Dinner's over and it's time to wash those pesky pots and pans.
I'm usually the one stuck on dish duty. We have large family gatherings and washing up after 10+ people is not fun.
I knew there must be a better way! So I searched up "how do the pros wash dishes?".
Here is a list of 4 Don't Do's...
1. Stop Soaking Your Dishes in the Sink
People typically fill the sink with hot water, add liquid dish soap for suds, then toss in the dirty dishes for a good soak.
It turns out the pros don't wash dirty dishes like that, and science doesn't give sink-soaking a thumbs up either. In fact, microbiologists say washing dishes this way is worse than washing them in a (flushed) toilet bowl!
Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist from the University of Arizona, says your kitchen sink's wet environment is a perfect spot for E.coli to grow.
It turns out that bacteria loves the leftover food in the drain and on our soaking dishes. "Maybe [this is why] dogs prefer toilet water—it has less E. coli," says Dr. Gerba.
In addition, soaking your dishes in the sink mixes up all the bacteria from other dishes. For example, if you soak dishes that have raw chicken in the same water as other dishes, you're spreading the same harmful bacteria to all the other dishes in the mix. This means your dirty dishes end up even dirtier.
THE FIX: Dr. Gerba suggests using a kitchen-specific disinfectant, like HopePodz Disinfectant, to clean your sink basin at least every night.
2. Stop Putting All Your Dirty Dishes in the Dishwasher
In the ongoing kitchen adventure, battling dirty dishes is the ultimate struggle. My secret weapon? Stuffing every last dish, knife and cutting board into the dishwasher to dodge hand-washing them.
Surprisingly, dishwashers are NOT safe for many items. Most dishwashers can get as hot as 155°F (68°C). While the hot temperature is helpful to disinfectant and clean the dishes inside the dishwasher, the blistering hot water can be very harmful for some of your items. For example, dishwashers can dull sharp knives, ruin cast iron pans, ruin the finish of wood items, and more.
THE FIX: For a full list of items you should not throw in the dishwasher, check out this link.
3. Stop Scrubbing Pots and Pans
When we see that stuck on food, we just want to get if off by any means necessary.
Unfortunately, this usually means reaching for the most abrasive scrubbers and attacking our pots and pans. Aggressively scrubbing damages these food surfaces and releases harmful particles into your food. We should also avoid this technique with anything that is glass, stainless steel, or plastic surfaces to avoid damages.
THE FIX: Switch to HopePodz Foaming Dish Soap! Simply pump some foam onto a dish, pot, pan or utensil. If the item has a lot of caked-on dirt, let the foam sit for a few minutes. The grease-fighting surfactants immediately begin to lift the grease and food from the surfaces. Wipe & rinse and you're done!
4. Stop Using Old-Fashioned Liquid Dish Soap
Comments (0)
Back to News