Day 165

Somehow, although no one is admitting any prior knowledge, a green crayon got dropped in the dishwasher.  Now, all of the plastic items involved are sporting a bright waxy green coating.  At least I THINK that is what happened based on observational data, meaning I scratched and sniffed at it.

I ran them back through the dishwasher and tried wiping them with vinegar and they were still tinted.  These days, throwing all of those food storage containers and plastic cups in the recycling bin isn’t really an option.   In theory we could use them that way, but it was sort of freaking the kids out.

Plus, I wasn’t entirely sure it was really green crayon.  Since I hadn’t actually gotten a 100% confirmation on the crayon, there was still a tiny chance it was some other more sinister and toxic substance.

You know that’s what happened to most of the super heroes in the comic books.  They consume an unknown substance, OFTEN GREEN, the next day they are hit by some stray gamma radiation and presto, they’re indentured servants at the Justice League.  I didn’t want that for my kids.

So, I consulted the experts online.  First, I used my advanced googling technique and came up with no ready-made answer listed on the first page of my search.  I had to dig deeper.

Next, I went to a cleaning tips blog.   She basically told me to use a Magic Eraser which, SURPRISE, was sponsoring her site.  Even if a Magic Eraser worked, I was too annoyed by her thinly veiled sales pitch to try it.

As an aside, I didn’t realize until just recently so many people have blogs dedicated to creating testimonials for things.  Not long ago, I was reading a rather amusing anecdote from a blogger about teaching her teen how to shave her legs.  I was chuckling right along until suddenly I realized—She’s trying to sell me a razor. Only I didn’t say she, I might have called her an unkind name (rhymes with witch and I only said it very quietly, under my breath) as I felt a bit duped.

So then I turned to an anti-consumer Facebook Group that seemed to have lots of good ideas and no shortage of folks willing to offer their help.  Based on their recommendation, I tried running them through the dishwasher with unsweetened lemonade in the soap dispenser, which is primarily citric acid.

Still Green

Then I just went all in and used actual citric acid procured from a health food store (which by the way, anything with acid in the title doesn’t sound that healthy to me) and ran the dishwasher again.

Still Green

So I tried a couple of other things to include rubbing them with baking soda and peanut butter.

Still Green (although somewhat faded)

OK, I will just say this.  I know the time involved far exceeded their value, intrinsic or otherwise.  But I really wanted a win.  I did finally cry uncle.  And now they are all stacked in all their emerald glory in the pantry just waiting for their next life as paint cups or science experiment vessels.