I was out yesterday afternoon writing up my homemade cough remedy post and ended up coming home to the picture above.
And that was the cleaned-up version! The kids had already decided to mop the kitchen with the suds and had cleaned up a good amount of it already.
It has happened at least once with each of our kids. They try to “help” wash the dishes by putting dish soap in the dishwasher.
And okay, I’ll admit it happened to me too soon after I got married and tried to use dish soap when we ran out of detergent.
I don’t remember what I did when it happened to me, but the first time it happened with one of the kids Ryan and I got cups to try to get all of the bubbles out. LOTS of cupfulls and several dishwasher cycles later we finally got rid of all of the bubbles.
The next time it happened (with kid #2) I had the brilliant idea of using the ShopVac to get the suds out. It definitely helped speed up the process, but it still took a while.
But this time I was prepared! I had seen a tip recently (maybe it was on Pinterest? Probably so!) that had said to put a cup of FABRIC SOFTENER in your dishwasher if this ever happened and that it would take away the foam.
So that’s what I did… and it actually WORKED!
**You likely will want to take your dishes out before using the fabric softener since there are several toxic chemicals in fabric softener.**
If you don’t want to use fabric softener, or don’t have any on hand, here are a few other options:
- Vinegar – white distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar should both work
- Oil
- Salt & ice – sprinkle salt in the dishwasher and add several cubes of ice. Run the dishwasher for a short amount of time and then drain it. Repeat.
- Pool/Spa Defoamer
More posts you might enjoy:
How to get rid of pests naturally
Fabric softener
VINEGAR works instantly
Fabric softener is greasy
I always use dish soap in the dishwasher, but i also add baking soda along with it and so far has not bubbled out! The 2-3times i did not use the baking soda (or someone didnt know to use it…) it bubbled out!!
I also always used a good, generous squirt of dish soap in my dishwasher, along with one Cascade pod. I’ve never had a problem with suds spilling out. I don’t even add baking soda. In fact, I would swear my dishes are always cleaner with added dish soap!