We do a lot of dishes in our house, and there are some things we do that make things easier. For those of you who will be shifting from disposables to regular dishes, here are some things to help make the transition smoother!

1. Order of dishwashing – The general principle is, wash the least dirty dishes first, and save the heavy duty grease and grime for the end. My personal order looks like this: glasses, bowls, plates, silverware, pots/pans. I keep glasses and cups on the counter next to the sink, and wash them first. They tend to be lightly used (especially in our home of water drinkers), and if you put them in the sink they’ll get dirtier and greasier, making it a bigger job to wash them than if you kept them separate. This is also true of plastic food storage containers – they get so much greasier being in the sink with dishes washed on top of them. When they need a quick wash I do them them first so I get them out of the way. If they are really greasy, I leave them for after the dishes.

2) Soak the really dirty stuff – pans and pots can be soaking while you wait to get to them. I have a recipe for getting really burnt stuff off: 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. baking soda, 2 t. vinegar, 3/4 c. dishwashing liquid, 1 c. water – put in a pot, bring to a boil, then let cool.

Though this has worked really well for me, I now prefer something simpler that works just fine and is easier and cheaper – I squirt a little bit of dishwashing liquid into the dirty pot, add pinch of baking soda, then put it on the fire to boil. Once it boils, turn off the fire and just let it sit while you’re washing the rest of the dishes. It’s amazing how much faster and easier washing it will be.

3) Buy good scrubbers – as with everything else, having the right tools makes the job much easier. I prefer the foam scrubbers covered with tinsely textured stuff for dishes, though I buy the plastic round scrubbies to use for Shabbos. I consider stainless steel scrubbers critical for getting pots and pans clean without using the above technique. It makes it much easier to get the burnt stuff off, rather than scraping away at it with a spoon.

4) Don’t let the dishes pile up – the longer the dishes are in the sink and the more of them there are, the more intimidating it is and the more you want to push it off! This is the hardest one for me. We all eat dinner together, but due to different schedules, breakfast and lunch happen at different times for different people. Since each of those people don’t individually wash their dishes and cooking utensils, breakfast and lunch dishes tend to get washed together.

For Shabbos, it helps tremendously if I do the dishes right after the Friday night meal rather than wait until the next morning. Everything gets cleaner faster when it hasn’t been sitting overnight, and it’s nice to wake up in the morning knowing it’s been done. Sometimes I’m too tired and it doesn’t happen, and that’s okay, too.

5) Get your kids involved – the youngest I’ve started my kids washing dishes was age 7, but I tend to wait until around 9. At that age, I don’t expect them to wash pots and pans, but the basic dishes are very doable. Having a chore chart with assigned tasks makes this easier, rather than randomly asking people after each meal.

6) Do something else while washing dishes – Though I enjoy washing dishes, I find added benefit if I use the time to listen to music or a podcast. Sometimes I like to have the quiet, though – there’s something about water that helps one’s thoughts flow, and I find this true when washing dishes. Your experience may differ on this, though!

If you have tips that have helped you, please share in the comments below!

Avivah