What the World Needs Now Is Dawn, Blue Dawn

Do you remember the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster? I do, and I still don’t buy Exxon. But anyway. What I remember most is the Dawn dish liquid commercials that ran after the Exxon Valdez spill, showing all the sea birds having the oil washed out of their feathers with blue Dawn dish liquid. I’ve had a special place in my heart for blue Dawn ever since.

Little did I know until I discovered Mary Hunt’s Debt-Proof Living website just how special the original blue Dawn dish liquid was. Mary is a veritable treasure-trove of interesting information on how to live well without drowning in debt, but her columns about blue Dawn are always amongst my favorites.

Blue Dawn can clean just about anything, which makes it extremely useful to have around. Not only that, but it’s dirt cheap – around a dollar a bottle – and it’s biodegradable, safe to use around pets and children, and doesn’t stink to high heaven like most chemical cleaners do. An added bonus is, if you have sensitive skin like I do, you don’t have to worry about getting a little Dawn on your skin.

Among the uses Mary has found for blue Dawn:

• An ice pack. Can you believe it? According to Mary, you just fill a strong zip sandwich bag partially with blue Dawn, bag it again to be safe, and freeze. She says this can be used and reused. I have not tried this, but it sounds likely.
• Hand degreaser. Now this one I have used, after working on my darling truck, Little Doe, and finding my hands a mess. It will even get the black junk from around your fingernails if you use a manicure brush.
• Laundry stain remover. It’s no wonder why a certain laundry detergent “now has the power of Dawn,” as the commercial says. Blue Dawn is one of my two go-to laundry stain removers (I’ll tell you about the other in a future post). Any greasy stain that ends up on your clothes can be eliminated by blue Dawn, so long as you use it before you wash AND dry the article of clothing. Drying will set the stain, and after that, not even blue Dawn can help you. And trust me when I tell you that it works better than any of the laundry stain removers I have tried. Blue Dawn has the further benefit of being safe to use on nearly any fabric, and will not fade the color, either.
• Ant repellent. Yes, you read that right. When I saw this use for blue Dawn on Mary’s website, I was skeptical. But when the annual spring pilgrimage of ants came marching into the bathroom of my old house last year, I tried this, doing just as Mary suggested – spraying the counter that the ants seemed attracted to with a solution of blue Dawn and water, then wiping dry. According to Mary, the little bit of residue left behind will repel ants. And it WORKS. Without pesticides.
• Bathroom cleaner. Ummhmm. Blue Dawn, straight out of the bottle, will remove soap scum from bathtubs, shower doors, and even sinks as well or better than harsh, smelly, chemical bathroom cleaners. I have found that this works best when used with a plastic kitchen scouring pad.
• All-purpose cleaner. Blue Dawn, water, and vinegar combined in plastic spray bottle will clean counters, sinks, stove tops (especially the ceramic surface kind) and even glass and mirrors. I first mix two parts blue Dawn to one part water in a spray bottle (usually one cup blue Dawn to half a cup water) and then finish filling the bottle with vinegar. You will be surprised how well this mixture cleans.

Get thee to the store for some blue Dawn. For what you save in more expensive cleaners, buy yourself a book, a CD, or maybe some jewelry, darling. Or save it for your down payment on your Barbie Dream House.

UPDATE: I had a fall recently. A fall that resulted in a knee that was swollen to twice its normal size. So I tried the Blue Dawn ice pack. One word – AWESOME. Not only did it not freeze super-hard, making it easy to conform to my knee, but it also stayed cold FOR-freaking-EVER. Yes. All I did was pour some (okay, a whole .99 cent bottle) into a large freezer zip bag, then bagged it again. I packed it around like Linus with his blanket for a week, and it never once leaked or busted. Again – AWESOME.