(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best dishwashig supplies

Get some Clorox Foaming Bleach (you can get it at Walmart or similar) and some magic erasers.

The floor looks lightly textured so you would need to be careful but you can also try some of these.

This looks like serratia_marcescens which is common bathrooms and other wet environments. It is pretty resilient and you will need to keep cleaning the area pretty regularly to kill it off. The best think would probably be to get a steam cleaner if you really need to get this off. This unit is really good.

I hate to be a corporate shill, but the products these guys produce is amazing.

I use the hypoallergenic laundry soap (the one that comes in a cardboard bottle) and their dishwasher soap and they both work like a charm, and they aren’t that much more expensive than alternatives that are more harmful for the planet.

Also the dishwasher soap works like a charm and it gets anything off dishes 99% of the time, even if it’s the most caked on thing in the universe.

Cleaning:

I've gotten cleaning down to two products: Bar Keepers Friend and 7th Generation Powdered Dish Soap. These products are basically magic, if you allow them time to work. BKF works on things that are baked or burned in and for use on metal (except aluminium) and glass. Sprinkle BKF over the area to be cleaned, wet it until it's paste like, then walk away for 30 minutes or so. When you come back, re-wet it if it's not still wet, and use a paper towel to polish off the stain. Usually comes right up with very little elbow grease. Same principle applies to 7thGen. Fill your kettle/carboy/whatever with water and add about a tablespoon of powder per gallon of water. Let it sit overnight. I've yet to find grime that will stand up to it. It's magic works on a combination of what is basically oxyclean free and enzymatic cleaners. Much in the same way enzymes break up starch in malt to make it into sugar, these enzymes break up proteins and junk to release it from whatever is clinging to it. The only gotcha here is the enzymes have a shelf life, so you can't let it sit around forever. If you use it in other household cleaning, you can go through it at a fair pace and always have an opportunity to freshen up your supply.

Sanitation:

StarSan is clearly everyone's favorite sanitizer, but I do worry a bit about it's effectiveness over the long term with organisms building up resistance to it. I currently try to cycle in Saniclean every now and again, which has some of the same ingredient as StarSan, but uses a slightly different chemical to help keep the foam down while still sanitizing. I'd love to find out if someone has found another product as effective as these two that isn't iodine or chlorine based. In the mean time, to help keep things shaken up, I use heat where ever possible to add in an additional layer of sanitation. A pro brewer once told me cycling 180F water through your system for 15 minutes will kill just about anything you have to worry about. Seems solid and I like the fact it isn't an additional chemical.

Sterilization:

I only really use this for canning wort right now, but a pressure cooker is a nice thing to have. I've also been known to use tyndallization on items that might not quite make it through the pressure cooker. If anyone is regularly sterilizing things, I'd be interested in hearing what you're sterilizing, what method you're using (heat, steam, gas, ultrasonic, etc.), and why.

edit : Fixed the linking I think.

Instead of a wetting agent (which can be expensive), you can use a little dish detergent that dye and fragrance free such as this. You definitely need a final rinse then.

The problem I have with wetting agents is cost. You buy a small bottle for like $20.00. You use very little, so it should last "forever." But the stuff expires after a few years. I think the stuff will expire before you even get halfway through it. If you can get a bunch of friends together to buy a bottle and split ti 4 ways, that would be a good way to go.

There is one wetting agent I saw advertized that's used in labs and is an effective anti-fungal. Which would be good for old records. It's called Triton X-100. But it's close to $30.00 a bottle. And it's going to expire long before you use the bottle up.

This is a really rough month where I'm staying. We've got food stamps so we're OK there, but we could use a few household items.

Thank you!


Bleach
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FDX7YD0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_NMzrzbDJ406DT

Dish soap
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UEXGV8S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_QOzrzbBG6EZAJ

Toilet Paper
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FFJ2LXU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_WPzrzb53BE4J3

Dryer Sheets
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004CQBGTM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_DSzrzbHCS7KN7

EDIT: A friend was able to help us out AND I am starting a job next week so I hope to be OK here in the future.

We clean ours one of two ways:

1. pour salt on it and use a rag to basically exfoliate the surface. Rinse with water.
   
   
2. eventually we found this chainmail sponge type thing that’s actually made to clean cast iron and it’s been great.
   
   Do not under any circumstances use soap.
   
   Edit: adding link to a scrubber: GreaterGoods Cast Iron Chainmail Scrubber, Easy on Your Hands, Dishwasher Safe, Cleaner Scraper & Scrubber for your Cast Iron Skillet, Wok, or Pan https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PN5R4H5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_YrRLDb8P4NX1G

Uncle Jon's makes one. I got a bar free, and also have the Declaration Rejuvenator (actually L&L because it's old), and the Uncle Jon's is just a good in my opinion.

There's also a German one that The Superior Shave sells.

Edit: TBH this one works just fine, too, and is super cheap and widely available.

Once you have it out of the vinegar (a little left-over rust is OK here, as long as it's not flaky - at six days now, it's probably already good), scrub it down with steel wool and dishwashing liquid, rinse until clean, and dry. Apply veg oil (something with a high smoke point, like peanut), and bake at 500 F. Let cool, lightly scour the resultant surface with a greenie and water, then dry, oil, and bake again.

That should get you an ideal cooking surface.

I bought special foaming soap dispenser bottles on Amazon. I fill it halfway with water and halfway with Dawn gentle on hands formula. I tend to wash my hands a lot so I use the kitchen sink and my soap mix. Anything that's sitting in the sink gets a dose of water and soap. this stuff is so much gentler on your hands than the regular Dawn too.

Note that with the foaming bottles you can't put undiluted liquid soap in them, it's too thick so you have to dilute it. As a bonus you wind up using less soap.

Unfortunately Dawn changed their formula to include rose scent, and I am allergic to roses. Fortunately the Walmart version has no rose scent and works just as well.

I also use the foaming bottles in the bathroom. If you like Dr Bronner's soap you know you're supposed to dilute it. So I mix it with water in the bottles and use it in the shower and as hand soap.

I recommend a Scotchbrite dishwand. Maybe not BIFL, but the wand portion is very durable, and replacement heads are pretty cheap.

EDIT: It seems I recommended one that has a flaw, a leaky soap pumper. The one I use and recommend is actually this one, with a white button.

Boiling water should do the trick. Another good thing to have on hand is a bit of chain mail that can be used to clean similar cooked on gunk in the future. Something like:

• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IN0RC2W/

Selling dangerous chemicals that appeal to small children can lead to problems. Even the best parents aren’t perfect. Even a responsible caring parent might turn their back for a critical few moments.

This brand of detergent pods looks and smells delicious. They make me hungry every time I do the dishes.

I use Natural Choices Oxy Prime for my laundry and it's wonderful, and I know they have a dishwasher detergent. Though I haven't used it, since the laundry detergent is so good I imagine this would be as well.

Edit: I just saw that you want something biodegradable, and I'm not sure if this is. You could probably contact them and ask though.

Shop owner here. Depends on your county's Health Department regulations but I don't know of any that only allow you to use Stermine. Most will let you use a tiny bit of bleach water as a sanitizer for dishes as well. The only thing is you have to have different test strips if using bleach instead of a sanitizer. Here's some other sterilizers I've found that are USDA certified so they should be accepted in your county

r/https://www.amazon.com/Bar-Maid-DIS-201-Dishwashing-Sanitizing/dp/B002TDTYEY/ref=sr_1_5_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1540655738&sr=1-5&keywords=sterilizer+tablets

r/https://www.amazon.com/Members-Mark-Commercial-Sanitizer-128/dp/B0787938GN/ref=sr_1_4_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1540655787&sr=1-4&keywords=sterilizer+tablets

I've never cleaned a hot pan before. I wait hours to clean. I just use warm sink water and piece of chainmail. Scrub until smooth, heat up on stove and season with whatever oil I have on hand.

Here's the chainmail I have

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GPGZVJ1/ref=cm_sw_r_fm_apa_i_SU-jDbDBEKTRP

Yeah, they work great actually. It takes a bit of getting used to cleaning them. They’re thicker than standard ziplocks, but work well. For cleaning I fill them with soapy water & give the inside a quick scrub with one of these & prop them upside down over a glass to dry.

https://smile.amazon.com/Food-Grade-Antibacterial-Multipurpose-Antimicrobial-Company/dp/B076W4H86Y

Dishwashing Liquid to clean your guns with: https://www.amazon.ca/Thymes-VPO-155-Frasier-Dishwashing-Liquid/dp/B0140PREDG/

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Once it's seasoned, don't use soap to clean it. Ever. Just use one of these. It will stay nice and seasoned, especially if you cook with animal/saturated fats.

I have a small rectangle of chainmail that works perfectly on cast iron. here it is...

You're going to pay like a thousand bucks for that much bubble solution, plus shipping and handling. My advice would be to pick up an empty drum, a couple of buckets of liquid detergent, and a gallon of glycerin; and make it yourself in your back yard. You'd be looking at more like $250 plus shipping (particularly, you're going to save S&H on 400 pounds of water). There's lots of recipes online but you'd generally be looking at 1 part detergent to 6-8 parts water, and 1 part glycerin to 12-16 parts detergent.