My plumber told me to use Dawn dishwashing liquid, and that’s what I use now.

My house was built in the 1950s, and the pipes are old and metal. Elderly ladies lived here before my family, and I doubt they used the sink as much as we use the sink. I also doubt they managed to run as much bad stuff down the drain either. It did not take us very long to stop up the sink here at our first home. That is one thing I miss about renting . . . Now, I don’t have a landlord to call when things go bad.

The plumber had to come out after we stopped up the sink and then put a hole in the pipe under the sink with a coat hanger. He cleaned out the line and said we probably needed to upgrade at some point. He suggested that I use Dawn dishwashing liquid in the meantime. He was a really good guy who understood that sometimes it’s just not possible to put a couple of thousand into pipes.

There are a lot of versions of Dawn, and I’ve used them all. Actually, I used the hand soap to wash dishes for a while, until I noticed that some of the bottles are meant for hand washing. Hand soap worked fine for dishes, but I go for the dish soap now that I know to look for that on the label. The regular blue came out in 1972 (the year Nixon was elected and the Miami Dolphins won), and I usually go for the original. The blue does not really have a scent (very mild), and I have allergies. Though I don’t think the nicely scented versions bother me, I tend for neutral. Also, I don’t have to check to make sure that the bottle isn’t for hand washing when I grab the original.

Dish soaps have the same stuff in them for the most part. There are some “secret” ingredients in Dawn that are not listed and are not shared. I’m sure that has something to do with the grease-cutting properties, which is the reason that the plumber suggested that I buy Dawn. Southern cooks have a lot of lard going down the drain tubes. Some of the nature folks use Dawn to clean oil off bird wings. It’s mild, but it does cut grease. Though it’s a tough cleaner, it does not dry out my hands or make me break out from allergies.

I also use Dawn as a pre-wash on stains. It’s especially good for any grease spots on clothes. It’s less expensive than clothing treatments on the market, and it works just as well. I used to buy de-greaser for the laundry, but now I just use Dawn. It’s handy to take on camping trips too. Regular washing powders are less expensive, but I can get by with taking Dawn and using it for dishes and clothes, which is nice.

If you have kids (or just feel like having fun), then Dawn is a really good soap for making bubbles. All you need is one half gallon of water and ½ cup of Dawn. The bubbles are bigger and harder to break if you add glycerin, which is available at most drugstores. About 3 or 4 tsp will work on the glycerin. If you don’t have bubble blowers, then anything round will work—even your fingers looped to make a wand. Use a coat hanger for bubbles rather than sticking bent ones down the drain like I did and get really big bubbles. A flyswatter also makes oodles of mini bubbles.

About the only thing that you don’t want to do with Dawn that you would do with other soap products is wash your car. Actually, some people use it to strip the wax off. I’ve never really wanted to play around with the finish on my vehicles. I just buy car products for that sort of thing.

For the last 2 years, I’ve used NOTHING but Dawn for dishes. The sink drain has been a little sluggish from time to time, but it’s held out. Next month, I am getting those new pipes after saving up and buying some time. Though I can get cheaper dishwashing liquids, I’ll just stick with Dawn. I’m sure my new pipes will be OK for a while, but I don’t see slowly clogging them up over the years. Paying a few pennies more for Dawn is sure better than calling in the plumber even if he is one heck of a nice guy.




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