Why you should never let your dirty dishes soak
Soaking your dishes might have always seemed like an obvious step, but it seems that it could be quite dangerous...
Very few people love doing the dishes, and not everyone is lucky enough to have a dishwasher.
Many of us are guilty of putting dirty dishes in the sink and letting them soak first before we feel the need to tackle them.
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You might also leave your dishes in some warm water if they are covered in food that has now gotten stuck.
Leaving dishes to soak and then cleaning them seems like the obvious thing to do and can only result in sparkly, completely clean dishes.
According to various sources, this could be doing the opposite and you should not be leaving your dishes to soak.
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Associate Professor Barbara Mullan from Curtin University's School of Psychology has stated that the longer you leave your dishes unwashed in the warm water, the more microbes can grow resulting in a bacteria soup.
These harmful germs can come from anywhere especially if you have been cooking raw meat or seafood, where bacteria such as E. coli or Salmonella are a risk.
Sinks are lovely, warm, moist environments with leftover nutrients that make them perfect for microbes to thrive.
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It is recommended that you wash your dishes as soon as possible after dinner to prevent bacterial growth. If you are not using a dishwasher, run the tap as warm as you can and scrub with a lot of soap.
One study suggested the two-basin approach. First you scrub your dishes with soapy water before rinsing them with clean water.
It is also highly recommended that you replace your sponges often as they can also be a hotbed for bacteria growth and if you are using a dishwasher, DO NOT rinse your dishes before putting them in.
Ultimately if you leave dirty dishes around and there are people in the house, and possibly animals, they are likely to spread bacteria around. Bacteria will stay alive on surfaces, even clean surfaces, for up to four days. So on dishes that have contamination like food particles, bacteria can stay alive for a very long time."
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