... on the plain
Sunday, August 23, 2015
nothing
Pop up sponges are for the kitchen counters
the back splashes
a little in the cupboards and a little the cupboard doors and the drawers
the stove top, and around it
under the dish drain
inside the refrigerator and sometimes outside of it
the dining table and the picnic table that is tables generally
the ovens
and always the sink surround
and never in the sink
very, very occasionally i'll wipe something on the floor with one
and fairly often i use them
the same ones
the same one
to dry pots and pans
and every great now and then i'll wash one with soap but usually just rinse them out with fresh water
because they're naturally clean
the floor sponge is separate and also washes cabinet doors and the
refrigerator door 'cause it does rinse and dry clean though you wouldn't think of using it
on counters or the dining table, no, and there's a sponge for in the sink, in fact, two
then there's different bottle brushes
and because of my whining and complaining somebody collected a whole bunch of different
ones for me, and some of them are just amazing
one for the tall jars, big and puffy
one for the cat food tins and other utility applications
the most amazing wooden thing, and the other most amazing wooden thing, for scrubbing pans
and the cluster of five super-fine brushes that work for everything from teeny to small
and, at long, long last i have a proper dish scrubber
But here i have to get into the evolution of my dishwashing system.
There was a period when we didn't have a kitchen sink. I bought a replacement but it sat around getting very dusty. Finally, though, the old one was becoming too miserable. I assembled the new one with the faucet and drains, and then I just took the old one out because it was too horrible, and for a while I negotiated for someone to install the new one an and we just had no sink and washed the dishes in the garden.
Finally, it was done, and now we have a funky two basin sink, the type with the shallow basins, unpretentious (except that, yes, i'm pretentious about it) and simple for home use. Nice.
So, way back in the old apartment days, we would fill one basin with soapy water and the other with fresh water, and it was great, but somehow that never seemed to work here at the house. I knew I very much wanted a small basin for soap suds, which you can't get anywhere but, except, Trader Joe's cookie tubs. They are extremely perfect. Except the label gets soggy and melts, and i like the label, plus, it gets nasty, so, after they weather away a little i cover them with acrylic varnish, the labels, which is complete magic. After one hour it's impervious to water, and after ten years it has this incredibly rich and beautiful patina, and it's also an all wrinkled up tub from contact with too hot water, washing dishes with it and washing it itself inside and out with soapy water and gentle but thorough scrubbing.
Also, now, I'm getting very tired of buying my dish soap in plastic bottles, and I do have a memory of washing dishes with Ivory Snow, at the Woodward School, so I look for that, but it doesn't seem to be on the shelves any more. What if I used this laundry powder from Brazil? It's not like the other ones, it's super simple and ecological. It was sad it came in a plastic bag, but what a nice experience. So, so nice. And then, gone, can't get it.
Lapsing for a while, but then deciding to get back into it. Buying flats of half quart mason jars at the grocery store, and carefully keeping them together, and blocks of Savon de Marseille on line, and bracing myself and grating up a heap of flakes, and filling six jars each one third with flakes, and putting the lids on carefully, and putting them carefully under the sink, but filling the first one with filtered water, and, a day later, it's dish liquid. And it's so not like store bought. It looks weird, it looks so organic, it's slimy, let's be honest, and looks slimy, and, at the same time, beautiful and clean, and you dip your scrubber into something that's really like a food, and like a mountain stream at the same time, and wash, and the dishes get very slippery, not like with the other stuff, so you have to learn all over again how to hold onto them, and when you rinse them, there's something like a waxy sheen, left, that makes an incredible high polish when you polish them.
And yes, I do have a giant drawer full of kitchen linens - dish towels, napkins, table cloths, bread wrapping towels, and terry hand towels, all washed, boiled, and neatly folded. Always buffing with something crisp and fresh and the dishes are as clean as they can possibly be.
So then there was the problem of the dish scrubber. For a long, long time i used the Dobie type, because it's nice, and even though I always had to sew up the edges, but even so they would eventually wear out, and then you were left with something just slightly nasty, and nothing to do with it. At long long long last I started to notice that Twist makes a scrub pad, which I didn't like - too bulky - but which is nice ... and i got the idea to trim the edges off one and make two thinner pads, which turned out to be just square pieces of loofah. Magical. By being very artful about it i've kept the same one for months and it's just so beautiful, so clean and fresh and soft, and i can scrub any dish with it, and between the tines, and pots and pans, too, if they're not too tough, and for those i use the wooden branches. Magic!
And then, late into the night, and even in the morning, my soap is still something lovely. Feels so good on you, feels so good around you, and you still want to wash with it and you still do wash with it until you're just satisfied. On to the next so fresh tub.
the back splashes
a little in the cupboards and a little the cupboard doors and the drawers
the stove top, and around it
under the dish drain
inside the refrigerator and sometimes outside of it
the dining table and the picnic table that is tables generally
the ovens
and always the sink surround
and never in the sink
very, very occasionally i'll wipe something on the floor with one
and fairly often i use them
the same ones
the same one
to dry pots and pans
and every great now and then i'll wash one with soap but usually just rinse them out with fresh water
because they're naturally clean
the floor sponge is separate and also washes cabinet doors and the
refrigerator door 'cause it does rinse and dry clean though you wouldn't think of using it
on counters or the dining table, no, and there's a sponge for in the sink, in fact, two
then there's different bottle brushes
and because of my whining and complaining somebody collected a whole bunch of different
ones for me, and some of them are just amazing
one for the tall jars, big and puffy
one for the cat food tins and other utility applications
the most amazing wooden thing, and the other most amazing wooden thing, for scrubbing pans
and the cluster of five super-fine brushes that work for everything from teeny to small
and, at long, long last i have a proper dish scrubber
But here i have to get into the evolution of my dishwashing system.
There was a period when we didn't have a kitchen sink. I bought a replacement but it sat around getting very dusty. Finally, though, the old one was becoming too miserable. I assembled the new one with the faucet and drains, and then I just took the old one out because it was too horrible, and for a while I negotiated for someone to install the new one an and we just had no sink and washed the dishes in the garden.
Finally, it was done, and now we have a funky two basin sink, the type with the shallow basins, unpretentious (except that, yes, i'm pretentious about it) and simple for home use. Nice.
So, way back in the old apartment days, we would fill one basin with soapy water and the other with fresh water, and it was great, but somehow that never seemed to work here at the house. I knew I very much wanted a small basin for soap suds, which you can't get anywhere but, except, Trader Joe's cookie tubs. They are extremely perfect. Except the label gets soggy and melts, and i like the label, plus, it gets nasty, so, after they weather away a little i cover them with acrylic varnish, the labels, which is complete magic. After one hour it's impervious to water, and after ten years it has this incredibly rich and beautiful patina, and it's also an all wrinkled up tub from contact with too hot water, washing dishes with it and washing it itself inside and out with soapy water and gentle but thorough scrubbing.
Also, now, I'm getting very tired of buying my dish soap in plastic bottles, and I do have a memory of washing dishes with Ivory Snow, at the Woodward School, so I look for that, but it doesn't seem to be on the shelves any more. What if I used this laundry powder from Brazil? It's not like the other ones, it's super simple and ecological. It was sad it came in a plastic bag, but what a nice experience. So, so nice. And then, gone, can't get it.
Lapsing for a while, but then deciding to get back into it. Buying flats of half quart mason jars at the grocery store, and carefully keeping them together, and blocks of Savon de Marseille on line, and bracing myself and grating up a heap of flakes, and filling six jars each one third with flakes, and putting the lids on carefully, and putting them carefully under the sink, but filling the first one with filtered water, and, a day later, it's dish liquid. And it's so not like store bought. It looks weird, it looks so organic, it's slimy, let's be honest, and looks slimy, and, at the same time, beautiful and clean, and you dip your scrubber into something that's really like a food, and like a mountain stream at the same time, and wash, and the dishes get very slippery, not like with the other stuff, so you have to learn all over again how to hold onto them, and when you rinse them, there's something like a waxy sheen, left, that makes an incredible high polish when you polish them.
And yes, I do have a giant drawer full of kitchen linens - dish towels, napkins, table cloths, bread wrapping towels, and terry hand towels, all washed, boiled, and neatly folded. Always buffing with something crisp and fresh and the dishes are as clean as they can possibly be.
So then there was the problem of the dish scrubber. For a long, long time i used the Dobie type, because it's nice, and even though I always had to sew up the edges, but even so they would eventually wear out, and then you were left with something just slightly nasty, and nothing to do with it. At long long long last I started to notice that Twist makes a scrub pad, which I didn't like - too bulky - but which is nice ... and i got the idea to trim the edges off one and make two thinner pads, which turned out to be just square pieces of loofah. Magical. By being very artful about it i've kept the same one for months and it's just so beautiful, so clean and fresh and soft, and i can scrub any dish with it, and between the tines, and pots and pans, too, if they're not too tough, and for those i use the wooden branches. Magic!
And then, late into the night, and even in the morning, my soap is still something lovely. Feels so good on you, feels so good around you, and you still want to wash with it and you still do wash with it until you're just satisfied. On to the next so fresh tub.
Saturday, January 31, 2015
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