These days usually dishes are not washed by hand due to various reasons including the lack of time as well as the facility of dishwashers etc. But what if your dishwasher stops working? In this condition, you will have to wash your dishes by hand. In this write-up, a few tips are provided so that you can continue to check off every item from your daily cleaning checklist.
Tools required to hand wash dishes
To wash your dishes by hand you may need a few tools like:
Drain rack: to drain out water from the washed dishes
Dish soap: to wash away grime and oily substance from the dishes
Dish brush: to removing big chunks from the dishes
Puff scrubber made of the plastic net: to clean the dishes minutely
Greed scrub pad: to scrub the dishes properly
Dishcloth or sponge: to wash dishes as well as wiping down the counters
Steps to hand wash dishes
To learn how to hand wash dishes you will have to follow a few steps as discussed here under.
Step 1: Fill the sink or dishpan
In most of the kitchens, double sinks are used these days to wash the dishes in one sink and rinsing in the other but if you do not have a double sink then you can use a dishpan or a big bowl made of plastic to fill to rinse dishes.
But before filing up the sink or dishpan with water you should wipe and rinse it properly to remove dust and grime from it.
Now plug its drain with the drain plug provided with the sink or use a flat rubber that fits your drain.
Under the tap of your sink, you should add some dish soap so that it can dissolve in the water when it is poured on the soap. The amount of dish soap to be used can depend on its quality, size of your pan and the number of dishes to be washed.
Now fill 1/3rd of the sink with water at bath temperature or more to remove the oils from the dishes efficiently.
Step 2: Regulate the cleaning of dirty dishes
If you are using a dishpan to wash dishes by hand then instead of washing all the dishes at a time you should clean the dishes, glasses, pans, and pots that are cleaner than others. The oily and dirtier dishes should be washed later on as they may need more soap to clean them. So while cleaning dishes by hand you should use your common sense. If you will wash all the utensils at a time then the grease of oily dishes can spoil other utensils also.
Step 3: Start the cleaning process
The process of washing dishes by hand includes soaking, scrubbing, rinsing, and draining as under:
Soaking: You should start with soaking cleaner items in the soapy water. You should put these items into the water then scrub them after soaking them so that they can be scrubbed easily. While soaking dishes in the dishpan you should keep some space to work in them easily.
Scrubbing: Now you should scrub all the items thoroughly one by one by using both of your hands.
Rinsing: After scrubbing all the items you should put them under the tap of warm water to rinse them thoroughly.
Draining: You can put them on the drain rack to drain out water from them.
Step 4: Speedy cleaning of silverware
To clean silverware quickly you should:
- Put a big bowl or pot in the sink to hold silverware
- Now fill the pot with water and put silverware into it with the handles away from your hands
- Now scrub them one by one with your one hand while holding them through their handles with your other hand
- You should put the silverware again into the pot after scrubbing them
- Now rinse them all at a time and put on draining rack to dry
Step 5: Treating special Items
There can be certain items in your kitchen that may need special treatment while washing by hand like:
Teflon coated non-stick pans: While washing these pans you should either use Teflon safe scrubbing tools or dishcloth or sponge to avoid scratches on Teflon coating
Anything with a cutting edge made of metal: You should not put these items in the soapy water along with other items as they can hurt you along with getting rust.
Cutting boards made of wood: Wooden cutting boards can be deformed if left on a wet surface or kept wet for a long time. So you should not soak them in water for long. You should wipe them from both the sides with soapy water and rinse under running water immediately.
Skillets made of cast iron: you should clean such items very carefully as they can wear off if they are burnt while seasoning your food. In this situation, you should follow the instructions of the manufacturing company while cleaning them.
China clay dishes with metal edges: Some dishes with metallic decorations or rims can be cleaned by using a soft sponge or dishcloth to maintain the beauty of metallic embellishment.
Blenders: Blenders should be washed after screwing off their bottoms to remove grime from its joints
Step 6: Clean up the sink
After you have cleaned all the dishes and other items you should unplug the sink to rinse it quickly. You should also empty the strainer on the drain.
Step 7: Dry the dishes and put them away
After cleaning all the dishes along with other kitchenware by your hands you should put them on the drain rack to allow them to air dry them. You may need more room to dry your kitchenware if you have thrown a party or have a larger family. You can also use a dish towel made of cotton to dry the dishes quickly by hand. After drying them thoroughly you should put all the dishes and other kitchenware at their specific place.
Thus, by following the steps discussed in this guide you can easily learn how to hand wash dishes.
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