Your Hand-Washing Methods

[perc-o-prince]

dried with a cloth, which should remove any washing up liqui

I wouldn't want to take the chance ("should" isn't "does"). Ingesting detergent can cause diarrhea. Not to mention, who wants to take the chance of tasting the detergent?

I hand-wash as follows: Rich does it for anything too fragile for the d/w! I once hiccupped while cleaning a piece of Baccarat stemware and broke the bowl from the stem right in my hands! Anything else, like a pot or pan, I scrub lightly as needed with warm/hot water and dish washing soap. If something has some stubborn residue, I pop some d/w detergent and hot water in it. The d/w detergent loosens it right up after a short soak. Once thoroughly rinsed (see above), it sometimes it goes on the stainless steel drain rack (that hits the d/w about weekly) or I dry with a dish towel (probably named for that very purpose). If the towel is wet, I microwave it before hanging it back up.

Chuck

 

[dustin92]

Hand what? Oh yeah... I pick up the dishes with my hands, and put them in the dishwasher. I never rinse, but I do knock of large chunks. In they go, about 45 minutes later I open the door and pull the racks out, then put them away when they are dry.

 

[jakeseacrest]

No hand washing here either and no dish rack. Double bowl sink with the disposal on the left so I put dirty dishes waiting for the dishwasher on the right.

 

[westie2]

We were married 6 years before we had out first DW.  3 kids and us we hand washed for bottles and all.  A month after I bought TOL MW convertable my wife said never will I hand wash things again.  If thing s hand washed it is me.  She used to wash and I would dry.

 

[danemodsandy]

And As My Grandmother Said:

"You haven't done the dishes until you've scrubbed the sink."

I wash my sink out after each and every meal's dishes, and I don't (and won't) have a disposal. Turning a sink into a garbage pail is not my idea of clean.

TV consumer reporters are forever touting kitchen sinks as the filthiest place in the house - some go so far as to say the germ count on an average sink is worse than that on a toilet. The way many people treat their sinks, I shouldn't wonder - they're forever throwing garbage into it, and neglecting to wash it. I could see a little germ growth occurring under those conditions.

 

[retromania]

I agree with Sandy's grandmother....

Sinks need love and affection too.  I like Sandy do not have a garbage disposal and don't want one.  Although if I could find a vintage GE batch disposal in good condition like the one we had when I was growing up I would get it just for nostalgia.  

 

[dirtybuck]

Believe Me...

If I had the option of owning or having a dishwasher, I'd do so in a heartbeat. However, in the apartment I live in at this time I don't have that luxury. There's a clause in the lease where we can NOT have either a portable dishwasher, washer or dryer. Having said item is a violation of the lease and can result in eviction.

In the 37 years I've lived in apartments, there's been only five which had dishwashers (the last one I used in an apartment was 20 years ago).

So, for now I'll keep washing my dishes by hand (like I have a choice). However, I've switched to Ajax Lemon and Orange (antibacterial to soak my dishrags in) and Ultra Dawn Clear. I've noticed these have the grease cutting power I need, but the scent and residue don't seem to cling to the dishes like other Dawn and Palmolive products do.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Washing Dishes by Hand: DaveAMKrayoGuy's Method:

Is it possible to "wash like a dishwasher"?

I utilize my sprayer (which is actually combined w/ the actual faucet via a toggle switch on the head & comes off w/ a metal hose)... But use a dishcloth for whatever tuff stuff doesn't right away come off...

And use it on stuff I have to wash by hand that can't go in the dishwasher like my ice cream scoop w/ the anti-freeze in the handle, or stuff I'll use again like my blender jar & parts and mynon-stick frying pan I frequently use for frying toast; stuff I don't eat off of...

Never occurred to me that I should wash the sink right after washing the dishes in it & after reading about one person letting the food particles float in her dishpan, I got grossed out just reading it!

Otherwise, everything we eat off and anything w/ food stuck on I do put in the dishwasher; and yeh, the appliance I could never live without!

-- Dave

 

[retromania]

I like a kitchen sponge for my dishes. I use the kind that is sponge on one side and a non-scratch material on the other side. Since there's nothing nastier than a soured sponge, several times a week I saturate it with bleach followed by a rinsing of white vinegar and water. So fresh and clean!

 

[washer111]

We don't always wash our drying rack, but then again, nothing dirty is ever in contact with it. It dries out very quickly, so fast that no water-borne bacteria would cause trouble. That said though, I may start washing it in the dishwasher every so often. 

 

When I do dishes, I will often use the detergent, run it round the rim and on the side "plates" where your racking goes and scrub with a brush, then rinse with Boiling Water or Hot Water from the tap. Its kinda rewarding doing that too, for some reason!

 

[bajaespuma]

I've often made sport of me dear departed Mum for hand-washing every dish before putting them in any of her 9 dishwashers, but as age waddles on, I have to report that I am following in her footsteps only in that I am a procrastinator when it comes to dealing with the dirty dishes. There is something extraordinarily comforting about hand washing some dishes in the morning even after I've put most things in the machine. Something about the warmth of the water and the slow deliberate pace of hand washing dishes is an extremely easy way to wind up into the day. And I'm always suffering from a case of periniceum. I understand her better now.

 

[danemodsandy]

My Other Pet Peeve:

"Soakers."

These are folks who put dishes into the sink, run in some water and detergent, and then let the dishes soak. For hours. Sometimes days.

What these people are doing is giving themselves the illusion they're accomplishing something when they don't want to do the dishes. It has to be said that they definitely are accomplishing something - they're making bacteria soup.

Next morning, when they stagger into their kitchens, they are greeted by a scum of grease floating atop the water, which is too nasty to deal with first thing in the ayem, so they figure they'll get around to it that night. Sometimes, they don't get to it that night, because it's even more revolting than it was that morning, so on it goes, for days. Yecch.

I cannot abide this. Sometimes dishes need a wee bit of a soak, but only just enough to let scalding water cool to a temperature you can put your hands into. I lived with someone who did this - for about a week. I put my Size 10-1/2 D's down.

I go to bed with my kitchen clean, so that in the morning, I get to start my day in a nice environment. I also leave it clean when going to work, because after the turmoils of the workday, the last thing I want to see is self-imposed squalor.

I simply do not understand people who don't see why this is better.

 

[danemodsandy]

Andy:

"I use the kind that is sponge on one side and a non-scratch material on the other side."

I'm assuming you mean the blue Scotchbrite non-scratch scrubber sponges. Like you, I'm a big fan - they function as a regular sponge until you need a bit of muscle, then flipping them over gives you some real scrubbing power, without scratching.

You might like to know that Family Dollar has their own version. They're a little thinner than the real Scotchbrite version, but a package of four is all of a buck.

Like you, I sanitize them regularly, and then demote them to other, dirtier jobs outside the kitchen until they're really worn out. Cheep! Cheep!

 

[dustin92]

"Soakers"

My Grandma! Only her way seems completely acceptable to me, and her dishes are always spotless- She fills the sink with hot tap water, adds detergent and some bleach, then lets them soak for maybe half an hour. She then washes them, then rinses, then puts everything in a big pot of near boiling water, then turns off the pot, lets it cool down, then they are dried and put away. Any cookware is heated on the stove to dry, and skips the boiling water

 

[polkanut]

As far as I'm concerned, if it can't go in the dw, I don't need it or want it.

 

[danemodsandy]

Tim:

"As far as I'm concerned, if it can't go in the dw, I don't need it or want it."

But doesn't the machine mess up your wife's hair?

* ducks and runs *

 

[washer111]

"As far as I'm concerned, if it can't go in the dw, I don't need it or want it."

Well then, I'll have to agree with you there polkanut, but I don't have enough authority here to buy that sort of stuff! 

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Manual Warewashing

The correct procedure is as follows.

1. Pre-scrap/Pre-flush, scrap and rinse the dishes using an overhead spray or rubber spatula.

2. Wash, Immerse in Hot(50C) water and detergent and scrub with brush.

3. Rinse, immerse in clear hot (50C) water to remove detergent.

4. Sanitize, Immerse in water over 70C for 30 seconds or 40C with chemical sanitizer for 2 minutes. Remove from 3rd sink to drying racks and allow to air dry.
This process will satisfy any health department. However it is better to use a dishmachine.
WK78

 

[whirlcool]

As far as I'm concerned, if it can't go in the dw, I don't need it or want it.

We are the same way. We just pick off the stuff the DW disposal can't handle and in they go unrinsed. The few aluminum pans that we have are now in storage since DW detergents have no STPP in it anymore. So all of our cookware is either 18/10 stainless or glass. Last year we got a great deal on a Dacor cookware set in addition to our older Cuisinart set.

Even our Cory vacuum pot goes in the dishwasher(minus the gasket). The Maytag DW is set to "Hi Temp Wash" and "Sanitize". Out dishwasher is now 4 years old and it is run 6 days a week with no problems yet.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Well, the second photo here will show how lazy I have been: if it can't go in the dishwasher, I a man just not gonna do it until I need it...

My non-stick frying pan, as I'd mentioned has become all-purpose, so that (among the numerous scratches it has gotten from careless uses with knive) it can be washed in the washer safely--and I have even found a way to mount my blender blade (both, once) in the top rack away from the wash arm...

-- Dave