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How do you dry your dishes?

Best way to wash dishes by hand?

  • What's the best method for washing dishes by hand? Tips, tricks and product suggestions for the dishwashing process using a double sink (and no dishwasher in sight). I have a suspicion that there is a more efficient way of washing dishes than I currently do it. I've seen http://ask.metafilter.com/205583/What-is-the-best-washrinse-method but I have a double-sink and the question was specific to single, so the answers don't really seem to apply to my situation. My current method: Generally the dishes will be soaking in one side of the sink in hot soapy water, then I'll scrub each dish with a soap-dispensing brush and put them in the other, empty side of the sink, doing them in order of how they'll stack in the dish rack. I'll rinse after my pile of scrubbed dishes gets unwieldy and stack in http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004LSEE3G/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ (I have a drying mat if there's overflow), then move on to the rest of the dishes in same way based on what stacks where in the dish rack. I don't rinse each and every item and leave the water running because it seems wasteful, hence why I do them in batches (I do rinse the brush frequently). I have a bottle brush and a sponge with an abrasive side, and I use baking soda on my pots and pans to remove gunk. I dry big items like my pots/pans and all knives right away with a microfiber towel instead of taking up space on the dish rack. I also scrub the sink out with baking soda and soap at least once a day so it stays relatively clean. Other background info, we cook a lot so we end up with a lot of dirty dishes despite our best efforts; we've limited the amount of dishes we own to prevent our lazy selves from the temptation to not wash anything until the cupboards are empty and we do re-use glasses for awhile before declaring them ready to be washed. We're great at soaking dishes so nothing gets dried on. A dishwasher isn't an option for us. I'm not looking for pre-dishwashing tips, but tips from folks who wash lots of dishes by hands on what the fastest methods are and tools you like. Maybe there isn't a better method than what I've got, but since I dread this task I hope there is!

  • Answer:

    I have been living without a dishwasher for the last six years or so. Although I have a double sink, yours is basically the method I use. Batch processing, basically. You don't specify, but one thing I do is, as I'm rinsing one dish, I make sure the rinse water is splashing on the next thing to be rinsed. I rinse in batches, leaving the water on, just rinsing one dish after the next. You get pretty good at rinsing with one hand while stacking with the other, if everything is in arm's reach. If it makes you feel any better, I truly don't believe that a dishwasher saves that much time. Given the amount of time you have to spend loading and unloading it, the fact that everything has to be rinsed pretty well to begin with, and so forth. I also find that my perception of time is way off, when it comes to dishes. I will look at the sink and think, "That's going to take me forever! Half an hour at least! Okay - I'll only wash dishes for 10 minutes then I'll go do something else." I set the kitchen timer, and inevitably I finish washing all the dishes long before the timer rings. Time yourself next time - you might be surprised how quickly it is really going!

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I've always washed and rinsed under running water. You know, not wanting to get pot grease on my glasses. My mom was a stickler for drying and putting away so one person uses a sponge and washes the dish under running hot water. Then hands it to the person with a schmatte who dries and puts away. Then you sweep the floor.

Ruthless Bunny

The only thing I did when I didn't have a dishwasher to make it easier was to get in the habit of washing the dishes every. Single. Day. Making it a habit after dinner meant it was a 15 minute chore instead of an hour and a half. Also I always rinse off pots and pans as soon as they're cool enough to touch so they don't need to be soaked.

girih knot

The best hand-wash method -- from a food safety standpoint -- is something like this: 1. "Rough clean" everything: using a trickle of water and a sponge/scrubber, get the visible food residue off of everything. If you need to scrub pots, do it at this stage. Stack all the rough-cleaned items up to one side of the sink. Now, you've gotten the dishes/pots 95% clean, and all you're worrying about in subsequent steps is getting rid of the residual grease and sanitizing the dishes. 2. Clean both sinks so that they are sanitary (e.g. using a sponge and cleanser). 3. Fill both sinks with hot water. In one sink, add dishwashing detergent; this is your "wash" sink. The other sink is your clear-water "rinse" sink. 4. Wash each rough-cleaned item in the "wash" sink, then drop into the "rinse" sink. 5. If the "rinse" sink fills up, stack rinsed item to the side. 6. Once all items are washed and rinsed, drain "wash" sink, rinse it to remove suds, and refill with hot water. When full, add one teaspoon of chlorine bleach to each gallon of water in the sink; this is your "sanitize" sink. 7. Dip each rinsed item into the "sanitize" sink, then put onto rack/mat to air dry. This procedure minimizes your use of "running" water while keeping the "wash" water fairly clean, and -- via the second "sanitize" rinse and air-drying -- also minimizes the risk of spreading disease among diners. It's my go-to method for hand-wash jobs.

Dimpy

Does the dish rack fit in the 2nd sink? If so, put the clean dishes in the dishrack and rinse there, which is easier if you have a hose attachment.

Ideefixe

I like a dedicated pan or bowl (the largest in the current to-be-washed collection) filled with warm soapy water, and washing with the scrubby side of a yellow sponge, then rinsing them in the same sink, away from the bowl of soapy water*, and then resting them in sink #2 to dry, piled onto a washcloth to cushion them somewhat. I do this because I find the sink filled with increasingly dirty/greasy water to be kind of gross, and if you actually do the rinsing in sink #2 it carries water over into the drying rack, and drying rack water is a sure path to grossness. So I wash and rinse in one sink, then dry in the other. *Soapy water bowl rests in right side sink, right hand corner closest to me. Rinsing area is diagonally positioned under the faucet -- upper left side corner.

A Terrible Llama

DoubleLune

plokent

Here is how I do it. I put dirty dishes in the left side with the disposal which also is the side that has the drying rack. I fill bowls and pots with water if they have stuff that might crust on, but I don't really soak dishes. Basically I pre-rinse dishes immediately after use and wash the dishes soon after meals so they don't have time to get too crusty. The right side gets soapy water and I use a soapy sponge. You should wash cleanest dishes to dirtiest, so usually that is glasses -> bowls/plates -> silverware/utensils -> pots/pans. I rinse and wash with running water while the right side of the sink is filling with soapy water and place the washed and rinsed dishes directly into the drying rack. When the right side is full enough, I switch over to rinsing on the left side. It isn't difficult to wash a dish, turn water on to rinse, turn water off, set clean dish in drying rack. This will at least save you the step of piling dishes into one side of the sink, piling them into the second side to rinse and then finally piling them all into the drainer to dry.

ephemerista

This may sound like crazy-talk, but... If you have a dishes-order-of-operations like ephemerista suggests, then filling the sink where you stack the dishes with clean water gives you rinse-water that's not running (so quicker). So you can wash, dunk to rinse, then stick the item on your drying rack in one move. You can add a bit of bleach to the rinse sink too, if you like things super-sanitary. Um, on preview, this is basically a shortened version of Dimpy's system.

Cracky

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