What is the best way to wash dishes by hand?

1. 70

   sacredlilacposted 12 years ago

   What is the best way to wash dishes by hand?

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2. 77

   Silva Hayesposted 12 years ago

   Not saying this is the best way, but it's the way I do it.  I plug the left side of the sink, let the water run until it's hot, and fill the sink with hot water and a good squirt of Dawn Pure. 
   
   I scrape as much food as possible off the plates into a bowl that we call the deer bowl.  We live in the country and are on a septic system so all scrap food goes outside for the deer or onto the compost pile.  I stack the plates in the water, making sure that soapy water gets between each plate.  I fill the sink with first the plates, then the silverware all together on one side, then bowls and glasses.  I do not put extremely sharp knives in there.  I fill the sink to the top and walk away for awhile to let everything soak. 
   
   Using a Dobie scouring pad with my left hand, I pick up a glass and lightly scrub around the inside and the rim, then, moving to the right side of the sink, I rinse the glass in hot running water.  I place the glass on a drainer to the right of the sink.  I take care not to run the water continuously, just enough to rinse, then turn off.  I wash and rinse all the glasses in this manner, then the bowls and then the silverware, using the Dobie on each item.  I run my fingernail along the tines of the forks to make sure there's no food residue left.  Next, the plates. 
   
   Finally, when the sink is empty of these items, I stack pots and pans in the sink and allow them to soak for a short time and repeat, scrub, rinse, stack to drain.  I polish the outside of the pots and pans right away to avoid water spots drying on them.

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3. 70

   sacredlilacposted 12 years ago

   @Silva: It would be great to have a deer bowl, but we live in an apartment in the city and aren't even able to have a compost bucket.
   
   If you only have one sink (my situation), what would you do?

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4. 91

   Millionaire Tipsposted 12 years ago

   A study of the different ways people from around the world wash their dishes.  Includes the dish-washing practices of people from Syria, Iran, Germany, India, France, and the U.S. read more

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