One of the most useful and common skills will now be easier thanks to my guide on how to clean dishes!

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies

Cleaning dishes is not as hard as it sounds, but it requires some tools. The items you will use include:

Faucet (the type does not matter)
Three basin sink
Classic sponge (the soft yellow and scratchy green sides)
Multiple towels (cotton is fine)
Disinfectant tablets
Soap (Dawn Dish Soap is best)
Drain stopper

Step 2: Assess Your Dishes

There are a lot of different types glassware and dishes, which can make it overwhelming when you look to the right or left of your sink and see a pile of dirty dishes staring back at you. Take a deep breath, and begin by sorting out the trash or things you know can be easily replaced (ie napkins, yogurt containers, paper plates) and throw them away. This will quickly lighten your load.

Step 3: Check the Drains

It is almost time to start washing! But before you do that, you must check the three drains (there should be one in each basin). Sometimes, people from the day prior leave little bits of food that may clog the drain and not allow water to smoothly pass through. If there is any food, take it out (in a glove if you are squeamish), and throw it in the trash.

Step 4: Set Up the Third Basin

This step is not super common, but is necessary if you want the cleanest plates possible. Begin by plugging the third basin's drain using the stopper, and fill up the basin about halfway with hot water. Finally, drop in 5-7 disinfectant tablets (varies according to the size of your sink basin), and let them dissolve. It is encouraged to swirl the water to mix them in. The water will be a deep blue after they completely dissolved.

Step 5: Begin

If you have any glassware or display glasses, begin with washing those--they take the longest time to dry because it is preferred to airdry. The process that will be explained next should be repeated on all of the other types of dishes.

Step 6: Getting the Dish and Sponge Wet

Get the glass wet by holding it with one hand, and spray it using lukewarm water. Then, set the glass down, and squirt some Dawn dish soap onto the yellow side of the sponge. Massage it in lightly so the soap does not just slide off the sponge, but instead has some bubbles and suds appearing at the surface of the yellow sponge.

Step 7: Scrub the Dish

Next, scrub the dish using the soapy sponge. If there are some spots where food is on the dish, you may need to scrub harder, and possibly switch to the green scratchy side. However, DO NOT use the green side if you know that the pan you are working on is "non-stick". The toughness of the green side will scratch off the non-stickiness, which makes the pan not as valuable for cooking!

Step 8: Rinse Off

Move your dish over to the second basin, where there is still no water or drain in. This is where you may use the running water to rinse off any soap that is on the dish. Once you do not see the suds on your plate, you are ready to move it into the third basin.

Step 9: Disinfectant Basin

Finally, move your dish into the third basin with the dissolved disinfectant water in it. This should be blue, as previously stated. You should hold the plate under the water and swish it around for about five seconds. Bring it back out and put it into the drying rack/dry off.

Step 10: Dry Off and Put Away

This is the final step! You should now put your dishes in either a drying rack or dry off immediately with a towel. Likely, the drying rack will become full before you finish washing all your dishes, so take some time to periodically dry off the dishes in the rack with a towel, and put them away.

Step 11: Enjoy!

Now you can enjoy and soak in your clean sink and dishes, that have been properly disinfected and are ready for the next use. I dare you to impress your parents tonight by showing them how it's done, using this dish washing guide! This is a skill that may seem easy, but is completely necessary in your day-to-day life!