Cleaning your dishes, and everything else you used while making dinner, is always the worst part of any meal. Especially when you put in a lot of effort making something big and delicious, only to be left with a mountain of things to clean. As if this wasn’t bad enough, you often encounter things that are very hard to clean, meaning you’re there for ages scrubbing away at them to try and rectify the situation. Even if you have a dishwasher, things can still not be clean after a long cycle, and you feel like you have to turn the temperature up high, which uses up loads of energy! Luckily for you, there are easy ways to solve your dishwashing nightmare. Here are 5 kitchen hacks to make washing dishes a breeze:
5 Kitchen Hacks To Help You Wash Up Like A Pro
Soak Pots And Pans Before You Eat
There are two types of people in this world; those that wash up before they eat, and those that wait until after the meal. Personally, I try and wash up as I go along, so there’s nothing dirty lingering in the kitchen while I eat. It just makes me feel more at ease. I get why some people just want to eat right away before their food gets cold. Either way, one of the 5 easy kitchen hacks you can use is to soak pots and pans in boiling water while you eat.
You can serve everything up, then put the pans you cooked within the sink, and cover them with boiling water from your kettle, and a little bit of soap. Now, while you eat your meal, all the grime and food loosens from the pots & pans. This makes them much easier to clean when you finish. This is how you stop your pans from permanently being crusted over with grease!
Don’t Rely On One Sponge
The biggest mistake you can make is to rely on one sponge to do all your work. Yes, it’s much easier and cost-effective to only have one thing that you use to clean all the dishes. However, a typical dishwashing sponge won’t be great for everything. To start, a sponge isn’t the most practical tool when cleaning long glasses. So, you need something with a handle to get deep into these. Then, you need something that’s really strong and good at scrubbing away the toughest of muck and grime.
A stainless steel scourer is a good option here, but they might damage certain pots and pans that are made out of different materials. In which case, you also need a tool to clean them without scrubbing away the surface of their material. Basically, the best thing you can do is create a mini kitchen arsenal full of things you can use to clean different dishes, pots, pans, glasses, cups, and so on. This will lead to much more effective results!
Use Dishwasher Gel With Natural Ingredients
If your dishwasher is struggling to clean your dishes, then there are three things you can do. One; get a better dishwasher – but this is obviously an expensive option! The second thing will be spoken about in the next point so I won’t give it away now! Finally, you have the third option; try a different dishwasher gel.
My advice is to opt for a natural dishwasher gel, as they seem to be more effective. They’re made using natural ingredients that are designed to clean stubborn stains, nothing else. A lot of the big commercial dishwasher gels focus more on the smell than anything else. They have loads of unnecessary ingredients designed to make your dishes smell nice, but they often counter the cleaning agents in the gel, which is why your dishes don’t always come out spotless. So, switch to a new gel, and see immediate results.
Always Rinse Dishes With Hot Water Before Putting Them In Dishwasher
Okay, so, I mentioned there was a second thing you can do to help your dishwasher clean dishes more effectively. This is one of the 5 kitchen hacks that are so simple. Rinse your dishes with hot water. So many people depend on their dishwasher to do all their work. They think they can just put dishes and cutlery straight in there, and the machine will do everything.
Well, think about it, how long does something stay in your dishwasher before it’s turned on? Normally, you wait until the whole thing is full, which could take days. So, a dish may be sitting in there with dirt on it for over 48 hours. By now, it’s fully crusted over onto the plate and is much harder to wash off. But, if you’d rinsed the dirt off under a hot tap, then this won’t be an issue. You don’t have to properly scrub the plate, just give it a rinse, it only takes a few seconds!
Always Dry With A Clean Kitchen Towel
Washing up doesn’t end when your things are nice and clean, you still have to dry them! This is where many people get rid of all their hard work as they use a dirty towel to dry everything. This can leave your dishes smelling dirty, and you may even have dirt or grease on the towel that rubs back onto it. So, to keep things as clean as possible, I like to always have a clean kitchen towel ready and waiting. If one smells a bit weird, then I won’t use it.
Also, make sure you get the right type of towel for this job. There are hand towels, and there are ones specifically for drying dishes. Get the latter, as the first option can leave your dishes full of towel fluff and smear marks.
Feel free to use my advice the next time you’re in the kitchen washing up. You’ll actually be surprised at the difference it makes when you make washing up easier for yourself. You no longer have that burden hanging over you whenever you cook. Instead, you can relax more, and know that you’ll just take a few minutes to wash up, and wash up effectively. These 5 kitchen hacks will save you time and stress after your cooking session.
Do you have any special kitchen hacks that may help someone to wash up like a pro? Please share them in the comments below.
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