How to wash dishes by hand fast and the most sanitary way? Remove all food particles and presoak dishes before you wash. Try to clean as you go, so that you have fewer dishes to wash.
Wash from cleanest to dirtiest dish, also wash delicate dishes, glassware first. Sanitize the dishes with hot water or a solution of bleach and water. Towel Dry or Air Dry and put them away immediately.
Proper Order for Washing Dishes by Hand
There are multiple ways of doing this correctly. Work with what works best for you.
Here is how I do it. There is no FIXED method set in stone.
- Wash the Cutlery ( knives) cups, glasses first. This ensures no accidents happen.
- Wash all glassware, ceramic dishes next.
- Wash those dishes which need special care. Some dishes cannot be soaked for long or scrubbed hard. I wash them first. Again if these are greasy I wash them last ( and soak them before washing).
- Wash the remaining plates and dishes, working my way from smallest to biggest. I use stainless steel cookware and pressure cookers.
- I wash the Pressure cooker last as they are heavy and bulky. Sometimes I do switch and wash the pressure cooker first so that I can place all the smaller dishes in the washed cooker.
This is the order in which I go from cleanest to greasiest and from breakable to unbreakable.
Most Sanitary Way to Wash Dishes by Hand
I used to watch many youtube videos of people washing dishes by hand. While I was helping out at a thanksgiving dinner I helped prep food and handwash dishes in a trailer.
To be honest I wash shocked by how people washed the dishes. It made me never want to have dinner ever.
Traditional Method of Handwashing Dishes
Most people I have seen use the 3 sink or 2 sink method ( depending on how many sinks they have).
Basically they have a sink filled with hot soapy water. They soak the dishes in that water.
After about 30 minutes they scrub out the dishes and then dip them in the next sink or tub filled with clean water. This is the rinse phase.
Next the dish is laid out to drip dry or towel dried and put away.
This made me very uneasy because for me this is not cleaning.
Does Hand Washing Dishes Kill Germs
The major questions I had was whether handwashing did in fact kill germs. The shocking truth is no. To kill Germs you need to washing dishes at temperatures between 160 degree F and 220 degree F that is between 70 to 100 degree Celcius.
No human being can withstand such high temperatures.
The dishwashing liquids we use generaly do not kill all bacteria. Also the water is not enough to kill germs.
Now add to that the fact that we just rinsed all dishes in just one tub of water. This is not all sanitary or hygienic.
I have my own method to this madness. I soak dishes in water. Very rarely I soak in a warm water mixed with dishwashing liquid.
Then I scrub the dishes and place them on the side of the sink. When I had two sinks I used to place in the second sink. Now I have one, so I place it on the side of the sink.
When I have scrubbed enough dishes, I rinse them in running water. Next I let them air dry.
If you rinse dishes in the same water they are going to cross contaminate. Don’t do that.
Does my process sanitize the dishes? I don’t think so.
To sanitize we need high temperatures or we need to dip the rinsed dishes in a bleach solution.
I don’t use hot water and I am not comfortable with using bleach.
So I sun dry if I can. Sunlight weakens the bacteria and they eventually die.
How Often to Wash Dishes
I remember being totally overwhelmed by the dishes. It was such a stressful activity for me and I had a lot of trouble managing the dishes.
Eventually, I came across a system for getting chores done quickly and efficiently. Basically, it was having daily weekly and monthly routines in place.
I adapted it fr my household and I added washing dishes to my daily routine. So here is how I get it done.
- Wash as I go. This means wash the cutting board once I am done. Wash cutlery I used, the mixie bowls ( not later but NOW)
- Soak the tough to clean dishes
- Rinse of all food before the dish is saved for washing later
- Clean as soon as I am done cooking
- Wash all dishes at night before I sleep. I have added it to my night routine and I try to stick with it. There are lazy days but overall it is going great
- Involve family members. They wash their own dishes, plates and glasses.
How to Make Washing Dishes Fun
