Your dishes are starting to pile up in your sink. Instead of putting off washing them because it seems like too much work, just clean as many as you can with one soapy sponge.
Photo by shira gal
If the thought of washing all of your dishes in one sitting has you considering tossing them and replacing them with a new set, Emma Christensen at cooking blog The Kitchn offers a way to break up the work into smaller parts:
The deal is that I wash as many dishes as I can with one soapy sponge, and then I give myself permission to do something else. That’s it! One sponge-worth of dishes and then I’m free to go about my business… Knowing that my time standing at the sink is limited lessens some of the psychological hurdle of getting there in the first place.
Not only does it make a mundane chore much more manageable, but you’d also be surprised at how many dishes you can actually clean with just one soapy sponge. Of course, if you have a dishwasher, it’s only a matter of clearing a little food and placing them in, but not everyone has that luxury.
Hate Washing Dishes? Try the “One Soapy Sponge” Trick [The Kitchn]
Comments
5 responses to “Tackle Dirty Dishes In Small Sessions With The ‘One Soapy Sponge’ Rule”
Wash up as you go.
I know it’s a crazy idea.
It took many years but I finally learnt how to tackle dishes, just do the god damn dishes, just do them, daily, every second day at the very least.
It’s obvious that Emma Christensen has no inconsiderate husband and (as they are often also inconsiderate) kids. My wife and kids (2 boys, 9 & 10) will use every plate, cup or piece of cutlery in the house, and leave them lying around the kitchen, rather than wash a dish or spoon. Daily washing of the dishes can take me up to 3/4 of an hour.
Dishwashing machines? Bah!
Scraping and/or rinsing, stacking, waiting, unstacking and putting them away, and wasing the pots and pans by hand because the machine is not capable of the job? You’ve got to be joking.
Scraping and loading/unloading the dishwasher will still take far less time than the 3/4 of an hour you’re currently spending. Dishwashing machines are a god send.
If you get one of those dish brushes that self dispense dish soap, it only takes 10 seconds to wash a plate or bowl under the tap, so they can do it when they are finished. And tell them you wont start dinner until there are no dirty dishes remaining, they will learn to clean up after themselves pretty quickly.