Dish Sponge in Water

Here's a good way to save money and clean. Find a shallow enough of a bowl to fill enough water to hold your dish sponge. Squirt dish detergent directly into your bowl, then fill it up with hot water. Soak your dish sponge in there. This way when you rinse gunk off before you use dish soap, you're not using more than you have to. Just keep dipping the sponge into the dish liquid.

Daily Mini-Cleaning

Kitchen

When I first wake up, I sweep the kitchen floor. Then I wash my hands. I trust that my broom is clean, but whenever I expose myself to something that cleaned something, I feel like it's accepted part of the grime. This is perfect, though, because now with clean hands, I'm ready to put the dishes away. I feel like I reward myself with breakfast, but this forces me to go into the kitchen first before propping myself in front of the TV. The next thing you know hours go by on an empty stomach, and I'm starved. Knock two birds with one stone.

I thoroughly clean both sides of the sink after I wash the dishes.

As the dishes are soaking, I boil vinegar in a measuring cup in the microwave. Then I dunk my sponge in. I know that soaking the sponge before it gets grimy sounds self-defeating, as it'll get dirty and go unsanitized until the next day. Inevitably, someone will criticize the flaw in my plan. But those are the same people who put zero effort into cleaning their sponges. I'd rather put a little effort than no effort at all. I won't get around to cleaning my sponge after I do the dishes, so this works for me.

Bathroom

I clean the bathroom counters everyday with the method disinfecting wipes. It's simple and easy to do. Doing it everyday actually requires less work. And, surprisingly, you use less, so it's cheaper in the long run, too.

Bedroom

I make my bed every morning.

New Dishwashing Method

So I refined my dish washing technique, again. I use one tall glass to hold the flatware and small cutlery and fill that with glass. I use more than one glass if I need to. I set that aside. This is such a duh method, but I don't see too many people doing it, either. As far as my bowls and plates, I run over hot water over each layer. This is something I more or less do, but I want to be more diligent about it. I usually wash the dishes at the end of the day. Sometimes I wash a bowl or two halfway into the day, so I don't have to re-use anything. But I usually fill the big pots and pans with hot water and a little dish detergent until I'm ready to clean them. The dishes that are sitting on the rack dries by morning time and ready for use.

Disinfecting Your Dish Sponges

I’ve heard that you can disinfect your dish sponge by running it through the dishwasher. I’ve personally never tried it. It’s probably more sanitary than doing nothing, but because the sponge can absorb so much bacteria, I’m still hesitant. It’ll probably remove quite a bit, but what about the scum and buildup from the dishes? I like boiling vinegar in the microwave or on the stove and using that to disinfect sponges. But I don’t microwave the sponge, too. I’ve heard that it can start a fire. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but I’m not in the mood to find out. I figure by the time the vinegar’s boiling in the microwave, it’s hot enough to do its job. It’s recommended that if you don’t wash your sponge everyday, which, let’s face it, few of us do, it’s best to replace it every month. I’ve also heard the same story with a different timeline, suggesting replacement every three months. I don’t know which one is true, so I prefer to be safer than sorry. Sponges pick up the most amount of dirt when you’re degreasing the lasagna dish, degunking the pasta and tomato sauce, etc. Rather than increase bacteria buildup on your sponge, consider using a dish brush. They’re initially a pricier investment, but it outlasts a dish sponge, making it worth the purchase, and it removes grease and gunk far more effectively than a dish sponge. Just be sure to not use it on stainless steel cookware or other easily aggravated surfaces.

Simplifying the Cleaning Process of Cookware

I don't know about everyone else, but I find myself losing interest when it comes to washing cookware such as skillets with long handles and oversized stockpots or Dutch ovens because of its enormous size. It makes maneuvering and cleaning them more of a challenge, and after washing all the smaller dishes, I'm less than enthusiastic about tackling the generously sized remainders. You can always wash the large cookware first before you tire yourself with smaller dishes, as the larger cookware are usually greasier and more imperative to clean in a timely manner. But it's just not realistic considering how dishes pile up in most homes. People usually put their dirty dishes in the sink, so you have to clear the sink to make space for the cookware. And it's at that time that my energy starts to drain. I can't imagine that others feel differently. So I incorporate double duty and simplified methods. While my smaller dishes are soaking, I add a squirt of dish detergent and fill the cookware with water and bring to a boil. This effectively and efficiently separates the grease and food residues from the surfaces, and the hot water aids in the process. Because the cookware degreases at a faster speed than the smaller dishes, I usually give the cookware a quick scrubbing with a long handled scrubbing brush once the water comes to a boil. I obviously still have to soak it and give it an official cleaning under the sink, but this method manages to reduce my efforts. I would also suggest considering to change your kitchen faucet size if your current one sits lower, making larger dishes harder to clean. It's an unnecessary investment but a simple change like that can significantly improve your cleaning habits. And isn't that worth the investment? Look for a new faucet during a sale to save even more money.

There is a possible drawback to my soap and boil method. If you're not paying attention, the soap bubbles will increase and the heat may cause the water to boil over, creating a bigger mess to clean and self-defeating outcome. Moral of the story? Keep an eye on the stove and make sure to time it properly. It's not enough to pay attention. You also have to know when to turn the heat off, giving it enough time to cool off so that it doesn't boil over. If you don't have the time or patience to supervise the heating process, I would suggest against this method.

Make Washing Dishes by Hand Easier

I like the concept of those buckets that you soak dishes in, but why spend money on a bucket to soak dishes? It's unnecessary and takes up space. It's just another thing to clean up later. Plus I can't help but feel like after washing all of those dishes, people are going to get lazy about cleaning the bucket that held all those dirty dishes. Can you think of the mildew buildup if that bucket just stays there? Ewwwww!!!! And I personally only have one dish rack. It's not large enough to hold all of my pots, pans, plates, bowls, cups, utensils, AND a bucket. I can't imagine too many people having a larger dish rack than mine. I suppose different rules apply if you have a dishwasher, but I have a cheaper solution for soaking your dishes.

I do like the bucket concept. So I simply use a sink stopper. I basically turn my sink into a bucket, so to speak, something I already own. I stack my dishes into the sink, pour a little dishwashing liquid over it, and fill it up with the hottest water possible. That way it takes much longer for the water to get cold, so I buy myself a little more time before I have to tackle the dishes. I like to soak my accumulated dishes from the day and soak them overnight. I finish cleaning them first thing in the morning.