Dishwashing/Printable version

Dishwashing

The current, editable version of this book is available in Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection, at
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Dishwashing

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Safety

Safety at home

Although dishwashing at home can seem safe, there are a number of safety risks still present.

• Sharps can still cut.
• Dishes may break, forming sharps.
• Safety equipment may not be available.

Safety in a commercial environment

In a commercial environment, safety while dishwashing becomes much more paramount. Not only are you working many more dishes in a fast paced environment, you are often working with harsher chemicals and more powerful machinery. It is for this reason that well run commercial kitchens not only feature a number of safety precautions and equipment, but also enforce their usage. Common safety features and tools include:

• Wearing Personal protective equipment (PPE) including:
  • Most commonly non-slip shoes are required. A dish pit handles vast quantities of water, some of which will inevitably find its way to the floor.
  • Masks and googles reduce the risk of sprayback, especially when handling harsh chemicals.
  • Gloves can help prevent, but not eliminate, minor scrapes and other small injuries to the hands.

General safety

Mixing Chemicals

Never mix chemicals without first understanding the possible consequences of the mixture. Many common cleaners will form dangerous gases when mixed, endangering the lives of everyone present.

Sharps

Knives deserve special treatment and care while dishwashing.

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Not professional advice

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Tools

Hand Tools

Rag

The humble rag is among the most versatile of the tools available to a dishwasher. From cleaning dishes and glasses gently, to wiping down the sink at the end of the night, the rag offers a gentile and flexible approach for cleaning light messes.

Sponge

The sponge is a step up above the rag in terms of ability to clean small portions of an item thoroughly. A soft side allows for a similar level of gentleness to the rag, while a more abrasive side tackles tougher grime and debris.

Steel Wool

Steel wool is among the harshest hand tools, and is an invaluable asset when cleaning material which has been caked onto pots and pans.

Never use Steel Wool on Teflon or similar coatings. This will likely destroy the coating.

Cleaning Block

Cleaning blocks can be used on items with very hard caked on debris.

Water

Tap

A standard tap can be used to fill up a sink, or to provide running water over an object during scrubbing.

Sprayer

A sprayer separates a stream of water into a number of droplets. Many sprayers propel these droplets faster than the continuous stream of a tap, allowing more easy removal of grit and grime. Most sprayers require manual operation.

Cleaning liquids

Water

Good clean water is an essential part of the cleaning process.

Hand soap

It is essential to wash your hands between handling dirty and clean dishes. Having and using hand soap by the sink or by the dish pit (With separate handwashing sink) is critical for proper sanitation.

Detergent

Detergents help you remove bits of food and grease that are stuck on items. Detergent is common in both residential sinks and commercial dishpits.

Degreaser

Degreasers are chemicals specifically aimed at removing grease from objects. This type of liquid is seen more often in commercial dishpits then in residential settings.

Bleach

Bleach is good at sanitizing surfaces of harmful microbes. It is harmful to ingest, so you should handle it with care around yourself, and should not allow it to come into direct contact with food.

It is important to never mix bleach with ammonia.

Bleach can easily stain your clothing.

Techniques

Scraping

Unless your dish pit or sink is specifically equipped to handle it, all food or significant debris should be removed from the items before any water is used. To do this manually, simply scrape the debris into a trash bin, taking care not to brush any sharp edges against yourself. This ensures kitchen sponges and other cleaning items will not become saturated with debris and grease.

Hand Washing

The classic form of dishwashing. Fully hand washing isn't efficient in either time or resource use. However hand washing plays an important role. Light handwashing prior to entry into a machine can double as an inspection, to help ensure that the machine isn't given an item it can't clean.

Hand washing also plays another important role, if no dishwashing machine is present or operational, it becomes the only option for dishwashing.

Soaking

Sometimes it is desirable to soak items in cleaning liquid and/or water to help release some of the debris firmly attached to the items. By letting items soak for a while, it may become easier to clean them. This is useful when there is a large volume of items with few to no additional hands, allowing more efficient use of time. That said soaking is not a substitute for actually cleaning an item.

For cleaning especially dirty dishes like hardened layers of fat or similar, soaking in hot water may help to melt the remains, allowing them to be scraped easily.