Sure, lots of people wash dishes by hand. Your questions are not stupid

I run a sink of straight hot water, use Dawn or Palmolive soap, and wear gloves or I couldn't stand water temp. When we were kids we used to run a sink of rinse water to rinse them, but now I quickly rinse them under running water, trying to use as little as possible. I think it's healthier to let them dry in the rack as sometimes dishtowels can harbor germs.

I use a dishrag and change it often. I've used good old Rubbermaid plastic dish drainers. Just make sure you have a tray underneath to catch the drips and channel them into the sink. Otherwise you'll have a wet mess underneath the dishes.

It's not a good idea to let them pile up, so maybe you can start some good dishwashing habits right from the beginning. They smell, dried food his hard to get off and can attract ants and roaches, and besides it depressing to look at a messy kitchen and pile of dirty dishes. You can do them up pretty quick and let them drain.

Good luck in school. Maybe you should be a home economics major, or do they have those any more?

I have a dishwasher. Never tried it out.
I just use cold water, straight from the tap to wash/rinse and a sponge - Othello sponges come in I forget, four or six packs... some, maybe half, have scotchbrite pads on one side of em. Other sponge brands seem to feel not be quite right, and squeek. Maybe its all what youre used to - I dunno.

I buy Lemon Joy for when I'm in a hurry. Palmolive original, so I can have soft hands when I plan on washing a lot of stuff... like to soak paint brushes in it too. And I buy the original blue version of the what ever that brand name soap you mentioned is because its thick and seems best bang for the buck. Works good! Oh and I have coated lens's on sunglasses that shake dry and just hate anything but original lemon joy. (amonia ruins coatings)

I have a double sink and plastic drain rack in one side. Toss it away first sign of black mold growing on it,, well as soon as I remember to buy another, or a jug of bleach, which ruins its shine pretty quickly.

What works for me is Three plates, three bowls.. leave em in the drainer. If I run out of one clean from those, I wash all things in or near the sink.

According to other threads running on this forum, your sponge is the thing you have to worry about for germs. I just bought a 4-pack of Ocello sponges. My plan is to use a different sponge every day and then let it dry out for several days. Drying allows 90% of the germs to die. Then before I use a used one, it should be pretty dry, but also I'm going to microwave the dry sponge for 30 seconds before I use it to kill even more germs. I'm not that much of a nut about this normally but I used to be very close to a community of public health nurses. They taught me to be much more wary than I ever was.

I rarely use a sponge for the dishes. I use the sponge to wipe the counter tops. For the dishes I use a dish brush. They're about 9 inches long with bristles and a scraper at one end. That keeps your hands out of the hot water. If the dish brush can't get something off then I use a Choreboy plastic scrubber. But when I was single I never had more than three dishes dirty in any one week. I would wash my glass, dish or bowl, and silverware as I used them, so they never sat around with dried food on them. Fresh food cleans off the dishes so much faster and easier than dried food - especially dried protein (eggs or milk).

Sometimes if you bake something you need to get baked on goo off. Then I bring in the Choreboy steel scrubber. Be sure you get stainless steel wool or copper - not copper coated steel. I never felt like I needed SOS pads (my mother's favorite cleaner).

Definitely get a dish rack. I just used a towel underneath to catch the drips, but I didn't put much up there that was really dripping hard.

I used to soak the dishes but then I quit doing that to save soap, water, and energy. I now find the biggest bowl or pot in the sink, wash the big stuff out of it, put a couple squirts of Dawn in, and half fill it with very hot water. (We transfer the Dawn to a pump bottle.) If you wanted to sanitize, here's where the capful of Clorox goes in. Then I dip the brush into the hot soapy water and use that to wash the dishes. When each dish is clean I rinse in a stream of cold water, drain it a little in the sink, and put it in the strainer to air dry.

The last thing I do is wipe the kitchen with the sponge. I pour out the dirty water from the bowl, scrub it out with the brush, and rinse. Then I put half a squirt of soap, some warm water, and if I'm feeling particularly germy, a few drops of Clorox. That's what I wipe the kitchen with.

Soap and water is fine. Warm water is easier on your hands. You don't need to sanitize you dishes. The soap serves the purpose of allowing the water tension to stretch and the food and germs to wash away from the surface. Good rinsing is important so you don't end up drinking soapy drinks.

I didn't have a dishwasher until I was in my mid-30's and we somehow did just fine. You will really save yourself a bunch of time if you do whatever dishes you dirty that day. When they pile up, it's hard to cook, they end up having to soak...takes way longer. If you have just a few dishes you can put a drop of soap on a dishrag and wash. Rinse under running water for now. When you pay for water by the gallon (unlike an apartment) you'll stop that.

I prefer utility to looks. I can't image the dish drainer is really chrome. Maybe silver plastic? Chrome and water aren't a good fit. I prefer the rubber draining pad underneath and I've never had problems with mold with anything. Personally, Dawn is good, but the generic stuff works just fine. That's what we buy and I'm not concerned about costs.

Gloria

My friend Helena had a dishwasher,but she took it out. She wanted more cabinet storage space. She also says she "likes" doing dishes because it gives her quiet time alone to think. The Zen of dishwashing? My dishwasher was broken for about three months last December to February. I did dishes by hand in the sink, tho I did buy a plastic dish drainer and let the dishes air-dry . I used hot water and gloves. Dawn liquid,and SOS or Brillo for my pots. The dishes were clean enough,actually better than the dishwasher got them. I did notice an awful lot of glasses were used by my family. Try not to let too many dirty dishes pile up in the sink. It's easier to wash every couple of days than wait till it's a big job. And good luck with school. That's your main concern,now.

A little trick: cut pieces of the netting that you buy onions or oranges in, tie each piece in a knot and use it as a scrubbie. Works just as well as a plastic "bun" and doesn't trap as much junk.

Unless you're entertaining regularly, just keep as few dishes, pots and pans as you need so you won't be tempted to let the dirty dishes pile up. Reuse your coffee mug/drinking glass :)

Play some music that you like while doing the dishes to make the time pass.

I have always had a dishwasher. Dishwashers make a good place to store large items that don't fit in cabinets.

I think they are the silliest invention ever and a waste of prime kitchen cabinet real estate space.

I had a dishwasher in my prior home, but not in this one. The only times I wish I still had one, is when I'm cleaning up after dinner for 10! They really aren't much of a time-saver.

Details make a long read, you can skip to the next paragraphs. My mum was a biochemist, and had very strong feelings about the cleanliness of all items used for food preparation and eating. Keeping in mind that most foods will begin to spoil in less than 2 hours at room temperature, she made us kids very aware that *any* food left on plates, utensils, or pans had the potential for making us ill. We were taught that soap (or detergent) would act as a surfactent and help lift away food particles, but that it takes a sanitary procedure such as heat or bleach to kill the germs. We had a well for water and were very, very conservative in using water, especially during summer droughts. Nonetheless, this is how we cleaned: a clean pot of water would be put on the stove to heat, then one pan (I now use plastic dishpans) would have warm water with just enough soap to make a thin layer of bubbles (about a third of a teaspoon of Palmolive in a 1/2 gallon of water). Another dishpan held clean water. The forks, spoons and dull knives were put into the soapy water and glasses set on top. Then all dishes and pans were scraped with a really thin piece of wood (I now scrape with half of a plastic coffee can lid) with the food bits collected to be put into the compost. [Notice that lets the forks etc soak for a minute.] Then the items in soapy water were washed and then put into the rinse pan. Cups, plates, bowls were put into the soapy water. By this time the pan on the stove has very hot water. Carefully put the utensils and glasses into the hot water, turning off the heat under the pan. Wash the plates etc in the soapy water, swish them in the rinse pan, and then put in the dish drainer. Clean the pots with the soapy water. Rinse with the rinse water, and stack the pots on the drainer. Discard the soapy water which probably isn't very soapy by now. Add some vinegar to the rinse water and use a rag dampened with this solution to wipe down all the surfaces in the kitchen including the appliance and cabinet fronts, drawer handles, and counter tops (sounds awful but it actually takes less than 2 minutes!); now pour most of the leftover vinegar-water into a bucket and damp mop the floor (again, this takes less time to do than to say). The remaining vinegar water is used to rinse out dishpan that was holding the soapy water. Dry and put away the plates, bowls, and pots. The hot-water pot that has the utensils is carefully poured into the rinsing dishpan and then the glasses and utensils are put onto the drainer, and then dried and put away. A couple drops of soap is put into the dishpan now holding the warm water. Anyone who snacked afterward was expected to clean the dish/glass in the fresh soapy water (no one fussed if one item was rinsed with running water). Unless food was burned in a pot, the whole process took less than 15 minutes, and you walked out of a clean, neat kitchen. That was for 6 people (often more, since drop-ins were common at dinner-time).

Now that it is just DH and me, I use one dishpan for soapy water, and then rinse everything with running water. Near-boiling water is poured over the utensils, cups and glasses while they are in the drainer. This takes 5 to 7 minutes from start to finish - in fact, I usually finish rinsing the last bowl before the dishpan is 1/2-full.

Soapy water is used to lift off food particles; clean water is used to rinse off soap; steaming water is used to kill the germs on items that touched a mouth. Remember two things: 1) the longer food particles sit at room temperature the more likely they will be growing bacteria; and 2) you deserve to always have into a clean kitchen.

I use a sponge on the dishes, and terry cloths for the other cleaning. I nuke the damp sponge for a minute while I'm wiping down the appliances. DH uses a rag when he washes dishes, which I bleach every couple days -- have you ever put your nose to a 2-day-old dishrag? gag!!!

Oh, man, meldy. I'm glad I didn't have your mom. We would have never survived that regime! If you think about it, why doesn't everyone who just washes the dishes fall over from bacteria? My mom was raised in a cold-water flat. My other grandmother carried water into the house from a well. I'm sure neither one ever made their families sick. When people think so much about bacteria, I often wonder if they eat out? Worked as a waitress for too many years. That cloth used to wipe your table probably wiped about 20 tables before yours.

But back to dishwashers. I'd give up my washing machine before I'd give up my dishwasher. I'd give up my vacuum before I'd give up my dishwasher. I'd sell my first born before I'd give up my dishwasher and I'd definately give up my DH before I'd give up my dishwasher.

I love that machine.

Gloria

Here's another method. First, place dirty dishes in the sink in an orderly manner: glasses/cups in one corner, plates in another, silverware in front of you. With a constantly running stream of water, wash glasses first and get them into the drainer on the thingies on the sides so they won't break in the sink. Next come the plates. Then the silverware. Last are the pots which have been sitting on the stove. All of this done with a sponge with liquid detergent (but I use Bon Ami powder for pots). The two-sided sponges with a non-scratch surface on one side is great for everything. If you are concerned about germs on the sponge, keep a little plastic tub or shallow container in the sink. After all is washed - wash the sink, too -- fill the little tub with hot water and put in a teaspoon of bleach. Let the rinsed out, squeezed out sponge sit in there for a while. Dump the water out, sqeeze the sponge as dry as you can, and that's it. By the time you're done, most of the dishes should have dripped/air dried. Put them away! For one or two people, this should not take more than 10 minutes from start to finish. Like someone earlier said, get into good habits from the start.

Gloria - Thank you. You really have a way of setting things straight. I too find it hard to believe we survived growing up without everything being sterilized and our children survived as well. We spent 4 years in England in the 60s (exH was in the AF). The English had a saying, that everyone eats a peck of dirt by they time they die. I doubt that's true any more. Kids are so sanitized now, its no wonder they get sick more often. JMO

I have religously used Playtex rubber gloves for over 40 years so that I can have the water hotter, and they really save my hands, especially in winter, but that's my only consolation. I'm even thinking of not using my portable DW unless we have company so I can use the top for a couple of small appliances.

Carol

I have a dishwasher but run it only every three days. I do big or extra dirty dishes by hand.

One of the best buys I ever made was two packages of wash cloths and two more of hand towels at Sam's Club. I use a clean dishcloth and towel at least once a day -- if I spill something on the floor, the current towel cleans it up and goes right to the laundry room. Some days I might use several dishcloths and towels. They go in a laundry load with Clorox and hot water, and I always know they're clean, clean, clean. The thought of yesterday's sponge gags me!! I've had the same cloths and towels for probably 10 or so years, and just now a few of them are getting a bit ragged. A little extra laundry? Yes, but well worth it!

When I cook or bake, I make a sinkful of the hottest water I can, and every dish, spoon, pot, etc. goes either into the sink or the dishwasher. After dinner or baking, a quick swish and rinse does the job on the hand washables. Everything drains dry. Unless I'm serving lots of people, the kitchen looks mostly clean even before washing dishes, because everything is either in the DW or the sink.

Works for me!

Arlene

Vacuumfreak, I'm just going to put my two cents in, though you've gotten tons of good advice already. The thing I want to emphasize for you is get a dish pan! They cost about $1.99 and will save you lots of time... and money, too, when your water bill comes. A sink full of water is expensive!

The very first thing you should do when getting ready to do the dishes is to turn on your hot water tap and let it run until the water is really, really hot. (You can use the warming water to water plants or let it just go down the drain. You need really hot temperatures to do your dishes right!)

While you're waiting on the water to heat, stack all your dirty dishes tidily into the dishpan. Exclude anything big or especially dirty things like pans. It helps to put like things together, i.e. put all the silverware at the bottom, then plates and bowls, then glasses on top.

By this point, the water should now be as hot as it will get. Now you can move the faucet so that the water is falling directly into the dishpan. First, wash the things that aren't that dirty, like glasses. Wash and rinse them over the dishpan, so that all the water you are using falls into the dishpan, where it can soak the dirtier items like plates, bowls and silverware.

Then, after these items have soaked for a few minutes to get the goo off, you can wash them, too.

When you're done washing anything items in the dishpan, empty the dishpan into any pots so that you don't waste the nice hot, soapy water. Wash the pots after they have sufficently soaked.

Finally, wash your dishpan.

I know this sounds anal, but the system results in really clean dishes (the ones that need soaking time get it) and cheap water bills!

Hope this helps.

I am a caregiver who has to clean other people's houses. One of my elderly ladies hates washing dishes so I get to do it, and after the weekend there's a lot of dishes! All dirty dishes get stacked to the left of the double sink. I fill a plastic dishpan with hot soapy water in the left-hand sink and rinse them in the right-hand sink filled with clear, very hot water. Then they are put in a draining rack to the right with a plastic drainer underneath.

As a teenager I had to take a health dept test before doing restaurant work. I still remember the order in which dishes should be washed: glasses, cups/mugs, silverware, plates and bowls, pots and pans. What usually happens is I fill the drainer with clean glasses and cups and silverware, put the dishes and bowls into the soapy water, put away the glasses and mugs which have dried in the drainer, wash plates etc, soak pots and pans while putting away plates. The radio is a great friend during this process.

Maybe I missed it but I bought one of those plastic things with the scrubber on one end and you fill it up with liquid soap (I use anti bacterial Dawn) and make sure if I am putting anything in the sink that I am not washing tirhgt away; I run water on it to soak. I am living by myself during the week so I have very few dishes. The scrubber thing works well. It is also good for scrubbing the sink clean when you are done and your don't have to fill your sink with water to wash dishes.

Denise

You might also consider buying some disposable plates and utensils and/or cups, to reduce the amount of dishes piling up waiting to be washed.

Make sure those disposables are biodegradable!

Or just do what my husband does when he thinks I'm not watching: use your hands--no plate, no cutlery.

Here is a link that might be useful: dishes you can just throw away if you're rich and lazy

Some other things to consider: Dawn has that power spray stuff (not the pump, the power spray) for the cooked on stuff, it's great!!!

You can fill the rinse water side with hot water, put in a capful of bleach and sanitize your water if germs are a big deal for you, I prefer to NOT run the rinse water, it is a waste of water if your water conscious.

Dried on food is harder to get off than fresh food! Don't let them pile up.

If you can line your pans with tin foil or a cooking bag, toss and clean up is REALLY easy!

The Dawn pump stuff is great to have on hand, but I wouldn't rely on it for every day cleaning, just don't like it THAT much, plus it seems to leave a "flavor" on the dishes.

Vickey-MN

I love having a dishwasher and I think it saves a lot of time. I don't rinse or wash my dishes before I put them in and they come out clean.I load right into it, dishes don't sit in the sink or on the counter first. It takes me about 5 minutes to unload it. How is that not saving time?

My inlaws used to not have a dishwasher. I hated having to wash dishes when I visited. When they moved here they bought a house with a dishwasher and my MIL discovered she loved having one.

NO NO NO. God made dish washers to make housekeeping easier for us! I will put what ever I can in the think to keep from washing it by hand.

SG

I hate dishwashers. When I had one I used it for storage space. I use my china, silver and crystal all of the time. Most of my pots and pans are copper. That doesn't leave a lot that can go in a dishwasher.

I rinse/clean off the worst of the food first - especially if I can't wash the dishes immediately. I use a clean dishcloth and clean towel for each meal. They are white or colorfast, because I bleach the devil out of them.

Vacuumfreak, It's best to wash dishes in really hot water, but at least be sure to rinse them well under a stream of very hot water. I know it's hard to be a student and there doesn't see to be enough time to do everything, but one of the kindest things you can do for yourself is learn to clean up daily messes right away. It doesn't take long to wash a glass or a mug, or even a couple of plates and utensils. Let the stuff air dry. There are few things as unpleasant as walking into a space with piles of dirty dishes. And once food had dried on the dishes, it takes a lot of work to get them clean.

There is a scientific principle called Brownian Motion which describes the movement of molecules causing friction....it is more complicated of course, but basically, regarding dishwashing, if you fill a sink with the hottest water available and add dishsoap, then dishes, and let sit until the water has cooled, the dishes and silverware will have cleaned themselves; all that is necessary is a little swish, maybe, with a rag and you can rinse away the soap and drain. Dishes are sanitized and you didn't have to do much work at all. I use this method all the time.

Newer dishwashers are not the same animal as older ones.. I remember years ago having to wash dishes before washing them in the diswasher... This year after 13 years of handwashing I got a dishwasher.. The instructions said just scrap off the big stuff and wash.. I was skeptical.. But I did it.. And they came out clean, clean, clean.... I LOVE IT... It's a Whirlpool....

Dishwashers are nice, but I agree with jannie's friend. Dishwashing is very Zen.

Anywho, I'd buy:
-a scrubbie/sponge combo dealie (zap 20s.when funky in the micro)
-a handled brush (dolla store)
-good antibac dishsoap
-wooden foldable rack (mine's Ikea- hides well)
-dishpan (again, dollar store bargain)

Soak dirty dishes right away (warm water, squirt of soap) if you can't rinse. A dollar store dish pan works fine. When you're ready to wash, rinse dishes in very hot water and use brush on anything sticky or funky, sponge the final clean. I use a bowl with a squirt of soap and warm water to hold my sponge so it's ready to go (also saves on soap/water use). The soap should be enough to sanitize when rised well with very hot water. Stack on a folding rack with a towel underneath. Taa daa.

Well, I have been in the apartment for two weeks now. I must say that I don't mind washing the dishes at all, and I actually enjoy it! I feel like I am getting something done when I do it. I only have a single basin sink, so I did go out and buy a white Sterilite dishpan. And, the matching drainer. I also had to get a screw on arreator, so I can direct the flow, because I of course don't have a spray hose. I have a great scrub brush with a long clear plastic handle that almost looks glass. It has a round shaped head with purple bristles. I got it at Linnens N Things, and it's my favorite tool. I use it all the time... and it's great to look at. I also got some O'celo sponges with scrubbie side, and some of that stainless steel wool for the tough stuff. I just got a glass sponge called the "power puff", which is great for the insides of glasses. I find myself using it on everything now. I have Dawn dishsoap, Power Dissolver, and Direct Foam. I am definitely armed. I wanted to get a Dawn power dish brush, but none of the stores in Florida that I've been to have them. I wonder if they are still being made. I fill the dishpan up with water for rinsing and put it on the counter beside the basin. The rinse water temp varies, but the basin full of suds is always hot. I wash the dishes, dunk them in the dish pan, and place them in the drainer to dry. Next morning, I put them away. If there is just one or two things, I just use the direct foam and then rinse under a running stream. But, I bake a lot and am teaching myself to cook, so I usually have a lot to do with the pots and pans. Last week, I made two pumpkin pies, a loaf of bannanna nut bread, and a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I just turned the music up and washed everything lickity split. One night, I did wait until the next day to wash the dishes. Boy was I sorry as it took twice as long the next time. I've discovered that if the kitchen is clean the whole place feels good, and if the kitchen is out of order, the whole place feels terrible, no matter what its actual condition. Thanks for all your responses! They've been wonderful!

Lots of people advise using Dawn Power Dissolver, but I cannot find it. I live in central Texas. I looked online, but only found sites for distributors who wanted to buy huge quantities. Does anybody know where I can purchase the stuff, just for home use? Thanks, in advance!

"cure" for skanky sponges
Put one of Those little baskets with suction cups on the side of the sink so store sponge in. Every day after making a cup of tea, pour boiling water over the sponge. Works like a charm!

vacuumfreak, sounds like you have a great system working for you. I always find it helpful to run some hot water in the sink while I'm cooking. Not a full sink but some and any utensils I'm using can start to soak immediately. This helps me keep up with the dishes. I really have a problem with washing dishes immediately after a meal. I like to be able to enjoy the meal, relax, maybe have dessert later and not rush into doing the dishes. I like to have them soak and that way they're ready to quickly swish, rinse and dry in the rack.

BTW, for the one who gets a flavor from the Direct Foam, I'm sure you're just not rinsing them right. Or you're using too much soap. I've always found Dawn & Joy to be the best for rinsing off easily. Sunlite is pretty good. Generics are the worst, Palmolive is pretty bad. Water makes a difference. Find what works best for you.

A couple tips: It's a good idea to give brushes, sponges, etc an occasional bleach soaking to kill off the crud. I like having a small, cheap flexible plastic putty knife handy for cleaning things on the counter or on dishes.

BTW, I'm not sure the advantage of having a dishpan in the sink. I just put less water in the sink. If you have only one sink, of course it's a benefit, but I don't understand the need. I have the drainer out of the sink. Have thought about leaving it in there and rinsing, but I often have more dishes so it would pile up over so I have the drain tray divert the water to the sink and use one sink for washing and the other for rinsing. Sometimes plug the sink to hold the water for rinsing. But if there's a lot, then you have to change the water or you'll leave soap on the dishes and get the taste. Don't want that! :)

I did end up finding a power brush. About 5 months ago, I BOUGHT A DISHWASHER. After almost a year of hand washing, I just couldn't stand it anymore. Scrubbing, ruining my hands, wet counter, clothes and floors.... I bought a portable dishwasher that. It is just like a regular one, but I roll it to the sink and connect it when I'm ready to use it. It was the BEST thing I've EVER done for myself.

Here is a link that might be useful: My epinions review of my dishwasher

My mom and sister use their dishwashers only for dishes, glasses and stainless steel utensils. They routinely soak,scrub with Brillo pads, and hand wash all their pots and pans. Pity. I have a Kenmore with a pots and pans setting. The only thing I hand wash is my cast iron skillet.

I found these nifty little things at Dollar General. They are sponges, but very thin like a rag, I can't remember what they are called. They come in pkgs. of 3 or 4 for like $1. What I like about them is that they do a great job when using them to wash dishes or wipe up spills and they're machine washable, so I just bought a bunch of them & use one once then wash it w/ bleach. Very handy & not expensive or full of germs. (I'm not personally a germ-a-phobe, but do understand that sponges are the worst for harboring germs.)

I love love love the flylady philosophy. I keep my sink shiny all the time, so I also keep the dishes done. This from the woman who found a watermelon plant growing in my drain because I did the dishes so infrequently. I drain things on a quarter-folded dishtowel and use really hot water -- they dry really fast that way.

Here is a link that might be useful: flylady

Ill have a cup of coffee or make a sandwich and use a small plate. and rather tham fill my dishwasher,I'll wash them by hand and replace in the cupboard. Guess it's sort-of a Flylady thing.

I'm currently hand washing while waiting on my new Miele dishwasher to arrive (the Bosch died!). If anyone would like to sign up for dishwashing at my house I'll be more than happy to pay a fair wage. I HATE hand washing dishes. Meanwhile, I'm stocking up on paper plates, cups, bowls and plastic silverware.

Justin