How to maintain hygiene when hand washing cooking supplies in a sink? Best practices?

[Anonymous]

I do not have access to a dishwasher at this time. Should I buy a drying rack? Should I be using rags to dry the supplies and then putting those rags in with the rest of my dirty laundry? I feel like I’m not getting enough food off of forks and bowls in particular and I feel gross daily.

[Anonymous]

How are you not getting the dishes clean? I wash them in hot, soapy water. Rinse with hot water. They should be clean. Dry them on a drying mat/rack or dry them with dish towels and then you wash the dish towels like any other towel. I don't know why you would use "rags" to dry your dishes unless you don't have dishtowels?

[Anonymous]

This is a washing issue, not a drying issue. I don’t think it matters, but I think drying with a towel is slightly less clean than air drying, because whatever is on the towel transfers to your dishes. But I also don’t think it’s a big deal and truly do not understand why you feel gross. Hand washing is just as of more effective than the dishwasher!

[Anonymous]

Are you using a scrub brush or sponge? Hot water? I don't understand how they're not getting clean.

[Anonymous]

Therapy STAT.

[Anonymous]

Are you using a dish pan and a drying rack? I think that would be best.

[Anonymous]

Sponge. Dish washing liquid, not the dishwasher sort. Drying rack with catchment area that slopes towards the sink. Dedicated kitchen towel (I buy a cute dishtowel every time we travel somewhere nice, as a souvenir when I toil in the kitchen).

Hot water. Lather up the sponge. Scrub dirty dishes, glasses and cutlery. Rinse. Either leave to air dry on rack, or dry immediately with kitchen towel.

I guarantee you that your dishes will be cleaner than when you put them in the dishwasher. It's more environmentally friendly too, as dishwasher detergent is very abrasive. Hand washing liquid is essentially soap.


In my house, kitchen towels are washed regularly with the other human bath towels (dog towels washed separately, because they're way messier!).

[Anonymous]

I am going to take OP at face value.

First, I put on gloves. Trust me on this. Hand washing destroys your hands.

I stack all my dirty dishes in one side of my sink and then rinse each thing in hot water, stacking the rinsed dishes on the other side of the sink as I go. I use a dish brush as needed. Then I rinse the bottom of the sink and run the garbage disposal to get rid of any gunk in the sink.

Second, I wet a small rag or dish cloth (not a sponge - ugh) and add a few squirts of soap, rub it together to form lots of suds, and then use that cloth to wash all the rinsed dishes, creating a new, soapy stack on the opposite side of the sink. As I do this, I make a pile of all the silverware, with the ends all pointing the same way. The water is off for this step.

Finally, I use hot water to rinse all the dishes, pouring the rinse water over the pile of dishes so I am wasting as little water as possible. As the dishes are rinsed, I put them in a drying rack next to the sink with a folded dishtowel underneath. I let the dishes air dry either in the rack or on the stove for big items.

I scrub down the bottom of the sink with some soap and a dish brush, and then put both the dish cloth and the towel from under the drying rack in the laundry. I do not reuse towels and I do not let towels sit around a dry to be used again - they just go into the wash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am going to take OP at face value.

First, I put on gloves. Trust me on this. Hand washing destroys your hands.

I stack all my dirty dishes in one side of my sink and then rinse each thing in hot water, stacking the rinsed dishes on the other side of the sink as I go. I use a dish brush as needed. Then I rinse the bottom of the sink and run the garbage disposal to get rid of any gunk in the sink.

Second, I wet a small rag or dish cloth (not a sponge - ugh) and add a few squirts of soap, rub it together to form lots of suds, and then use that cloth to wash all the rinsed dishes, creating a new, soapy stack on the opposite side of the sink. As I do this, I make a pile of all the silverware, with the ends all pointing the same way. The water is off for this step.

Finally, I use hot water to rinse all the dishes, pouring the rinse water over the pile of dishes so I am wasting as little water as possible. As the dishes are rinsed, I put them in a drying rack next to the sink with a folded dishtowel underneath. I let the dishes air dry either in the rack or on the stove for big items.

I scrub down the bottom of the sink with some soap and a dish brush, and then put both the dish cloth and the towel from under the drying rack in the laundry. I do not reuse towels and I do not let towels sit around a dry to be used again - they just go into the wash.

What's wrong with sponges? You can disinfect them in the microwave!

[Anonymous]

Look up food service 3-sink method. If you have a two-basin sink you’ll need a dishpan for one of the steps. Wash, rinse, sanitize. Then air dry.

[Anonymous]

Officially, if you want sanitized dishes you need to have a wash, rinse, and chemical sanitizer (multiple options), then drip dry. You can look it up.

In your home you really don’t need to worry to that level unless someone is immune compromised. The one thing I would do is use a designated cutting board for raw meat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Officially, if you want sanitized dishes you need to have a wash, rinse, and chemical sanitizer (multiple options), then drip dry. You can look it up.

In your home you really don’t need to worry to that level unless someone is immune compromised. The one thing I would do is use a designated cutting board for raw meat.

Yeah, after working in restaurants, I put a touch of bleach in the wash basin with the soap. Probably overkill, but I figure it can't hurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am going to take OP at face value.

First, I put on gloves. Trust me on this. Hand washing destroys your hands.

I stack all my dirty dishes in one side of my sink and then rinse each thing in hot water, stacking the rinsed dishes on the other side of the sink as I go. I use a dish brush as needed. Then I rinse the bottom of the sink and run the garbage disposal to get rid of any gunk in the sink.

Second, I wet a small rag or dish cloth (not a sponge - ugh) and add a few squirts of soap, rub it together to form lots of suds, and then use that cloth to wash all the rinsed dishes, creating a new, soapy stack on the opposite side of the sink. As I do this, I make a pile of all the silverware, with the ends all pointing the same way. The water is off for this step.

Finally, I use hot water to rinse all the dishes, pouring the rinse water over the pile of dishes so I am wasting as little water as possible. As the dishes are rinsed, I put them in a drying rack next to the sink with a folded dishtowel underneath. I let the dishes air dry either in the rack or on the stove for big items.

I scrub down the bottom of the sink with some soap and a dish brush, and then put both the dish cloth and the towel from under the drying rack in the laundry. I do not reuse towels and I do not let towels sit around a dry to be used again - they just go into the wash.

I do all of this plus spray bleach in the sink/on dishes if I use raw chicken. 20+ years of hand washing and no food borne illness.

What's wrong with sponges? You can disinfect them in the microwave!

[Anonymous]

Do you use gloves?

[Anonymous]

I also don't have a dishwasher. I soak silverware in a dirty dish with water (no need for soap), and then wash with a Scrub Daddy and Dawn and hot water. I lay clean things out on a towel to dry. Once finished washing I wash my hands with soap if anything I was cleaning involved raw meat.