Kristi King, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Don’t limit liquid dishwashing detergent to the kitchen. It can be useful all kinds of places around the house.
A Reader’s Digest list of “Extraordinary Uses for Dishwashing Soap includes using it to perk up dull hair. Mix a dollop of dish soap into shampoo and it will attack oily hair, as well as it does dishes.
Scare ants off a patio or away from a picnic by spraying the area with a mixture of dishwashing liquid and a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar.
Reader’s Digest says dish detergent can even help make lawns greener. Add to a 10- or 20-gallon hose sprayer: a can of beer, a half-cup of mouthwash, and a cup each of molasses and dishwashing liquid.
Apply the concoction every three weeks or so. Apparently the dish soap helps spread the lawn feeding formula more evenly.
The fertilizer formula provided by Reader’s Digest offers the option of using household ammonia instead of the molasses. But the Chesapeake Bay Foundation points out that ammonia contains phosphorus and nitrogen that could wash harmful run off into The Bay.
It prefers homeowners use all natural, organic fertilizers on lawns.
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