3 Tips for Soaking Your Dishes

Dishes
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Unless you actually enjoy the ritual of washing and drying, plates and bowls have a habit of piling up in the sink. Stubborn remnants of food that seem to stick like glue make the scrubbing process long and tiresome, and that’s why this method of “marinating your dishes” is a total game-changer.

No matter which soap you use, it will take notably less time to wash the dishes if they first “marinate” in warm, soapy water. This is because the chemicals in soap called surfactants work as long as they are dispersed in water. So, if you’d rather eat on paper plates every night than do your dishes, this soaking trick is for you.

Tip #1

While you can fill up your sink with water, it’s more effective to use a soaking vessel that is about half to two-thirds the size of your sink. This also helps you use less water. Any large bowl, basin, or pail will work. That way, you can still use your sink while you wash. Pile your washed (but not rinsed) dishes beside the soaking vessel as you go, and then rinse everything at the end so that you don’t have the water running the whole time.

Tip #2

Don’t soak anything with wood. If the wood absorbs too much water, it’s liable to crack over time.

Tip #3

Marinating doesn’t mean leaving the dishes for the morning. You only need to soak the dishes for five to 10 minutes or so, so don’t take this as an excuse to leave them overnight!