While most people find washing up after cooking and entertaining to be a tedious task, there are ways to make it easier. Below, we’ve rounded up six tips for washing dishes that can save you time and energy in the kitchen. Let’s get started!
- The first thing to remember when it comes to cleaning dishes is that warm water gets them cleaner. The hotter the water, the more grease is loosened up and the cleaner your dishes will be. So if you’re crunched for time, run hot water into your sink, add some dish soap and let the dishes soak for 10 minutes before washing them off in hot water.
- Scrape first: If you’ve got caked-on food or dried-up gunk on your dishes, grab a spoon and scrape it off first. This task should only take a few seconds per plate and will save you time and effort later on in the process (and possibly give you clearer water as well).
- Don’t overfill the sink. Keep only the dishes you’re working on in the sink. Otherwise, they can fill with water and become heavy enough that they fall into the drain or crash into other dishes in the sink and break them. Keeping dirty dishes contained also helps prevent water from splashing out of the sink onto your countertops and floors.
- Use the right dish soap for your hands The dish soap you use can make a big difference in how easy it is to wash dishes. Some soaps contain harsher chemicals that can dry out your hands — reducing your grip — and can cause redness and irritation. Water-based soaps tend to do a better job of cleaning dishes while being gentler on the skin.
- Soap up your sponge or dish cloth If you’re using a sponge or dish cloth to clean dishes instead of dish soap, be sure to apply some soap before scrubbing. Dish sponges don’t have much scrubbing power on their own, so applying a little soapy water before you get started will help get things off more easily.
