Hand washing dishes might sound archaic to those that can't imagine living without their dishwasher, but for others, it's just a way of life. There's all sorts of different schools of thought on how to complete the task, but no matter if you fill the sink or what temperature water you use, what makes the biggest difference is your soap, or rather how much you use!
Talking about hand washing dishes is a tricky topic. Those who own a dishwasher think the rest of us are crazy, but for those without, we all think we know the best way to get the job done. There are many different schools of thought on the subject but today we'd like to take a minute to talk about soap. Not what kind (we'll leave that up to you), but how much.
Some might be filling a sink with soapy water while others might be soaping as you go, but what if we told you that you'll use even less soap with a small bowl of water? It's true! Start with a small bowl with 1 cup (give or take) of water. Add 1 tablespoon of soap and swirl it around. There's no need to make it foamy, you're basically just diluting the soap.
Now, as you wash dishes, simply dip your dish rag or sponge into the bowl as you go. This one small amount of soap will wash one if not two full sink fulls of dishes. It's a great way to save on soap (allowing you to rationalize buying the more expensive eco-friendly brand if you want) and since things rinse clean easier with less soap on them, then it saves you in rinse water too!
Do you have a hand washing tip or trick? Let us know below!
More Hand Washing Tips From The Kitchn
• What Is the Best Way To: Wash Dishes?
• How To Hand Wash Dishes To Conserve Water
• Cleaning Up: What Do You NOT Put in the Dishwasher?
(Image: Sarah Rae Trover)
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Hurray for this! Now I can make my $5 bottle of Mrs. Meyers (Basil) last longer!
nice tip
Clorox products are in no way, shape, or form "eco-friendly." But I like your tip. :)
I do this but usually just use one of the dirty bowls or mugs in the sink to use as my soapy water dish (one of the less grimy ones), works great!
I have 2 dogs. Just kidding ...
Good reminder even for those of us with dishwashers!
I have Mrs. Meyers Basil soap too. Love it!
I do that all the time! I usually fill a cup or measuring cup, and only have to refill it once with a big load of dishes- makes a bottle of soap last longer, AND I don't end up with a puddle of soapy water around the bottle at the end.
I know it's not "green" or whatever, but I LOVE Palmolive Oxy plus- it's an insanely fast/good de-greaser, and it doesn't dry out my hands. And considering I don't have a dishwasher... or a bf who does his dishes (grrrrr) dish soap is a big part of my chores.
I always do this but now I need to get the hubs on board since I fell in love with $7 (small bottle) Caldrea Citron Ginger dish soap. Mmmmmmm... smells so yummy!
How funny this is exactly the way I've been doing it for years until I got my first dishwasher. But I used a brush instead of a sponge. Works great!
I have the Oxo Soap Squirting Soap Brush (http://www.oxo.com/p-297-good-grips-soap-squirting-palm-brush.aspx). I'm guessing that uses more than tablespoon per set of dishes since I squeeze a little for each item I'm washing...I should try this tip to see if I use less soap. Thanks!
i have a somewhat related question. i bought a bottle of mrs meyers liquid dishwasher detergent...but my new dishwasher recommends not using liquid dishwasher detergent at all. think i can use that as liquid dish soap for hand washing dishes (perhaps diluted?)
I looooooove Mrs Myers Basil but can no longer find it anywhere. I just bought some honeysuckle and it's pretty nice but not the same as the basil. It's worth every penny and makes dishwashing a pleasure... sort of. I'm a squirt as I go washer but might give the bowl method a try.
I'm a soap as you go gal, so I know I use a lot more soap than I should. I will have to try this tip the next time I do dishes by hand.
Nice tip for overuses, I suppose, but I feel like I use even less than a Tbsp when filling my sink to wash dishes. I use Seventh Gen. Free, and have an ample amount of soap to clean a sink full of dirty dishes. The best tip I know of (though not exactly the most eco-friendly one) is to use water as hot as your hands can stand, to kill all bacteria and germs. Then I use cold to rinse... and tip for rinsing I read somewhere: you never need more than a pencil width flow of water to rinse anything (including hands), if you do use more it just goes unused down the drain. So those are the things I try to follow, but I am also spoiled with a dishwasher :)
30 years ago, a Chinese friend would host little Chinese lunches for me and another neighbor. She would never let us help her do the dishes. One year I finally found outwhy . She liked doing the dishes the 'Chinese' way: to conserve water and soap. Same idea. Water in a coffee cup, squirt of soap. I use the green 3M scour pads, dip, scrub and rinse. Voila! What a 'green' way to do the dishes!
One more tip on the kitchen. I always wear an apron, to keep my clothes clean. And I always wear rubber gloves, to protect my hands.
Great tip! Reminds me of something M.F.K. Fisher said in an interview when the topic touched upon washing dishes: "Less soap, more hot water." (Ah, if only I could remember the source of the interview.)
Following Babs' excellent tip: I use water hotter than my hands can stand it - while wearing heavy-duty, insulated dishwashing gloves. Makes a big difference over those flimsy things sold at most grocery stores. Mine have lasted for years.
So with this method do you still fill up the sink with water? I find you need to let the dishes soak as you wash them.
I LOVE MRS. Meyers, currently using Lavender scent, use the basil all purpose cleanser for our wood floors...hand wash our dishes all the time....always Mrs Myers...like washing dishes with perfume...all essential oils...
OH yes and always always use dishwashing gloves, the ones you find in health food stores...and the hottest water to wash the dishes...
auntie lennie order Mrs Myers on line from them direct....great free shipping at times..and ....great disconts periodically....
Funny how everybody seems enchanted by this idea. I am not. I have been simply filling the sink to about two thirds with steaming HOT water and just a squirt of soap, maybe half a teaspoonful, letting the dishes soak in there until the water cools down just enough so I can wash the dishes with no gloves on. This uses even less soap than the above method and works great. Not to mention that this is more user friendly than dipping your sponge in a separate bowl. I then put the dishes in the drip tray, flush the sink and rinse the dishes under cold running water (dipping in clean water always leaves residue). Squeaky!
Isn't this just the regular age-old method from before the advent of the dishwasher? Have we all forgotten how we used to wash dishes not that long ago?!?
Definitely count me enchanted by this idea! Probably because I've never come across it. And certainly not because my dish washing skills have languished since I've never lived with a dishwasher at my convenience.
Since most of us learn how to do dishes differently than our friends, our roommates, or our partners and evolve our techniques depending on such encounters, the whole process becomes a very individual preference/behavior. Sorta like driving. And just like with driving, isn't it always the other person who is the maniac and never us.
i like this tip. i'm a soap as you go person, so i think this will help me to use less soap.
Recently moved out of an apt with a dishwasher to one without. I use good-quality gloves and the hottest water I can handle. This soap idea is great, though--I go through soap far too quickly.
Deffo Totes. I've been doing this for years - only in a different way. I have an old vodka bottle that i keep by the sink with a typical bar pour spout on top. I fill the thing almost full of water and add a few tablespoons of dish detergent to it and that use that to soap as I go. Totally awesome and economical!
I can't believe I never thought of this - brilliant!
Perhaps this might solve the problem of hardwater spots on my dishes or food residue. I don't have a dishwasher and I have really hardwater which makes things hard to get clean.
I always wear heavy rubber gloves to wash dishes, and use plenty of hot water. I treat my hands to a "facial" at the same time by slathering on the hand cream---the heavier and thicker the better (like Eucerin), then sliding on the gloves. By the time I am though, all the cream has soaked in and my hands feel wonderful.
Unrelated, but good tip: If you have trouble opening a jar, just slip on your rubber gloves and try again. It works great.
Down here in the Caribbean dishwashers aren't as commonplace and next to every kitchen sink you'll find a bowl dedicated exclusively to this that doubles as the dishsponge holder
Diluting the soap also means the dishes rinse easier - which uses less water - a big bonus for areas that don't have a consistent water supply.
A good tip for degreasing is to add a little white vinegar to the solution - dishes rinse squeaky clean and dry with less water spots.
zaakiaa: thanks for the tip on using white vinegar! i never thought of that before, but it makes perfect sense!
A couple years ago my mom gave me two little glass bottles with pour spouts. One I use for olive oil, the other I use for dish soap. I fill the bottle 2/3rds of the way with hot water, then squeeze in some soap and swirl around. The hot water puts the soap into solution better than cold water. Then as I wash, I just dribble some soap onto my sponge. I find the soap lasts way longer this way. The small bottle is quick to dispense soap and easy to hold.
Regardless of logic, if I don't see a good amount of bubbles/soapsuds, it just doesn't feel like enough to clean the dish completely.
Not economical, I'm sure, but necessary for my happiness.
@Sarah Rae Trover -- just wanted to come back to this post to give you a big thank you for this tip! It works beautifully!
It also shows me how much less dish soap I really need to get everything clean. I wish I had learned about this earlier. It would have saved a lot of dish soap.
@Mrs.Mack -- I'm the same way...this gets you suds but saves you soap at the same time. It's sort of an epiphany.
Hubby and I live 100% off grid (we're solar), we also haul our water, so anything that saves water and other resources is a complete necessity for us. I have used this method and it works great for us, I use a bowl or small pan with some sudsy water, dip the green scrubby pad in and clean the dishes, set them aside, when I'm done cleaning, I rinse under the slowest amount of cold water I can get to come out of the faucet, then into the dish rack to dry.
Before I put anything into the dish rack, I spray the rack with a very diluted water and bleach solution to sanitize the rack. I also use this bleach water solution to sanitize the sink. We don't want bleach water running down the drain (gray water is for the plants outside), so using this in a spray bottle allows me to sanitize without having it run down the drain.
Wretha