The Peanut Purge

My husband has been having... (clears throat)... digestive issues lately.  It happens on occasion, but it's been really bad the last month or so.  He's allergic to peanuts, so I figured maybe one of the kids stuck a butter knife full of peanut butter into the dishwasher.  So I started having the kids use plastic knives to make their sandwiches.

It is normally Blur's job to load and unload the dishwasher but he had a bad insomnia night a few nights ago so I was doing the dishes.  His verbal filter was off and he was rambling and complaining about how every time he ran the dishwasher he had to clean out the filter because of the pumpkin soup.  This was really odd to me as no one had eaten the pumpkin soup for more than a week and therefore there shouldn't be any soup dishes to cause any issue.

I pulled out the filter and Blur pointed at the small bit of debris complaining how filthy it was.  I really wasn't bad.  As I was looking around it and trying to explain that it wasn't a big deal I saw it, and I groaned.  At just that moment my husband walked in the front door, heard me and asked what was the matter. 

The inner dome of the filter, where my fingers couldn't reach, was coated in a suspicious brown sticking something.  I got a swap scrubber thing and check it; peanut butter.

I don't know how long it had been going on, but for weeks every load of dishes had been inundated with a indiscernible coating of peanut butter.  Indiscernible unless you're allergic, that is.

So began the Great Peanut Purge of 2016.

First we had to get the peanut butter out of the plastic filter.  We boiled water and tried to melt it off.  It mostly worked.  Eventually Blur was able to get the filter apart (it was really tricky!) and we got it clean.  Then I changed the dishwasher settings from the 1 hour wash to the full wash with extra hot water and a  sanitizing rinse.  Then I ran it again.

Since I found it late in the day that was the only load I was able to get finished right then.  I pulled out disposable cups, plates, and flatware and had Mike eat off of those.  I also have changed the peanut butter routine.  It should be on paper plates / paper towels, and the plastic knives are NEVER to go into the dishwasher.  At some point I got interrupted and I had Blur finish loading the dishwasher.

The next morning I found a blue plastic knife that was used for peanut butter in the dishwasher.  Sigh.

So now I have put up large obnoxious construction paper signs above the sink and on the dishwasher.  - NO PEANUT butter EVER!  Hopefully they'll remember now.  :/  If they don't I'll have to ban peanut butter from the house.

So my other projects are currently on hold until I get it all clean.  Yesterday I systematically started working through the cupboards.  I got all the lunch plates and bowls first.  Then the silverware and glasses.  Next my hubby's favored water mugs and the dinner plates, etc. 

While I was working on the dishes I figured I'd better bleach all the kitchen towels.  My kids often wipe their unwashed hands on them (ew!) and could possibly be contaminated with peanut butter.  There was only half a load of whites so I went searching around the house for other things I could toss in to fill the load.  I grabbed my daughter's pillow and one of my husband's pillows to balance it. 

The saying goes; when it rains, it pours!  I should have known better.  This is my husband's pillow out of the washing machine: