Citradish Automatic Dishwasher Detergent

Citradish (or "Citra-dish") is my newest experiment with dishwashing powders. I tend to have problems with my dishwasher leaving powdery bits inside my drinking cups, but the box claims that the product (Valencia Orange version) incorporates a rinse aid so I thought... hmmm maybe somehow it'll help rinse off the residue.[1] It also advertises itself as cruelty free, vegan, chlorine bleach free, and made with essential oils. (There's more on the side of the box, but I don't want you to doze on me.)

This is another case of "they must have updated their packaging but not their website". My box is a bright orange recycled paper number with a big juicy orange on the front, unlike the rather unaesthetic former packaging job they have on the www. (See image.)

As far as performance, I have no complaints at all. This stuff works perfectly, as well as my Biokleen powdered detergent. It leaves my dishes and cups shiny, and doesn't leave behind any sort of odor (I love scented products, as you know, but dishwasher detergent doesn't need to smell unless it's part of the functionality... I'm not going to stand around huffing my dishwasher cups.) The box claims you ought to fill both cups in your dishwasher, but I can actually get away with filling one cup only half and get the same results. Nothing stuck to my dishes, and everything came out with a nice shine. (The test is always the dog food bowls.)

The super test was the enchilada spatula and plates from last night. These products always brag that they can remove "baked-on food". Well, it actually did. I'd buy again, particularly if my local natural foods shop doesn't start stocking more varieties of dish detergent ;)

1. My logic, it is flawless!

Bathroom scrubbies and laundry whites

There's a new-to-me product I really want to try: Bon Ami's 1886 Formula Cleaning Powder. I want to use it in my bathroom, on the tub and tiles and grout. As an avid bath-taker, my tub needs to be clean. I kind of admire the Japanese custom of rinsing and cleaning before climbing into the bath. I don't like the idea of sitting in dirty water, in other words. A product that's been around this long may just have something going for it. Anyone tried it?

Today was a day for doing a load of laundry whites. I wasn't feeling particularly well, and was looking for mindless chores to do instead of getting academic work done. Among the culprits was my husband's bathrobe, which looked pretty scary before I tossed it in.

I have a habit that I picked up from ... somewhere? of using borax in loads of white. I'll combine something like 1/4 cup of borax and white vinegar plus 10 drops of lemon essential oil with loads of whites, and it brightens them up nicely. I wish the lemon scent really stuck around, but citrus oils are great for brightening so it's worth keeping them in the mix.