You can spend a lot on fancy cleaners to get the scum out of your dishwasher, or you can just pop in two 10-cent bags of lemonade Kool-Aid in the soap dispenser.

Make sure the dishes are out, this is just for cleaning the dishwasher itself. Put the machine on any cycle and let it do its thing.

Sounds crazy? Apparently the citric acid in it gets rid of the lime scales and other grungy deposits.

You can use other kinds of powdered lemonade as well, just make sure that it’s not the ones with sugar added. Also, don’t use another kind of colored Kool-Aid because they will stain the dishwasher.

Got any other thrifty and unusual household cleaning ideas? Sound off in the comments.

Lemonade Kool-Aid as Dishwasher Cleaner [Real Simple]
How to Clean A Dishwasher With Kool Aid [eHow]

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