Dish soap is one of the few cleaning products nearly every Sacramento kitchen already has, which is exactly why those viral hacks spread so fast. Consumer Reports put several of them to the test, and a few genuinely earned their spot. Mix one part olive oil with two parts dish soap and you have a makeup brush cleaner. A paste of dish soap and baking soda scrubs hair dye stains off your hands. Straight dish soap restores stainless steel, provided you buff it dry with a clean cloth.
Other hacks came up short. A homemade shower spray of equal parts dish soap and white vinegar does cut soap scum, but it leaves behind heavy suds, takes extra rinsing, and trails the top commercial cleaners. Small maintenance jobs fared better: a dab of dish soap on a door hinge pin quiets a squeak, and dish soap with hot water can clear a minor grease clog in the kitchen drain.
The most important findings are the warnings. Dish soap should never go in a dishwasher or a washing machine, where the suds can overflow and damage the appliance. It also has no business on marble, car finishes, faces, hair, or pets, and laundry detergent outperforms it for stain treatment. Cheap tricks are only cheap when they work. Which cleaning hack have you tried that actually stuck?
About the Author
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
