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Dish Washing

PREPARATION. Collect all dishes to be washed. Save time and steps in clearing off by using a tray to carry dishes from table to sink. (A table on casters will do instead of the tray.) As you take the dishes from the table, scrape and stack them on the tray. Wheel it to the sink and remove the dishes from it directly to the dishpan. Put scraps in an earthenware or enamelled dish. Frying-pans and other greasy dishes should be wiped with pieces of soft paper. This paper may be used for kindling. Or fill them with hot water to which a teaspoonful of sal-soda has been added, and let them stand. Dishes that have contained batter, dough, eggs or any starchy material should be soaked in cold water; dishes that have been used to cook sugar should be soaked in hot water. Put all dishes of a kind together; plates in piles, knives, forks, and spoons, laid with handles one way, etc. Place nearest to you the dishes to be washed first. Have a clean dry place for clean dishes. Make ready two pans, or one if there is a draining-board. WASHING. Wash the dishes in the following order: 1, glassware; 2, silver; 3, cups and saucers; 4, plates; 5, larger dishes; 6, the cleaner articles of kitchenware; 7, large utensils. This order may have to be varied to your circumstances. If you have hot water at hand constantly, the kitchen utensils may be washed and put away first, or as fast as they are used. Dish-washing need not be an unpleasant task if these rules are observed: 1, use hot soapy water; 2, change the water frequently; 3, have the dishes free from crumbs and scraps before beginning to wash them. Wash all dishes, inside and out, in soapy water; rinse in clear hot water, drain and wipe dry. Use scouring soap or cleaning powder to remove food that sticks or is burnt on. Use a wire dishcloth on ironware, a scrubbing-brush, if necessary, on enamelled ware, tinware, and wire strainers. Clean seams in tinware and enamelled ware with a wooden skewer.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS. Do not put knife-handles in water. Water discolors and cracks ivory and bone handles, and may loosen wooden ones. After washing knives, scour them with bath brick. Do not wash bread-board or rolling-pin at an iron sink. The iron will leave marks on them. Wash them at the table. Be careful not to wet the cogs of a Dover egg-beater. Wash the lower part, and wipe off the handles with a damp cloth. Water washes the oil from the cogs, making the beater hard to turn.. Dry the seams of a double-boiler carefully. Do not waste time polishing tins. It is sufficient to have them clean and dry. Dip glasses into hot water, so that they will be wet inside and outside at the same time. Silver and glass are brightest if wiped directly from clean, hot suds, without being rinsed. A damp towel makes dull spoons and glasses. Scald, i. e., rinse with boiling water, all vessels that have contained milk. Wash teapot and coffee-pot in clean hot water without soap, and wipe dry. Clean the spout carefully. Let them stand for awhile with covers off. Wash dishpan and rinsing-pan, and wipe dry with a towel, not with the dishcloth. Where running hot water is plentiful, time and towels can be saved by placing the dishes as they are washed in a wire rack, rinsing them with very hot water, and letting them drain. It is best, if possible, to set the rack of dishes for a minute into a pan or sink full of scalding hot water. Wipe glasses and silver. China and other ware will need only a polish with towel or strip of paper towelling. For success with this method, the dishes must be washed in clean hot suds, and rinsed quickly. If washed in greasy water, or allowed to cool before being rinsed, they will not dry clean. Caution: golddecorated china should not be washed in this way. Very hot water may injure it.

REMOVAL OF TARNISH. Acids dissolve tarnish. Oxalic acid, lemonjuice, and vinegar may be used. But, except for spots, it is best to rely mostly upon powders in cleaning metals. A chemical that removes the tarnish may attack the metal. For example, any chemical that brightens zinc, eats into it. If acid is used on any metal, all traces of it must be removed by rubbing with powder, or the tarnish will quickly reappear. Oil or water, mixed with the powder, forms a paste easy to apply. Use chamois-skin or soft cloth for polishing. TO SCOUR STEEL KNIVES. Scrape off a little bath brick with the back of the knife or with an old knife. Dip a cork in water or oil, and then in the brick-dust. Hold the knife firmly, with the blade resting flat upon a level surface, and rub both sides of the blade with the cork. Wash the knife. Scour steel forks in the same way. Never scour silver-plated knives or forks.

CARE OF ALUMINUM WARE. Aluminum should not be used for vegetables with strong acid or for boiling eggs. These discolor it. Otherwise it needs little care. Never use soda on aluminum. Before using any polish fill with water and bring to a boil. For bad stains use oxalic acid diluted, one teaspoonful of acid to two quarts of water. If the stain still remains, rub with a damp cloth dipped in whiting or Dutch cleanser.

TO CLEAN SILVERWARE. The quickest way to brighten silver is by electroylsis, that is, by decomposing the tarnish by electricity. One device for this purpose is an aluminum pan with cross-bars of tin on the bottom. Fill the pan with water, and for every quart dissolve in it one teaspoonful of baking-soda and one tablespoonful of salt. The silver must rest on the bars and be covered with the solution. A mild current of electricity is set up which causes the tarnish quickly to disappear. No rubbing is needed, but embossed silver may need brushing to loosen the tarnish. Rinse in clear water, and wipe dry with a soft cloth. The old way is to moisten a soft cloth with water or alcohol, dip it in fine whiting, and apply to the silver. When the whiting has dried, rub it off with another soft cloth, and polish with chamois-skin. To cleanse chasing or ornamental work, use an old tooth-brush. Rub egg-stained spoons and other badly tarnished articles with salt before washing them. The tarnish is not soluble, but with the chlorine in the salt it forms a soluble compound. Powders or cakes sold by silversmiths are good. Patent powders and polishes often remove some of the silver.