You Don’t Need to Soak Dishes
You wake up in the morning, go to the kitchen to make coffee, and then you are struck by the smell. It is strong, poor, it comes from your sink – dirty dishes. The night before, you filled several crusted bowls and pans with water on the pretext that you washed them later, but you have forgotten and now regret it. It’s time to stop lying to yourself – it’s time to stop urinating.
At Lifehacker, we take spring cleaning very seriously. We are far from missing out on an opportunity to refresh, reorganize and streamline our home life. We’re also very excited to hit the reset button with our technology, take a close look at our finances, and get the better of our day-to-day habits that have gotten a little musty. Welcome to Spring Cleaning Week , during which we clear the winter cobwebs and set the stage for the sunny days ahead. Let’s clean up, okay?
What kind of dishes do you really need to soak? In most cases, you only need to soak dishes that you don’t soak quickly enough. If you stay in the loop and get to your meal early, you probably never need to soak anything. I mean, there are other potential reasons why someone might soak their dishes, but the main reason is “I just don’t feel like doing the dishes right now …” So you throw them in the sink and go about your business thinking that you made your life easier later. But before you step away from the sink full of soaking utensils, ask yourself: Is it really necessary for soaking, or are you being lazy?
Even if you end up with a little caked on dirt, either from food scorching or because it’s a quick-drying substance, there are still things you can do right now for exceptionally tough dirt while you do the dishes instead of passively soaking your problems away. If you have a frying pan with burnt items on it, put the pan back on the stove, add a little water and turn the heat up until the water boils. It won’t take long, and all this charred filth will fly off at once. Or, you can do a quick frosting in a skillet with vinegar. Voila!
If you have a baked piece on your plate, cup or mug, add a little water, place another plate on top and microwave for 30 seconds. Arrow, steam removed. Plus, if you have a dishwasher, you don’t need to overdo your dishes anyway. The dishes do not need to be flawless before dropping them into the car. In fact, most modern dishwashing detergents use enzymes to digest protein and starch on dishes and other kitchen utensils. If there is no food to activate them, the detergent will do little to help.
Look, I admit, some things do need to be soaked. Baking pans, blender jugs, and other strange items that won’t fit in the microwave or boil water on the stove will take a minute or two, adding a little warm soapy water. In addition, we are only human, and we all sometimes forget something, and a good soak may be the only way to get the oatmeal out of the mug that has been on your table for two days. Soak away.
However, if you intend to soak, do so while washing other dishes. Start soaking, clean other items that you don’t need to soak, then go back to soaking. It doesn’t take them long to get ready for cleaning. Do what I call “loop completion.” Don’t move on to something else until you’ve completed the task at hand. You start, you are armed with rubber gloves, cleaning brushes and concentrated dish soap, so finish the battle the warrior started. Raise your weapons to these grease warriors and show no mercy.