Weekend Folly

Saturday was pretty normal in the aspect of I did my household chores as usual, there was a little disagreement that Mrs Gee and I had that we quickly resolved (it is amazing how the Devil will mess with you when you are trying to help people in crisis), and I did grill some very tasty beef tenderloin filets wrapped in bacon as a treat for my wife. No the real fun came later that night...and it started very innocently enough...with the dishwasher.

After dinner my wife was a gem and loaded and started the dishwasher. She was in the kitchen doing something with the dogs when she noticed the Golden staring past her towards the stove. My wife ignored it for a few minutes and the dog continued to stare. "Do you see aliens, too?", she said to the dog, referring to a comment we make about our other dogs habit of staring at things.

My wife turned and saw foam pouring out of the dishwasher. As any concerned wife would, she called out to me. I was in the office trying to remove paper that had become jammed in the 10 year old printer we have (and would love to get rid of at some point), so I asked her what the problem was and she said, "You need to get in here!". I went into the kitchen and saw the foam and asked my wife why she put regular soap in the dishwasher. She denied vehemently that she had done so, but there was no mistaking the evidence. I ran and got the wet/dry shop vac and emptied the debris out of it and removed the filter. I fired it up and sucked as much out as much of the foam and water I could and started the dishwasher back up. I let it run and agitate the water to build up as much suds as possible. I opened the dishwasher and repeated the process a couple more times until the water ran clear.

I had to do this for a couple of reasons. A dishwasher is not designed to remove soap suds from it when it drains and this has to be done manually. The soap will get into every jet and opening and the unit needs to be ran and vacuumed several times to get all the suds out. I know this because my ex wife used regular soap in our apartment dishwasher many years ago and we never thought we would get it all out.

Now, where did this soap come from if my wife used the proper stuff (Cascade Citrus) in it? Well after thinking things through, I finally figured out that it was a combination of two things. First, my wife will "trap" the dish sponge under the edge of a glass or bowl to allow it to get cleaned with the dishes and the last time it was used I am guessing it did not get rinsed out well (I use a little more soap than I need sometimes...yes I admit it). Second, we have a "dish wand" we use to wash small things that get dirty (cups, dog bowls, etc) in between the times we run the dishwasher. That wand was stored in the dishwasher until my wife loaded it up. She removed the wand and placed it on the counter when she started the dishwasher. My guess (due to the volume of suds) is that the wand dripped some dish soap in the dishwasher and the soap was activated when she started the unit. Presto, lots of suds.

Kids, DO NOT try this at home.