Date: 05/27/2021

Q: I’m ready to try using Dawn dish soap to clean my top load washer. How much do I use? I’m picturing a cartoon episode where the foam flows out across the room.?

A:

• You only need a few drops!
• I was going to do like a quarter cup. It would have been a disaster!
• All the swishing around will make a lot of bubbles!
• I put a ton in! Never had it overflow. Only on front loaders does that happen.
• Maybe that is why I have had trouble! I have a front loader!! I flooded my house with suds! Now I am really careful!!
• Are you cleaning the washer or a load of lotioned up clothes? For a load of laundry, I use a small amount of detergent, a normal amount of Oxi, and about a 1/4 cup of dawn, use the soak setting, then a deep clean wash.
• We are wanting to clean the machine this time.
• Ahhh. We just use Afresh on a cleaning cycle for that.
• I would do it with a load of towels so the towels help rub the walls. We do half a cup of detergent and a 1/4 cup of Dawn when we wash clothes/towels/sheets
• That is genius.
• Degreaser works better with hot water
• Simple Greem will do it without the bubbles/foam. Something to remember, if you ever do create an accidental foam disaster all you have to do is add vinegar and it will knock down all the suds.
• Crystal Simple Green from Amazon is a fragrance-free degreaser. Works great. I use half a cup in all laundry loads.
• I’d be lost without this great community! Thanks for all the tips! So many things to try.
• Before putting clothes in the washer I soaked them in our utility tub in Dawn dish soap and water to “break down” the Aquaphor (I rinsed them well then washed them). We found top loaders work better than front loaders. Definitely look for one with a soak feature and use super hot water for washing clothes. Dawn dish soap was our friend. There is stain/cleaning product that helps break down grease called “LA’s AWESOME” it’s yellow and the bottle has red writing. Every dollar store sells it and it’s a great stain/degreaser for $1.
• Also, I do a 90 degree hot drum clean cycle every month adding dishwasher detergent to clean up left over grease on the machine.
• Washing our littles clothes by themselves and we add borax and white vinegar to each load
• I use Coke in my wash to degrease!