These mostly apply to people who don't have dishwashers.
- You don't need much soap. One 14.7 fl oz bottle of Dawn lasted me about two years. That is a little less then the volume of a SoBe.
- The water should be between warm and hot. Uncleanliness will wash away despite your reluctance to scald your hands.
- Only soap one side of the sponge. Inevitably the other side will collect soap; moreover you really only need one side soapy to clean well.
- To get your dishes visually spotless as opposed to just functionally clean, apply a lot of pressure to the dish with the sponge.
- You don't need to do dishes right after they get dirty in order to get them clean again later. However, to save time:
- Put water in dirty cups and glasses at least an hour before you wash them. The water will mix with whatever is caked on to the bottom. (This is key for cups dirtied by milk.)
- For plates, scrape off chunks of food such as meat or noodles as soon as you can after using them. Worry about the little granules when you have them covered with hot water and soap.
It is helpful to drop some soapy water into each dish as sort of a pre-wash, which loosens all those little bits and pieces of food. Washing in the same order as the pre-wash maximizes the average soak time.
Tedium is gibbed amusement.