By Jennifer Noonan\n

Follow these tips and tricks to speed through those dishes piling up in your sink.\n

The Never Ending Chore\n

Dishwashing is a task most people don\u2019t look forward to. If you’d rather be doing, well, anything rather than washing the dishes, check out these simple tips and tricks. While they won’t save you from having to wash dishes at all, they will make the job faster and easier than you may have thought possible.\n

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Bag It\n

Tiny items, such as bottle tops, cocktail forks, and kids’ toys and pacifiers, can get lost in the wash cycle if they’re placed in the silverware basket or upper rack. Instead of throwing such items directly in the washer, first pop them in a laundry bag. The mesh bag will keep them from getting tossed around\u2014or worse, lost\u2014inside your appliance. Place the bag on the top rack when you run a load for best results.\n

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Blend Up Some Soap\n

With their sharp blades and tiny crevices, blenders and food processors are a challenge to clean. To dislodge food that’s stuck around and underneath the blades, first run a bit of soapy water through the blender on the pulse setting to give the cleaning process a head start.\n

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Make Use of Plastic Bins\n

Contain yourself\u2014or at least your dishes\u2014when you’re on after-dinner cleaning duty. Instead of putting dirty dishes directly in the sink, put them in a plastic bin. Place the container on the countertop or, if it’s small, inside the sink, so you can keep all or part of the sink clear for other tasks until you can tackle the dishes. Putting hot water and a little soap in the bin will give your dirtiest items an instant presoak.\n

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Use a Soap Dispenser\n

Buying dishwashing liquid in bulk is a money saver, but large bottles are not easy to handle\u2014especially with wet hands. Keep a refillable dish detergent dispenser on the counter by the sink, and leave your bulk bottle under the sink for refills. Soap will be just a quick squeeze away anytime you need it.\n

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Don\u2019t Rinse Your Plates!\n

Scrape your plates but don\u2019t rinse them before loading the dishwasher. The small food particles left behind on your dishes actually act as an aggregate that helps get dishes cleaner as they run through the wash cycle.\n

Clean While You\u2019re Cooking\n

Wash your pots and pans as you finish your cooking tasks. Food residue wipes off much more easily if the cookware is still warm, and you’ll have fewer things to clean after the meal is over.\n

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Use Cold Water for Dairy and Starch\n

It may seem counterintuitive, but using cold water (not hot) to clean that lasagna pan will make the work go faster. That’s because hot water makes dairy and starch stickier, and harder to wash away.\n

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Make an Extra Drying Rack\n

Short on counter space but in need of an additional spot to dry your dishes? You can make an extra drying rack by placing a cooling rack on one half of a double sink. Not only will this hack double your dish-drying area, but because the clean dishes will drip right over the drain, your counters will stay dryer.\n

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Clean in the Right Order\n

Yes, there actually is a right and wrong way to hand-wash dishes. You should go from cleanest to dirtiest. Wash glasses first to ensure that grease doesn\u2019t get transferred onto them. Then wash flatware and plates that have been scraped clean, and last, pots and pans. Do you have a dirty cast iron pan to tackle? Clean it last\u2014after you\u2019ve rinsed the dish soap out of the sink.\n

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