The better way to hand wash your dishes Use a plastic or silicone brush. Brushes tend to stay drier when they're not used, and they don't have as many deep crevices as sponges where water and bacteria can grow.
It might seem obvious, but you'll need a few basic items to make hand washing dishes a success, such as a sponge and a concentrated dish soap. Wearing rubber gloves can also help protect your hands and prevent skin from drying out if you're hand washing frequently, but having a sponge is a must.
“Brushes are the better choice to clean dishes, from an hygienic point of view.
Use bleach or hot water for true sanitization
“Plus, if you just soak it in soapy water and it splashes, you now have salmonella everywhere.” After washing your dishes with soap and water to remove any left-over gunk, Warriner and Narvaez both suggest soaking them in warm water and one teaspoon of bleach to sanitize.
Method #1: Chlorine Bleach Solution: Soak dishes for at least one minute in a sanitizing solution made up of 1 tablespoon of unscented chlorine bleach + 1 gallon of cool water (hot water stops bleach from sanitizing).
1. Wash the dishes. Shampoo is loads gentler on skin so if normal washing up liquid makes your hands dry try this. Plus it's effective at cleaning plates too, which you know, is good.
You shouldn't use dishwasher detergent when washing dishes by hand (we think you'll probably have a hard time washing dishes by hand with dishwasher detergent pods and tablets, though, so we're just talking about dishwasher detergent gel and dishwasher liquid).
Dishcloths are not any more hygienic than sponges — bacteria will grow on anything warm and moist. Because of this, choosing between dishcloths and sponges is really a matter of personal preference — but I do have to say, there are way cuter dishcloths than there are sponges.
Millions of food-borne pathogens may be living in that one little cloth or sponge and can be spread easily from cutting board to countertop to other areas of the kitchen. Sponges can harbor more bacteria than dishcloths because they're thicker, dry more slowly and have lots of holes that can trap small food particles.
The public health organization Stop Foodborne Illness recommends one of two methods: You can either suspend your dishes in a really hot water bath (at least 170°F, for at least 30 seconds), or soak dishes in a sanitizing solution of bleach and water (one tablespoon of unscented chlorine bleach and one gallon of cool ...
“The best hand-washing strategy is to make a small amount of soapy water, wash all the dishes and then finally rinse all the dishes,” he says. “Whether dishwasher or hand-washing, scraping and washing dishes right after using them will typically allow you to use less soap and water to clean them.”
Consider a post-wash soak.
After this step, "fill up a bin or the sink with water about as hot as you can get it (165 to 180 degrees)." In the event that the tap water from your sink doesn't get that hot, Bell suggests using a kettle. From there, let the clean dishes soak in the steamy water for about one minute.
At a structural level, hand soap is slightly more mild than dish soap, and will dissolve easier and foam better in hot water. Hand soap also typically contains more glycerin than dish soap, which helps the soap be a little more gentle on the skin.
Major components of many dish detergents are enzymes, which clean various particles off the dishes since they have the ability to break down starches and proteins. Most detergents also contain some sort of bleach, which is effective in killing bacteria and viruses.
If dishes are washed correctly, dirt, grease and bacteria should be washed off the dish with soap and water or eliminated with a hot water bath. If disinfecting dishes is necessary, soak washed dishes in a bath of hot water at 170°F for at least 30 seconds.
When you need to sanitize your dishes but can't boil them, allow vinegar to come to the rescue. Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine found that vinegar is an effective natural alternative to bleach for killing microbes.
1. The Common Sanitizers: The two common sanitizers used in restaurants are Chlorine and QUAT.