soap pit, shut it, squeezed in a little extra for the auxiliary hole because there were a lot of dishes, and turned on the machine. Some part of my brain was conscious of the fact that the dishwasher didn't quite sound like the dishwasher normally does, but that didn't set off any alarms for me ... until I walked back into the kitchen about twenty minutes later. And noticed that the dishwasher was foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog, oozing warm gobs of suds and water across the floor. At that moment it occurred to me, "hey, Seventh Generation natural detergent is regular dish soap not intended for dishwashers." Honestly. Is my life a cheesy family sitcom? Who does that in real life? I vaguely recall a similar episode of the Brady Bunch, except that one involved the washing machine.
I was faced with an interesting problem, because I wasn't sure how to make the dishwasher drain on command - but I couldn't open it full, and I couldn't let it finish. I shut it off and nothing happened. I tried setting it to "rinse," but that was a bad idea, because it just started spewing foam more enthusiastically. Thank goodness for the bucket of towels and rags, all of which I used multiple times in an energetic and exciting cycle of soaking and wringing and soaking some more. Things started looking up when I tried the "dry" setting - I immediately heard a chunky sort of gurgling noise in the drain, which I took as a good sign. Unlocking the dishwasher door, there was a moment of doubt before I actually opened it. Was I about to be engulfed by a flood of soapy water? But no, it was okay - mostly. There were still about seven inches of water at the bottom of the machine, topped with another lustrous layer of foam, all of which I had fun bailing out with a ladle and soup pot. When most of the suds were gone, I decided I had to try the rinse cycle one more time - I'd need to run the thing again at some point; why not now when all the rags were at the ready? I wisely decided on the "water saver" mode for this run, and spent the next forty minutes hovering near the kitchen, nervously eyeing the dishwasher. Happily, no more suds spewed forth, and at long last the dishes were clean. So, yeah. Don't do that.
Maudie and the AD tomorrow night!
I was faced with an interesting problem, because I wasn't sure how to make the dishwasher drain on command - but I couldn't open it full, and I couldn't let it finish. I shut it off and nothing happened. I tried setting it to "rinse," but that was a bad idea, because it just started spewing foam more enthusiastically. Thank goodness for the bucket of towels and rags, all of which I used multiple times in an energetic and exciting cycle of soaking and wringing and soaking some more. Things started looking up when I tried the "dry" setting - I immediately heard a chunky sort of gurgling noise in the drain, which I took as a good sign. Unlocking the dishwasher door, there was a moment of doubt before I actually opened it. Was I about to be engulfed by a flood of soapy water? But no, it was okay - mostly. There were still about seven inches of water at the bottom of the machine, topped with another lustrous layer of foam, all of which I had fun bailing out with a ladle and soup pot. When most of the suds were gone, I decided I had to try the rinse cycle one more time - I'd need to run the thing again at some point; why not now when all the rags were at the ready? I wisely decided on the "water saver" mode for this run, and spent the next forty minutes hovering near the kitchen, nervously eyeing the dishwasher. Happily, no more suds spewed forth, and at long last the dishes were clean. So, yeah. Don't do that.
Maudie and the AD tomorrow night!
posted by BeeKay at 11:53 PM
2 Comments:
haha. that stinks. it happened to our friend when he bought his first home and our other friend who was renting a room innocently tried to help around the house. we came in to find the extremely expensive and precision layed bamboo floor starting to bubble in just a few places because it had been soaking in sudsy water for a few hours. oops!
it happened here once too - blair and i also spent an hour or so scooping lots of sudsy water and wiping out the liquid soap. i agree. don't do that.
That's hilarious! Did you take any pictures? My roommate did that once, when we were living in a pretty newly built house. The funny thing about her though, was that she didn't understand WHY it happened. You see, she must have been spoiled because it was her first time EVER running a dish washer. We had to explain it to her like she was a 2 year old...whilst scooping mounds of foamy bubbles into the sink!
I don't think until that point, that I actually believed the Brady Bunch and other shows that those types of things happened on. I figured it was exaggerated up for laughs. Now I know better, and so do you!! :)
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