Your Hand-Washing Methods

[washer111]

Whilst hand-washing is so passé, I'm interested in other people's views on how they hand-wash their dishes, if they have to. Here is "my way" (If you don't like, take a walk on the highway!):

<ol>
<li>Clear table, remove all articles, dirty or clean</li>
<li>Arrange items on sink, then turn on hot tap and start pre-rinsing all the loose soils off (to save changing the wash-water)</li>
<li>Rinse out both sinks, plug them & add detergent to one, filling up 3/4 full. Same in the other sink (if avail.)</li>
<li>Wash everything, from cleanest to dirtiest, using a scrubber or a frequently washed micro-fibre cloth</li>
<li>Rinse everything in that sink (or under the tap)</li>
<li>Water changes: Change the water when it gets too dirty or too sudsy for rinse</li>
<li>Put everything on the drying rack PROPERLY!</li>
<li>Add extra detergent as needed</li>
<li>Drain sinks, wash them down and wipe benches. Towel dry. Perhaps use a *little* bleach if available to help sanitise</li>
</ol>
This method probably uses around 2L (1/2 Gallon) of water per dish. For an "average" family meal, that will equate to around 28L or 7.39 Gallons used. Whereas our Dishwasher will happily use 300mL per dish (and do a better job with more dishes and save me time - even if it takes 114 minutes to Wash+dry, it still beats having to do steps 1-9 above 2-3 times daily!)

So for me - a dishwasher SAVES WATER. Unless you wash with no water at all, then the dishwasher works best for you! 

 

[danemodsandy]

My Tips:

I think most people's hand-washing results are downright frightening; I've seen just-washed things in people's dish drainers that a health department would close down a restaurant for. But I've often said that most people wait on themselves in a fashion they would not tolerate from Motel 6.

Many hand-washers make two basic mistakes:

1) They hate doing it, so they try to do it lazily. Sorry, washing dishes is one of those suck-it-up jobs, like doing your tax return or paying your bills. You have to do it, and doing it halfway will only cause trouble.

2) They try to economize on one or more of the basics - water, the water's heating and detergent. If water is precious where you are, then shorten your shower, let No. 1 mellow, stop watering your lawn or washing your car. Washing dishes is not the place to skimp - poorly washed dishes breed bacteria and spread disease. Many people are concerned with the price of detergent - they buy cheap pink stuff or ration it by mere drops at a time. Detergent is what helps get bacteria off your dishes, and it cuts grease, which breeds bacteria; you should buy the good stuff and not skimp on it. Water needs to be hot - this is also a help in removing bacteria.

I wash in the hottest water my hands can stand - which, after a summer spent washing dishes in a restaurant as a kid, is plenty damn hot.

I have an array of dishwashing tools, each of which helps me remove soil of a particular kind, or from particular areas. I use a blue Scotchbrite scrubber sponge for most washing of plates, etc., and yes, I sanitize it regularly and replace it frequently. I have a dish brush for crevices, seams and fork tines. A glass mop gets down inside glassware. And there are Brillo pads for scrubbing pots, a perc tube brush for the percolator stem, and a crooked-handle brush that's just for scrubbing out my coffee Thermos. And I wholeheartedly agree - you start with the cleanest pieces (usually glassware) and work toward the dirtier ones. Doing a lot of dishes may necessitate a second, fresh batch of dishwater.

I rinse under running hot water. Yes, it costs. So do doctor's visits. Guess which I'd rather spend my money on.

Dishes dry in the dish drainer. Pots and pans get a clean dishtowel, and in my house, dishtowels are only for drying pots and pans and utensils - never hands, countertops or anything else. They are also never laid on a counter - they go on the towel rack, no place else. And last, they are never, ever ever slung over a shoulder, where even the cleanest among us have some dandruff lurking.

When dishes in the drainer are dry, they are put away after one important first step - washing my hands. Why on Earth people think this step is unnecessary is one of the great mysteries of life.

If you can't have a dishwasher (my beloved KDS-55 can't be used at the moment, due to lack of space in the Smallest Kitchen Ever), you can have dishes every bit as clean as if you did. It's just a matter of doing it with a proper will, and staying away from false economy.

P.S.: If someone in the house is sick, a dunking of the dishes into water with some bleach in it will work wonders to stop whatever vile bug is going around from going around.

 

[appnut]

Hand washing?

I DON'T!!  It's why I have a dishwasher!!!

 

[washer111]

Careful Bob!

Of course you have a dishwasher to WASH dishes! So do I, but when you don't have a dishwasher (and the plumbing is bad or there is no space), what is one to do BUT hand-wash? As I'm the sort of person where EVERYTHING is placed in the Dishwasher, hand-washing some items seems stupid to me. We have Circulon Non-Stick pans, but because someone is hell bent on "soaking them" overnight all the time, rather than putting them in the dishwasher (they are Dishwasher safe), they have started to rust and deteriorate after just ONE YEAR! Ugghh!

 

Danemodsandy, I totally agree with you there. Our Tea-Towel probably shouldn't be used for drying anything. If I had my way, it would be washed daily, with a sanitising fabric softener no less. 

When I have my own place, I plan on getting a Dishlex DX103 and using the Pots & Pans cycle for everything (Its actually shorter than the Regular and Economy cycle, but not shorter than "Fast") - which includes a Pre-Rinse and 3 Rinses! Nice! 

I'd probably never use the sink, so yeah, it would be nice and clean. Everything in the dishwasher! 

 

 

 

[sudsmaster]

I'm with Bob, more or less. While there are a number of items that can only be handwashed, or are simply too big to fit in most dishwashers, when I finally got a dishwasher in 1997 I was in seventh heaven. I'd forgotten how much I detest handwashing a stack of grimy dishes and cold slippery flatware. On the flip side, I've grown to feel a bit uneasy when I hand wash a spoon, plate or fork. It just doesn't seem "right" any more. LOL.

I don't think there can be much argument that a good dishwasher gets things a lot cleaner than any reasonable handwashing effort. It's the combination of time, temperature, and strong detergents that most hands couldn't handle, even with gloves.

PS-This being flu season, it's important to wash one's hands before touching one's face, eyes, mouth, or food.

 

[arbilab]

Always wash hands coming in from outside. Inside, you're immune to everything. Outside, people's habits are filthy.

OH! You mean hand DISHwashing. Only time I have enough dishes to justify running the dishwasher is holiday guests. For just me I squirt detergent on a Dobie pad, scrub, rinse, rack in DW to dry.

 

[stan]

Must agree

With the washing of hands!
Don't know how many times I've noticed, people start putting clean dishes from their dishwasher away, and not wash their hand first! I just don't get it! Why run a automatic dishwasher, if your going to cross contaminate with dirty hands?

I live in a old house, with no dishwasher, no garbage disposal, and the kitchen sink is just one big sink, not a divided one.
We scrape plates into a small plastic bag, that gets tied up and thrown in the garbage outside. I have a large vintage enamelware dishpan that gets filled with hot soapy water, everything gets rinsed under running tap water, and placed in the dish-rack to dry. If I hand dry, I use paper towel.

Think it's a good idea for those who use a kitchen sponge, to wet the sponge and put in the microwave for 2 min, at least a couple of times week, to sanitize..

 

[washer111]

We soak our sponge in bleach every few days for a good while, as we do with plugs and the plug-"strainers" (not really, but they stop tree branches and hammers). That way we're more sure about using it for stuff! 

 

Besides, we don't have a microwave to nuke a sponge and germs away with!

 

[ronhic]

Hand wash??? OMG!

If I have to, I do the following...

- Scrape
- stack in the sink with...plug in.
- as I have a double sink (...and double drainers...YAY!), plug in the spare.
- fill the first about half full with as hot a water as I can stand - 50c is about it
- glasses and then plates...rinse in the second under hot, keeping the rinse water.
- cutlery next...and drop into the now half full rinse water sink
- empty original wash water..
- remove cutlery to drain
- detergent in the 'rinse' water
- wipe down left hand drainer with hot soapy water
- saucepans/prep dishes via the right hand sink
- rinse in the left, keeping the water.
- drain on the left drainer

Empty original 'rinse' water.

- Give benches a very light 'spray' with spray and wipe or similar.
- wipe down with dish cloth
- rinse cloth out in 2nd rinse water

Rinse cloth out again, but in cold water.
Wring out hard and hang over tap to dry assuming it isn't visibly marked....

Now, the second cold water rinse of the dishcloth helps prevent bacteria from breeding - they generally need not only moist, but warm...rinse in cold and you stop it from happening.

 

[ozzie908]

Hand Dish Washing.????

Shudder at the thought.

Won't even contemplate living anywhere without one !

If there is not anywhere to put one there soon will be

Austin

 

[fido]

I often have guests who are volunteers so they tend to help with chores like washing dishes. I have yet to see anyone do this with what seems to me to be a logical approach. I do not own a draining rack as I consider them to be unhygienic. I prefer a single sink with a draining board at the side but here I have a double sink, one side for washing, one side for draining. In the wash sink I have a plastic washing up bowl, something unheard of in mainland Europe. I position this up against the right hand side of the sink so that I can wash off most food residue into the sink in the gap to the left of the bowl. This is done by dipping the dishcloth or green scourer into the hot soapy water in the bowl then holding the item to be washed over the gap and swabbing it. If stuff is dried on I will put it down somewhere on other items to be washed and get another item. I would rather have 2 or 3 attempts, leaving the item to soak for a minute or 2 than do a lot of aggressive scrubbing at anything. I tend to initially try to get everything partially washed and wet before I completely wash anything. A lot of bigger items are never left in the bowl but everything gets dipped in there for a rinse, albeit with soapy water. Most of the food residue that ends up in the bowl is from rinsing out the dishcloth or scourer, nothing very dirty gets put into the bowl. The order in which washing is completed is governed by my method of stacking. Cutlery first then saucepans, upside down, smallest first. Large plates next, leaning on the pans then smaller plates then cereal bowls. Cups and mugs can go round the front and back edges of the draining sink so are not part of the stack unless there are no pans. Finally there are items like saucepan lids, colander, grater etc which are also added to the stack somehow.
The stuff is not rinsed in clear water but in theory it is all dried with a cloth, which should remove any washing up liquid residue. This is based on how my mother washed up but I'm rather more fastidious.

 

[washer111]

Rinsing:

<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">"The stuff is not rinsed in clear water but in theory it is all dried with a cloth, which should remove any washing up liquid residue."</span>

 

<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Considering what basic dishwashing liquid alone does to grease, I don't really think its appropriate to not rinse stuff under any water at all. After a time, your cloth will be moist enough to put a slight film onto the plates, cutlery (etc.) that would dry onto it, leaving soapy residue. Yuck. </span></span>

 

<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"I do not own a draining rack as I consider them to be unhygienic."</span></span>

 

<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">How? If they are regularly cleaned (PROPERLY!), there is no trouble whatsover. Furthermore, since most drainers dry themselves rather quickly, my assumption would be that water-borne germs wouldn't stand much chance. What about your draining area on the sink - if you are just stacking wet stuff there, water can pool. I know it does on our sink, and many of the others I've used. When you sit your cups down, they make a ring of water, where all sorts of stuff can grow. Which is why I like my cups properly dried. They say that cups are the #1 place Gingivitis is transmitted between humans, from improper washing/rinsing. </span></span>

<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Just to say: I'm not trying to be mean, I'm merely asking you about your opinions. Please do not take offence to my criticism, as I am not very welcoming to the methods of others. For exmaple, brisnat81's method has sent shivers down my spine!!! (As has your method, actually, with the lack of rinsing...)</span></span>

 

<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But the main point is that YOU are satisfied and are not getting sick from this method! That is the #1 - but as stated above, people might do a half-assed job, and still not notice any trouble (LOL - no wonder young people are so sick and miserable around me). </span></span>

 

<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span>

 

[retromania]

OMG!

I have a dishwasher, but I mostly hand wash everything.  I scrape and rinse my dishes before placing them into the dishwasher no matter what the machine manufacturer boasts their product can do. I mostly use it when having a supper party or company for the weekend. We had some neighbors. Nice folks. I used to visit over there a lot.  They have since crossed the river. They half hand washed their dishes. Later in life they upgraded their kitchen. It looked nice. Whirlpool everything. They were now proud owners of an automatic dishwasher. A basic model that didn't have temp boost or anything. Nothing wrong with it, but they half scraped and rinsed the dishes.  Didn't increase the temp on the water heater.  They had a table top water heater by the way.  The one and only time I ever saw that type of water heater.  They used a teaspoon of detergent and selected air dry. The dishes came out with food paticles stuck to them. Ignorance I guess or just didn't care.  I declined supper invitations to their house.  At one point they stopped to speak to me while I was mowing the grass. In the course of the conversation they said: "You never can come over for supper. You must have you a girl!" I thought to myself: 'Yeah, that's it!'

 

[danemodsandy]

Forgot to Mention.....

....Because for me, it goes without saying:

Scraping and pre-rinsing are part of hand-washing, too! I know someone locally who does not do much of this, and watching her wash dishes only makes me determined never to eat in her house. She seizes dishes with gravy, food or whatever, and dunks them into the dishwater as-is. The dishwater, of course, looks like the Environmental Protection Agency should get involved.

Never have eaten in her house. Don't intend to. What gets me is that she has a dishwasher.

 

[fido]

retromania
Washing up liquid is not deadly poison but you would not want it to taint your food or drinks. I know the taste of soapy draught beer, having been served it in pubs when they have been cleaning out the pipes and I know that my washing up method is not leaving anything you could taste. I don't think much bacteria grows under the cups in the few minutes before they get dried. The draining sink is cleaned every time I wash up, is your rack cleaned every time?
You should also remember that physiologically we are the same as cavemen, we should not need to keep our food preparation equipment sterile like surgeons instruments.

 

[frigilux]

Dirty wash cloths, dish towels, and hand towels in the kitchen make me crazy. I use white bath linen-type wash cloths in the kitchen, as well as bar mops and flour sack dish towels. I always wear a white chef's apron and hang a dish towel on my right side for quick hand wipes. When doing a fair amount of cooking, one goes through quite a number of these items. They never, ever sit overnight to be used the next day. I'll spray the counters and sinks with a bleach solution or the industrial pink sanitizer, wipe down the area and toss the bar mop on the laundry pile.

I go into some kitchens and see the grossest, crusty, filthy wash rags and dish towels, the sinks and countertops no better. Might as well wash dishes in the toilet.

Interesting thread! I also use the dishwasher for everything, so I almost never hand wash a single item.

 

[kimball455]

Dishwashing was never an item on my like to do list. Thus, the dishwasher. Pretty much everything that is not really fragile goes in. Friends that have a restaurant run just about everything that isn't nailed down through the dish machine. The top rack in my Amana can be removed for those really tall items.

I still have three large boxes of Cascade with phosphorus on the shelf. Found them a few months ago at Big Lots and bought several.

Harry

 

[retromania]

Fido

You don't know me, but I rinse, rinse, rinse.  Also I use a couple of fresh kitchen towels to dry and put away the dishes.  I don't leave them in the dish rack.  I'm too OCD for that.  It's just a holding place until I can towel them off and put them away.  If someone comes over and has a sniffle or if I have a sniffle, they go in the dishwasher.  Both cups are filled with detergent and I hit the sani button.  As much as I hate to see dirty dishes piled in the sink, I hate to see clean dishes stacked high in a drain rack where they get splashed by whatever going on at the sink.  That goes for the laundry room too.  Wash the clothes.  Fold 'em and put 'em away.  It's just that simple unless you have some laundry you are saving for when you iron.  I guess everyone has their own system for things.  LOL.       

 

[kevin313]

I never minded doing dishes by hand. I grew up with a dishwasher and we always used it. At my cottage, where I have a septic system and small kitchen, I have no dishwasher or garbage disposal. So, unless we want to eat on paper plates all the time (which I hate), doing dishes is part of the ritual of cooking, serving, and eating.

Since I have no disposal, I scrape the plates, pots, pans, etc. into the garbage. Then I fill a plastic tub in the sink with hot sudsy water. I wash glassware first, then silverware, then plates, bowls, coffee cups, etc. I save the pots and pans for the last. When entertaining a big group - which is often at the cottage - I may change the water after the dishes are done and before moving on to the pots and pans.

It's amazing how many volunteers I get to help with the dishes. It becomes a post-dinner party in the kitchen as friends and guests help dry and put things away. I have spent many wonderful hours over the years doing the dishes with people I love after dinner. We often reward our efforts with after-dinner drinks!