
I keep being reminded that waiting is often more powerful than doing.
Yesterday for example I was scrubbing a porcelain dish that had some baked on stains. I scrubbed, let it soak for six hours and scrubbed some more and wasn’t having any success. I realized that I had to change tactics.
I looked online on how to clean it and it suggested a baking soda mixture with water. I had tried baking soda in the past and it didn’t work for me. However I thought, what do I have to lose and followed the instructions in the post. It said to mix 2 parts soda to 1 part water and then spread the paste over the stain and let it sit for 30 minutes.
I waited for 30 minutes and when I returned and tried the scrub brush again it just fell away. Two minutes of almost no pressure scrubbing removed everything and it looked like a new dish. I was stunned.
I thought back about when I had used baking soda in the past. What did I do wrong? In those instructions it said to wait for 10 minutes. I did and back then it didn’t seem to make any difference. Who would have thought that waiting another 20 minutes without scrubbing would make a difference?
So to help understand what happened I went online and did another search and found out that some people even had success with using light sprinkling baking soda on the stain, using dish soap and a scrapper and scrapping it. I prefer the method when you coat and wait. Why make an effort when you don’t need to? Other methods said using Bar Keepers friend which is a great product, but I don’t want a harsh chemical where I am going to eat. Yes, washing it would clean the solution but I prefer as green as I can get.
Why am I sharing this? I realized that often in life our technique is correct, but it is all about timing. We either don’t wait long enough, or wait too long and miss our opportunity. If something isn’t working for you, instead of changing tactics, try changing your timing.