Run the water immediately after you put the dirty dish in the sink. You don't have to totally fill the sink. I also helps if they are somewhat stacked and not just all randomly tossed in there.

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.

So pots and pans are washed by hand and only dishes by DW?

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Let me guess, you're Asian.

Ugh, we're asian (two adults) and run our dishwasher every other day.

That pp was just being nasty. I don't know any Asians that don't use the dishwasher. I don't think that's a stereotype.

It is a pretty common stereotype. My anecdotal experience jibes with it too.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BvfcRR3PZYE

You need to use the dishwasher and teach your kids to load and unload it when they are older. Once your kids start inviting friends over and they get older they are going to go through A LOT of dishes because they will be eating a ton of food, especially when going through growth spurts and if they play sports. Just use the dishwasher.

So easy scrape and place, scrape and place. Wash and unload. Repeat.

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.

Let me guess, you're Asian.

Ugh, we're asian (two adults) and run our dishwasher every other day.

That pp was just being nasty. I don't know any Asians that don't use the dishwasher. I don't think that's a stereotype.

We don't have a dishwasher.

In the morning, if there are dishes laying out to dry from the night before, I put them away. If there are any dirty dishes, I wash them. I do what I can while I wait for my kids to finish up getting ready for school.
When I get home in the evening, if there are dishes laying out to dry, I put them away. If there are any dirty dishes, I wash them. I do this while the kids are getting their homework sorted out and my DH is prepping dinner.
After dinner, the kids put away any dishes that had been laying out to dry, and wash the dishes. This leaves us, at least for a moment, a completely clean sink.

Throughout the evening, if someone dirties a glass or something, we do try to wash it and put it away immediately, but it doesn't always happen. I find that if I regularly stop by the sink and take care of putting away any dry dishes / washing any dirty dishes, our sink tends to only have an item or two in it.

I replace the sponge weekly.

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.

Let me guess, you're Asian.

Ugh, we're asian (two adults) and run our dishwasher every other day.

I put my dishes and everything in the sink as soon as I'm done with my meal. Husband sometimes piles in after the meal, but then puts away before going.

The only times dishes stay in the sink for a day is the few items we use for breakfast in the weekday morning or if we're rushing out the door on the weekends, but that's it.

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

Wait, I thought you all used paper plates.

To OP: Use the dishwasher. Put dishes in. When it's full, run it. Replace sponges weekly, or better yet, use washable sponges/dishcloths, and wash/swap them out daily.

How to clean your sponge:

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

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!

If someone else does the dishes, and you find their system not to your liking - then you take it over. I'm with you on the sponge (you can microwave it) and change it out, but beyond that - leave it alone unless you plan on taking over.

Anonymous wrote:

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!

Throw away that sponge and replace it. You should replace it every week or two. When I had a young baby, I would use a separate baby bottle sponge for all his dishes.

Dang that's wasteful. Just put the sponge in the dishwasher. It lasts much longer than a week!

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!

Throw away that sponge and replace it. You should replace it every week or two. When I had a young baby, I would use a separate baby bottle sponge for all his dishes.