Is there an Order?

There is a definite order to doing the dishes (or 'washing up', as we call it here). It's not so much based on hygiene (which makes a lot of sense) as on things like how dirty the things are, the heat of the water and how much grease the soap has to dissolve. It is (or, at least, my mother's teaching was): 1) Glassware 2) Silverware 3) Dishes 4) Pots & pans I often find that I need fresh water after the dishes, mainly because by then it has become too cool to dissolve the grease properly. My mother and father were very methodical washer-uppers and I learnt it from them. One of our favourite stories is of when we had a guest who had outstayed their welcome by about a week. One day my mother put the plates on the floor for the dog to lick and then calmly put them back up on the dresser. The guest left the next day.

I have a sort of order I follow too when doing dishes. The first ones in would be baby dishes (like when the grandkids are here), then glassware, then dishes, silverware, and the very last done would be pots and pans. I was always taught to do glassware first, because the first ones in get the benefit of the real hot water, and there hasn't been anything greasy in it to streak up the glasses. When I was a kid I helped at a lot of church suppers, and Fire Dept functions, and I remember them specifying that is the order to do them in. And, of course, if the water gets greasy, start a new sink's worth. It makes sense doing baby's stuff first because the water is clean and there aren't any dirt from other things there. I also let them all air dry, I remember the health dept telling us at a church supper not to use dishtowels to dry with, less germs from air drying. This was many years ago and I still follow the rules from back then lol. Hahaha, I'm thinking owlwings must be a member of my generation:-)