Setting a pretty table starts with clean, sparkling dishes.
The sight of spot-free dishes and glassware is a beautiful one to anyone who takes pride in an attractive table and good food.
The problem is that getting that table full of gleaming cutlery and tableware isn't as easy as it looks.
Here's my story of my own struggle to get to clean dishes and the frustration with dishwasher detergents that left me annoyed and with spotted, hazy silverware and glasses.
It happened slowly.
Over time, the silverware went from a bright and shiny, almost mirror-like finish to looking like dull aluminum.
It was flat and pewter-like.
It happened to the glasses the same way.
Once shiny and sparkling, the haze came on slowly.
Then, the dance with dishwasher detergents began.
Over the course of a couple of years, I must have tried every kind of dishwashing detergent there was - from powder to liquid to tabs - all in hope of seeing sparkling dishes again.
Nothing changed.
I kept changing dishwashing detergents believing that one would finally give me the shiny, sparkling dishes that they all promised.
I believed in these products.
And, yes, I saw the higher-priced "natural" formulations in my stores and I saw the ads for the high-priced, mail order varieties and the special environmentally friendly formulations, but come on..
..
were they really worth the extra money? I mean, some of these products cost twice the price of the grocery store brands.
The answer was a resounding yes.
The co-founder of Neuhomecare products ( healthyhomecleaners.
com ) and formulation chemist, Matt Pliszka, generously sent me some of his products that were formulated to be organic, environmentally safe, and pH neutral, just to try.
Well, my first thought was that a product like this could never do the job that my giant three pound box of dishwashing detergent powder could do with its phosphates, bleach and chemicals.
I mean, after all, chemicals like these can blast the dirt and food particles right off those dishes; or so I thought.
I came to find out that those chemicals can also blast the finish right off dishes and silverware.
So, I committed to trying the new "sensitive" dishwasher detergent for two weeks.
We'll just see, I thought.
And you know what? Slowly, the silver returned.
My knives and forks were shiny again.
The glasses were clean and were missing that haze.
I couldn't believe there was a product that works and really, truly makes my dishes shiny.
Best of all, because I have a water softener, I only use about two tablespoons of soap per load - just enough to cover the bottom of the soap receptacle in my dishwasher.
One bottle of the gentle automatic dishwasher liquid lasted me well over two months - making the price competitive with the grocery store brands.
In an attempt to verify that I wasn't imagining this clean, I gave a small bottle of my miracle dishwashing liquid to someone whose dishes were worse than mine and whose glasses and cutlery looked beyond saving - my mother.
Yes, the dishwasher had ravaged her dishes and I knew if anyone could see a difference, it would be her.
Well, after two weeks use, her dishes looked unbelievably better.
They, in fact, shined.
Another convert was made.
The moral of the story? More chemicals aren't always better.
Sometimes, you don't need an ax to cut a piece of chicken; a simple knife will do.
Try the gentle cleaning products, because you might be surprised at how hard gentle can work.
I know that I'll give these new formulations a second look from now on.
The sight of spot-free dishes and glassware is a beautiful one to anyone who takes pride in an attractive table and good food.
The problem is that getting that table full of gleaming cutlery and tableware isn't as easy as it looks.
Here's my story of my own struggle to get to clean dishes and the frustration with dishwasher detergents that left me annoyed and with spotted, hazy silverware and glasses.
It happened slowly.
Over time, the silverware went from a bright and shiny, almost mirror-like finish to looking like dull aluminum.
It was flat and pewter-like.
It happened to the glasses the same way.
Once shiny and sparkling, the haze came on slowly.
Then, the dance with dishwasher detergents began.
Over the course of a couple of years, I must have tried every kind of dishwashing detergent there was - from powder to liquid to tabs - all in hope of seeing sparkling dishes again.
Nothing changed.
I kept changing dishwashing detergents believing that one would finally give me the shiny, sparkling dishes that they all promised.
I believed in these products.
And, yes, I saw the higher-priced "natural" formulations in my stores and I saw the ads for the high-priced, mail order varieties and the special environmentally friendly formulations, but come on..
..
were they really worth the extra money? I mean, some of these products cost twice the price of the grocery store brands.
The answer was a resounding yes.
The co-founder of Neuhomecare products ( healthyhomecleaners.
com ) and formulation chemist, Matt Pliszka, generously sent me some of his products that were formulated to be organic, environmentally safe, and pH neutral, just to try.
Well, my first thought was that a product like this could never do the job that my giant three pound box of dishwashing detergent powder could do with its phosphates, bleach and chemicals.
I mean, after all, chemicals like these can blast the dirt and food particles right off those dishes; or so I thought.
I came to find out that those chemicals can also blast the finish right off dishes and silverware.
So, I committed to trying the new "sensitive" dishwasher detergent for two weeks.
We'll just see, I thought.
And you know what? Slowly, the silver returned.
My knives and forks were shiny again.
The glasses were clean and were missing that haze.
I couldn't believe there was a product that works and really, truly makes my dishes shiny.
Best of all, because I have a water softener, I only use about two tablespoons of soap per load - just enough to cover the bottom of the soap receptacle in my dishwasher.
One bottle of the gentle automatic dishwasher liquid lasted me well over two months - making the price competitive with the grocery store brands.
In an attempt to verify that I wasn't imagining this clean, I gave a small bottle of my miracle dishwashing liquid to someone whose dishes were worse than mine and whose glasses and cutlery looked beyond saving - my mother.
Yes, the dishwasher had ravaged her dishes and I knew if anyone could see a difference, it would be her.
Well, after two weeks use, her dishes looked unbelievably better.
They, in fact, shined.
Another convert was made.
The moral of the story? More chemicals aren't always better.
Sometimes, you don't need an ax to cut a piece of chicken; a simple knife will do.
Try the gentle cleaning products, because you might be surprised at how hard gentle can work.
I know that I'll give these new formulations a second look from now on.