DISHES

[Anonymous]

I use our dishwasher every day but am confused by the responses from people who only use the dishwasher. Daily I have numerous items that can't go in the dishwasher - plastic cups, wooden items, cast-iron pots etc. All of these things have to be washed by hand.

[Anonymous]

We rinse dishes as soon as we're done with them. It's so much easier to rinse debris off when it's fresh than if it's been drying in the sink a few hours.

I wash cooking dishes (pots, pans, utensils) as I cook or right before we eat. Dining plates/cups/utensils get a quick rinse and either go in a clean pile in the sink or directly into the dishwasher. It used to be DH's job to do the dishes (I do all the cooking) but I got fed up with the dishes sitting in the sink, so now I do most of the dishes myself. He entertains the 2 yo while I cook/clean

I am sure the dishwasher can do a great job of cleaning gunky plates, but i really don't to experiment to find out. It's so easy to rinse off before you put it in the dishwasher!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I use our dishwasher every day but am confused by the responses from people who only use the dishwasher. Daily I have numerous items that can't go in the dishwasher - plastic cups, wooden items, cast-iron pots etc. All of these things have to be washed by hand.

One of the PP's above and we usually wash those items while or after we're done cooking. Sometimes after we're done eating, but I can't stand dirty things sitting around and we have an open kitchen, so it would bother me otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How to clean your sponge:

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/a18731/how-to-clean-a-sponge/

How to clean your spine: throw it in the trash!!

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/science/sponges-bacteria-microwaving-cleaning.html

Right!! I just posted this in the S/o sponge thread.

I replace my sponges pretty frequently, but I have found that, if you do as pp suggested and have 2 sponges that you rotate daily (one being used, and one in the dishwasher), they never get stinky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please tell me your routine for dishes. Merlo with a system!

I do not like our current system and find it gross.

My mom always had the sink full of hot soapy water in the morning ant then once the morning was thru she did the dishes after they soaked in the sink for a bit. Same with the evenings. After dinnner, fill the sink with hot soapy water. She also used a washcloth and changed it out every day.

Since DH and I both work FT and he actually likes doing the dishes, he usually does them twice a day but there is no system so most of the day there is stuff in the sink. Cups with milk, sooons with yogurt, etc. gross. Omg. The entire day (esp on weekend) the sink is full and it drives me nuts.

He also uses a sponge that I smelled today and it smelled like mold. Omg. We have a 1 and 4 year old and it made me sick to think their dishes are being washed with that. I threw it away and said starting today - new system. Please help!

Why do you need a system to wash dishes.... There is no one right or wrong way to do them... They get clean in the end. You need to chill.

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/science/sponges-bacteria-microwaving-cleaning.html

Probably a bad idea to be cleaning those sponges. I'd go for the dishrag that you can launder.

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/science/sponges-bacteria-microwaving-cleaning.html

Probably worth it to stop using sponges and switch to dish rags that you can launder.

[Anonymous]

Oops. Sorry. Double post.

[Anonymous]

I clean dishes while we cook; it drives DW crazy.

Although it's wasteful, I let the water run. I hand wash and rinse pots, sharp kitchen knives, and delicate porcelain. Those dry on the counter-top drying rack.

Normal cups, mugs, dishware, and utensils are quickly rinsed of major food bits and placed into the dishwasher.

[Anonymous]

My apartment doesn't come w/a dishwasher & I never had one growing up.

(Yes, I AM Asian if that matters....)

Anyway I never cook so there are not a ton of dishes utilized.

My daughter comes home from college from time to time and she LOVES to cook fresh.
She leaves her dirty dishes in the sink for days and it looks so gross.
However since I rarely see her much, I try to ignore the mess.

She eventually will wash them, but until she does I am so grossed out that I dread going into our small kitchen.

I choose my battles I suppose.

I have noticed on occasion that dishwashers do not clean as well as hand washed dishes.
The dishes lack shine a lot plus sometimes the flatware will have leftover dried food on them.

I have seen this in restaurants a lot.
Talk about an appetite-killer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you have a dishwasher? Everyone does.

We don't use ours. We didn't have a dishwasher in our house when I was younger...so I'm just used to doing everything by hand.

Why? I run mine every other day and it's just so easy.

I dislike them too. By the time I rinse and load, run it for hours, then I have to unload and put away. Seems like a huge waste. I can wash the dishes by hand in under 10 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I use our dishwasher every day but am confused by the responses from people who only use the dishwasher. Daily I have numerous items that can't go in the dishwasher - plastic cups, wooden items, cast-iron pots etc. All of these things have to be washed by hand.

+1. We run the dishwasher every 2-3 days, but I wash pans, sharp knives, cutting boards and plasticware by hand. And for that I use warm running water (I know, I know!)

[Anonymous]

Dishwasher. For pots/knives/cutting boards I leave them on the stove to dry for an hour or so and put them away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you have a dishwasher? Everyone does.

We don't use ours. We didn't have a dishwasher in our house when I was younger...so I'm just used to doing everything by hand.

That's crazy. I will share my "routine for dishes" with you, it involves putting them in the dishwasher, running the dishwasher, then putting the clean dishes away.

Same here. And it's amazing that with a family of four, you're choosing to do everything by hand when you have a dishwasher.

Our system is similar to the PP above: Dirty dishes go in the dishwasher. When it's full, we run it. Mission accomplished!

I'm the OP and these are not my comments

[Anonymous]

Wash pots and pans, good knives and kids plastic lunch stuff by hand. Rinse and dishwasher for everything else.

I have also managed to be so picky about how the dishwasher is loaded that neither DH nor my children will load it since I always reorganize. I do not recommend my system.