Washing Your Dishes (like a pro!)

Washing dishes may seem like a pretty easy chore. But many skip a few steps, thinking they can just get it done quickly. Washing dishes is a task that no one really enjoys.

Here are a few tips to consider to make it a little bit easier and also more effective.

• Scrape it: When getting ready to wash dishes, you do the obvious. You scrape off the excess. Get rid of all the extra “gunk.” The more you put into the garbage can before going to the sink, the better! This is especially true if you are using a dishwasher.
• Soak it: Don’t think that cold or even warm water will do the trick. You need hot water. Depending on the dishes, perhaps hotter than your hands can handle. So fill that sink with super-hot water but be sure not to burn yourself. You can protect yourself with high-quality gloves.
• Soap it: Be sure to add the appropriate amount of dish detergent. Usually known as a “squirt”. This helps the hot water to penetrate and remove soils. Without getting too technical, what you are doing is reducing the surface energy of the dishwater, allowing it to get to work better. You are allowing the water to flow, doing its job.
• Splash it: When you pull that now-clean dish out of the dishwater, rinse it off and set it aside to dry. When rinsing, if you use soft water, all the better. But if not, consider a special rinse additive to use when you are finishing up the dishes. This helps remove more residue, more hard water minerals, and generally ensures a better looking (clean) dish.

Now it’s time to give the dishes some time to recover from the bath you just gave them, and then inspect them to ensure they are really clean. If they are, put them in the cabinet. If not… wash them again!