At home I relied on my automatic dishwasher to clean – in piping hot water, I might add – the seemingly unending supply of dirty dishes we managed to generate in a given day. That was then; this is now.
My “now” includes a kitchen equipped with a sink, refrigerator and a two-burner propane cooktop. It also comes with a generous supply of ants ready to sound the battle cry if even a crumb remains on the floor or counter for very long. Fortunately, with a bit of diligence I can keep dishes and countertop clean enough that they are content to shop elsewhere – until the moment when I let down my guard, of course.
That diligence translates into hands in the dishwater three+ times a day (we do love our snacks!) So my hands should be a wreck, right? Wrong.
Now, I’m not a neophyte when it comes to washing dishes by hand. Every summer when we set off in our motorhome, a bottle of Palmolive or Dawn traveled with us. Without fail, my hands would be dry, cracked, & sore within a few days. But I’ve been washing dishes by hand for almost three weeks now and they are in better shape than when I left Arizona.
It begs the question: Is it the dish soap or the cold water?
Yes… in Costa Rica we wash our dishes in cold water, just like I did most times in the motorhome, even though I was sure I was risking food poisoning and/or going to hell for doing so! So I’m thinking it’s probably not the hot water that damages your hands but the formulation.
The label on my little bottle of Axion reads, “Poderoso en Auga Fria” or “Powerful in Cold Water" and it does! A little goes a long way, too, so it must be pretty concentrated.
So now I have two questions: Is it really necessary to use hot water with the detergents we buy in U.S. supermarkets, or have we been brainwashed into believing something that simply isn't factual? And why can the folks who formulated Axion make a product that is strong enough to clean your dishes without ruining your hands, but not the folks who make the stuff for the U.S. market?
Fortunately, I'm accustomed to living in a state of confusion, so not having anything more than suspicions that center on big business manipulating us for bigger profits, I’ll remain content to file this one for now alongside my unanswered questions about applesauce and apple pie. You have my word that when and if I figure it out, I'll be sure to let you know.
Pura Vida
Oh yes... one more thing.
Check out the eggs displayed in the window of this Alajuela store. Eggs are never refrigerated in Costa Rican grocery stores even though we're told in the U.S. that it's unsafe to store them at room temperature. But that’s another subject for another day -- assuming that eating those eggs doesn't kill us in the meantime, of course.
