Something I Know Nothing About: Washing Dishes

What I Know About This: Nothing. Ok, that's not entirely true. I know that dishes must inevitably be washed, and that this generally requires some sort of water and soap combination to effectively achieve. But, I don't have a particular strategy. My momma does: she throws it under water and right into the dishwasher. I've generally used that strategy, but my dishwasher is broken for the time being. So tonight, I bit the bullet and tackled my three days worth of dishes the old fashioned way.

And I was stumped. Was their a correct way to do this? Being a studious Renaissance Wannabe, I went to find out.

When You Google "Correct Way to Wash Dishes" you get 558,000 oh so helpful results.

If you were feeling particularly lucky, wisegeek.com offers the following result.

To paraphrase, they recommend three sinks (and I'm screwed with just two): one that has hot water and soap, one with just straight hot water and one with hot water and chlorine. So not only can your dishes get a sauna, they can practice the backstroke too.

Like I said, with just two, I'm screwed.

For the person that requires everything spelled out in ridiculous detail, there's trusty about.com with this result.

For the domestically challenged, here's some tips:

• You must use hot water.
• Yes, hot water. None of this warm water crap.
• Cleaning dishes is a tedious task (that's a great sales pitch by the way).
• Rubber gloves can leave a smell (that's news to me).

Damn it, Google, I'm glad I wasn't feeling lucky.

Seeing that Google AND Google Scholar failed me miserably, I just went to work. Sometimes the good Renaissance Man must know when to say, "screw it" and jump into something.

Where People Do This Activity: The privacy of their own homes where their dirty dishes and laundry are protected from public view.

How to Learn About this Activity: Mom taught me to use dishwashers, but I imagine most people just teach themselves. I started with the bigger plates and dishes and worked my way down to utensils. Little hint: leave knives out of the sink and wash them separately if you fill your sink up with water to wash dishes.

I imagine your local friendly restaurateur could also give you a quick lesson.

Something I Know Related to This Subject: Nothing; I just know how to cook.

The Plan: My dishwasher will be fixed by tomorrow.