Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1924-02-20
WHEN Is \ DISH
WASHED CLEAN ?

LJte is nut an endless washing
OF Dishes" has been quoted times
without number by housekeepers
the wide world over There is prob
ably no one home process with re-
gard to which so many women CON
slider themselves experts and strange
to say no one process so uniform
Iy poorly executed Nothing would
shock a housekeeper more than to
have you question the efficiency of
her dish-washing methods Have
YOU the courage to ask your next
door neighbor: Are your dishes
really clean?"
Cleanliness, from a bacterial stand
point, does not enter into considera-
ton as often as it should. Judging
from the great variation in dish
washins methods, most people do not
give that any definite thought at all,
Yet we all know that TO be the real
reason for the monotonous process;
else. why the instructive aversion to
using the spoons, glasses, etc. which
other people have used?
The one rule that most of the
DISTINGUISHING processes have in com
mon is that silver and glassware
should be washed first Are cups or
glasses cleaner than saucers? Per
haps the real reason for washing
glassware and silver first is, if they
are not clean, they show it more than
the other dishes do, which, after all
is a sad reflection on the condition
of the dishes as a whole.
This means, of course, that glasses,
spoons and forks, the articles that
come most often and most directly
into contact with mouth organisms,
are washed first, thus distributing
the bacteria throughout the dish
water, (Fifty-four specimens of
dishwater from ten different restau-
rants showed an average of about
100000 bacteria to a Drop These
articles, too, are commonly washed
less thoroughly than the other
dishes; it is not unusual to see a
houseEeeper give glasses but a quick
dip, or stick but the ends of the
spoons or forks into the washwater
Very often glasses and silver are
wiped without being rinsed, because,
If the soap is left on them, they
cake better polish" Then why not
soapy rinsing water rather than
no rinsing at all?
Recently study of the prevalence
of influenza and other respiratory
diseases in several of the army
camps showed a direct relationship
between the method of dish-washing
and the percentage of such diseases,
which is described as follows by
Lynch and Cumming
Troops are divided into two
groups, according to their respective
Methods OF messing; the one group
eating from tableware or mess kit
equipment, Which is washed in boil
Ing water; and the other group eat
ing from mess kits which are washed
by the old-line methods. The old
line method consists of each soldier
washing his own mess equipment in
water used by other members of the
organization. This army investiga-
tion included over $4,000 troops.
Among the $4,000 men who ate
from tableware, the influenza rate
was 81 per 1000, while among the
$4,000 men who ate from mess kits,
the rate was 252 per 1000. Eighty
per cent OF the influenza cases oc-
CURED among the troops using I'M
sanitary methods of dish-washing.
But such careless or dangerous
methods are not found in homes
like ours, our readers will protest.
Our dishes are carefully and salts
factorily washed, Are they? Do
tllli6 NuAbt iuNCSbiSeltillS, anu tiAOh
answer the following questions:
In how many homes is but sin
gle wash-water used for the whole
dish washing process?
Is enough soap always used to
keep a copious lather on the wash
ing water?
are the dishpans greasy to the
touch, or, even worse, is there a
dark, greasy band around the inside
of the dishpan?
Are the dishes rinsed?
Are the mops, dishcloths, dish
towels, always washed aired OF
summed and thoroughly dried after
each period of use?
is the proper rinsing substituted