Kitchen Cleaning Solutions - Kitchen Cleaning Tips For Staying On Top Of Dirty Dishes

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Looking for kitchen cleaning solutions for staying on top of dirty dishes? You found them!

The best kitchen sinks are the clean, empty ones. Am I right?!

But keeping it that way is a lot easier said than done. Those pesky dirty dishes are as constant as the mail, but with a little organizing help they too can be manageable. Here are 5 kitchen cleaning solutions for keeping the dishes at bay. Happy cleaning!

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Kitchen Cleaning Solutions For Keeping The Kitchen Sink Clean & Empty

1. Get everyone involved.

Everyone can and should do their part in getting their dirty dishes to the kitchen (at a minimum). This instills good habits in your family members AND prevents the whole got-to-waste-time-gathering-dirty-dishes-from-every-room-in-the-house dynamic.

Assign responsibilities according to age. Children old enough to walk (about 3 years old and up) can bring their dishes to the kitchen sink and practice clearing the table when they're done eating. Kids that are about 7 years of age and older can help load the dishwasher and learn how to wash dishes with your guidance. Tweens and teens can wash their own dishes and load/unload the dishwasher.

2. If it makes it to the sink...

It only takes a few seconds more to put it in the dishwasher. It's just like the laundry...it's not done until it's put away. The same goes for the dishes, so why not roll the process into one streamlined task?

Bring your dirty dish to the kitchen and immediately put it in the dishwasher.

Now, if that just isn't going to happen or there are moments when there just isn't time for that extra step, then implement a routine that works for you. For example, I usually load the dishwasher when I bring a dirty dish to the sink, but sometimes in the morning there just isn't time for that. On those days, I empty the sink and load the dishwasher after each meal and once before bed.

3. Make loading the dishwasher easy.

Organize it! Are you surprised to hear me say that? :)

If it's neat and orderly then putting dirty dishes in it will be that much easier, AND family members will also know where to put what. I put all cups, glasses and small bowls on the top. Plates are next to each other on the bottom along with larger bowls. Utensils are sorted into the utensil holder; all spoons together, all knives together and so on.

This also makes unloading the dishwasher simple.

When we have people over and they see our dishwasher, they usually say something like, "Of course your dishwasher is organized." And I usually smile and say, "Well of course! Look at this..."

I grab all the spoons in one hand (because they are all in one of the utensil dividers together) and drop them in their spot in the utensil drawer organizer. This typically gets a very impressed, "Wow! I never thought unloading the dishwasher could be that easy." I rest my case.

4. Clean as you go.

I'm sure you've heard this before; this is an oldie but a goodie and one of my favorite kitchen cleaning solutions. When prepping and cooking, dirty dishes pile up in the sink faster than ever. Wash them as you go to stay on top of them.

As a general rule of thumb, never leave this type of dirty dish in the sink overnight (unless you had an awesome party and it's 1am...then you get a pass and can go to bed).

5. Turn your kitchen sink into a dish washing station.

Make everything accessible, so that washing dishes is as easy as possible.

Organize under the kitchen sink.
Declutter the counter tops, so that you have room to process the dirty dishes (e.g. dirty dishes are put on the counter to the right of the sink, washed & either loaded into the dishwasher or placed on the drying mat that is to the left of the sink).
Put dish soap, gloves, sponges and any other necessary tools in a convenient location.
Set up a drying station (dish drying mat or drying rack or both) near the sink.

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