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Looking for kitchen cleaning solutions for staying on top of dirty dishes? Looking for tips on keeping the kitchen sink empty and clean?? You're in the right place. :)
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 and the laundry, 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!
Let's think of the family as a team, and cleaning up should be a team effort. 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 to your family members 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.
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.
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, all forks together and so on.
This also makes unloading the dishwasher fast and 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, like in the photo above) and drop them in their spot in the utensil drawer organizer. It takes seconds! This typically gets a very impressed, "Wow! I never thought unloading the dishwasher could be that easy."
I rest my case.
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. Rather than having a mountain of dishes to clean after the meal, wash them as you go to stay on top of them. When I'm waiting for something to bake or boil or what have you, I typically use that time to wash the dirty stuff in the sink and to wipe the counters. This leaves minimal clean up after we eat and that just makes me happy!
Also, letting dishes soak overnight in the sink can be a slippery slope. You don't want to do this a lot or you'll be waking up to many dirty dishes on a regular basis. As a general rule of thumb, I don't leave dishes in the sink overnight to soak unless the food is really stuck on there.
Make everything accessible, so that washing dishes is as easy as possible.
And there you have it! Five kitchen cleaning solutions for keeping your sink clean and empty. These suggestions are not difficult (which is a plus!), but implementing too many new habits at once can be overwhelming. Doing just one of these actions will help a lot, so pick your favorite and good luck on this dish-cleaning journey that you are now armed to take on!
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