Fairy tips for hand washing dishes

Set the scene
At the side of the sink, assemble everything in order of cleaning. Place glasses and flatware closest to you, then plates and further away larger dishes and pans. Make sure you have a drying area to welcome the clean pieces, whether a drying grid attached to your sink or a towel-lined surface nearby.

Fill your sink with warm water up to mid level, not too hot to avoid damaging both your hands and your fine pieces. While water flows in, add in a few drops of Fairy and gently stir to create the perfect washing water.

Select your tools
You’ll need the following:

• A non abrasive nylon mesh pad, or even better a vegetable sponge, for glasses, plates, enamelled dishes, non-stick pans and aluminium.
• A scouring pad, reserved only for untreated, heavy metal pots and pans. As a general rule, don’t go scrub crazy. Today’s powerful washing-up liquid does most of the work for you. Fairy® Platinum provides the power of an overnight soak in just 10 minutes. Your sink won’t be permanently cluttered with soaking dishes anymore.
• Purchase a long stick brush to clean vases or pitchers with small openings.
• If you are going to manually dry out your dishes, select a natural fibre cloth containing only cotton and linen for a spotless drying result.

Glasses first
Start with glasses, as they will benefit from the warmest and purest water. Besides, hot water evaporates more quickly, reducing spots. For an extra clear result, invert clean glasses to let excess water roll down, then polish with a dry, dust-free cloth, preferably cotton or linen.
A cloudy film on your glasses could be the result of hard water. To clear away the clouds, try rubbing your glasses with white alcohol vinegar every now and then. No need to rinse as vinegar evaporates automatically.

Handling cast iron
Legend has it that suds will harm your seasoned pots. Soap is actually needed to thoroughly clean away cooked-on food and dissolve greases. Just make sure you’ll fully rinse away the cleansing product with clear running tap water. Cast iron rusts easily, so dry immediately with a paper towel to avoid leaving rust marks on your dishcloths.

Handling crystal, china and silverware

• Crystal and china are prone to chipping if stacked in the sink. Line your sink with a towel to provide additional protection.
• Crystal pieces cannot withstand hot temperature so make sure your cleansing water is warm to lukewarm. In any case, dishwasher temperature is far too high for crystal.
• The porous nature of china may allow water to seep under the surface of the glaze. As a general habit, avoid soaking china for too long.
• Silver and silver-plated flatware should not be left to soak either. Some substances, such as salt, can be corrosive to precious metals. Proceed with cleaning them right after you are done with the glasses. Rinse immediately. The dishwasher is also too abrasive for silverware.
• Carefully wash all these precious pieces one at a time with a soft sponge. Avoid using abrasive cleaning products or scrubbers. Instead, use your thumbnail when stains resist.

Treat your hands with care
You may want to remove your rings before dishwashing, thus avoiding water to get trapped in-between the ring and your finger. If you’d like to improve the look and feel of your hands while you’re dishwashing, try Fairy® Clean and Care with a touch of Olay® softness. It improves the look and feel of your hands and gives you the grease-fighting power you need.

Dry your hands thoroughly but gently with a soft towel after you finish the job to keep your skin even smoother.

"I would certainly continue to use Fairy as it produces really high quality results and is such good value for money. I really like the traditional Fairy fragrance too; it smells clean and fresh, which is exactly what you want from a washing up liquid." - Claire Coates

"The best thing about it is the fact that you only need to use a little bit to get a sink full of dishes washed." - Natalie McDermott

"I feel it takes out the hardwork when it comes to cleaning the dishes and is brilliant at getting those ground in bits of food off the plates and cutlery." - Alleyene White