But look how much you save
I have no particular animus toward generics, but there are times when I demand a brand: my ketchup is Heinz, my corn chips are Fritos, my fish sticks are Van de Kamp’s.
And when I do dishes, Dawn takes grease out of my way, because this is the alternative:
Dishwashing liquid: It all looks soapy and reasonable, it all smells citrusy/flowery/cleany and capable, it all comes in the same-look packaging … and there the similarities end. The generic/store brand of this stuff will squirt cheerfully out of the container, sink to the bottom of your … sink (I really am this witty, don’t hate me, ‘kay?) and promptly disappear, leaving one or two bubbles in its wake like the weak farts of genteel old women in church. If you do manage to whip up some frothy semblance of suds, the very second you turn your back to get that bargain-soup encrusted saucepan they will simultaneously pop and flatten out into a thin scum of wanna-be cleansing.
To be fair, there is an upside to the store-brand detergent:
However, some of these cheapass faux-soaps, when decanted into little glass bottles and displayed on the windowsill, make kind of pretty sun-catchers. So that 99 cents wasn’t a total loss, huh, pumpkin? Don’t you feel better now?
So does strawberry soda, and you can get a couple of liters of it for under two bucks. More if you buy the, um, generic.
ms7168 »
29 December 2009 · 8:04 am
I like Palmolive because you’re soaking in it :) One of the most ingenious advertising campaigns ever and I still use the dish detergent too. And most of the time you can get the 12oz. bottle for .99
Mark Alger »
29 December 2009 · 8:55 am
Um… Sudsing agents and detergents are two different substances. The quantity of suds doesn’t have squat to do with how clean your dishes get.
But you’re right: Dawn is all that and sliced bread.
M
McGehee »
29 December 2009 · 10:22 am
I was taught to put in the dish soap while he water was running to fill he sink/dishpan.
Big sudsy piles of bubbles that way, regardless of brand.
CGHill »
29 December 2009 · 11:03 am
What you want, though, is persistence of bubbles; they have to hang around at least through the saucepans.
Kay Dennison »
29 December 2009 · 12:15 pm
I think it depends on the water quality where one resides. Palmolive works just fine and Era does my laundry well. And yeah, I tried generics and they proved lacking. Sometimes saving a couple nickels isn’t worth it.
CGHill »
29 December 2009 · 12:26 pm
Laundry-wise, I alternate between All and Purex, whichever might be on sale.
ms7168 »
29 December 2009 · 8:00 pm
So do I (All or Purex)
I also checked and it’s the 16oz. size dish detergent (Palmolive and Dawn both in fact) for .99
Charles Pergiel »
29 December 2009 · 8:02 pm
I suspect the viscosity of soap is higher than that of strawberry soda, so you will get a prettier jar on your window sill if you fill it with dish soap instead of soda. But that is just conjecture. Someone needs to try it and report back.
I used a saucepan once to boil some eggs. After I was done I rinsed it out and let it dry. No soap required. Paper plates are my favorite.
CGHill »
29 December 2009 · 8:10 pm
At Crest Foods, the 10.3-ounce Dawn (formerly the 11-ounce Dawn, the result of the infamous Grocery Shrink Ray) is usually somewhere around 89 cents. Of course, if it’s on sale, I buy multiples.