I estimate that I spend about 30 minutes to an hour, five days a week washing dishes. That's 240 hours - ten entire DAYS per year- at the sink. Here are some ways I've found to make dish washing faster and more fun.

1. Rubber gloves. I bought mine ($2 at Walmart) for making mozzarella cheese, but one morning I went to do dishes and realized that I had several cuts on one hand. Putting a glove on the maimed hand, I finished washing without a problem. I decided to glove both hands, and kept doing so even after my cuts had healed. The dishes get clean faster and better than ever before. The gloves protect my hands, enabling me to use hotter water instead of constantly readjusting temperature. They also grip dishes better than my wet fingers which allows me to go faster and not splash water so much. They keep my skin from drying out, and I no longer have to wipe my hands (and therefore dirty towels) so often.

2. Ajax soap. This is the best brand we have found so far. It is second cheapest at Walmart, but keeps suds for a long time.

3. Washcloth hanger. I never knew these things existed, but they allow you to use the same washcloth over and over without it stinking. Simply rinse the towel and hang it up to dry between dish washing sessions. You can also hang bottle brushes and drying clothes on it.

4. Jar brushes. These are a couple dollars at Walmart- definitely worth it if you eat a lot of home-canned foods like we do. It's a lot faster than using a fork/washcloth combo, and jar brushes are more sturdy than bottle brushes, which have more delicate bristles.

5. An old toothbrush. I use this to clean around the hardware on pots and pans, and to clean other small areas.

6. Something to listen to. I almost look forward to dish-washing time, because it gives me an excuse to listen to some of my favorite podcasts, which include but aren't limited to Michael Hyatt's "This Is Your Life" and Joshua Sheats' "Radical Personal Finance". There are a TON of podcasts to chose from. The other day I listened to "The Anarcho-Yakitalism Podcast", by a 16-year-old yak farmer. Seriously?? Really, you can find anything out there. If the internet isn't working, I pop in a garage-sale CD: beginner Spanish, audio book, audio Bible, motivational speaker, or other interesting thing. Sometimes I listen to classical music or NPR. 

What are your dish washing secrets?

As I write this, it's cold and dripping wet outside. If you're doing laundry, it's a good excuse to use the dryer, right? Not so fast! There are still ways to get by without a dryer.

One lady I know hangs clothes on the line all winter. She has a line strung on her front porch as well, which gets used when it's raining. I'm not hard-core enough to hang wet laundry outside in the dead of winter, but there are other options.

1. Use a wooden drying rack. These are great but they don't hold a lot, tip over easily (in my experience) and aren't cheap.

2. String up a line indoors. I know of one girl who strung a line right through the middle of her double wide like a big party banner!

3. Put an extra shower curtain rod in your shower. Put clothing on a hanger and hang it on the extra shower rod. This is how I dry indoors. It works well if I don't have too much laundry and if neither of us are taking a shower during that time.

4. Hang a homemade drying rack on the ceiling and dry clothing on hangers. I got this idea from a really cool mom (you know who you are!) and I think it is the best of all options. After the clothes dry, you don't even have to hang them up- just move the (plastic) hangers into the closet. Unlike the standing drying racks, you can dry a LOT more clothes, and you don't have to coordinate clothes drying with shower time. Nor do you have to handle wet clothes in the dead of winter or run a huge underwear-ridden party banner through the largest room in your house. 

This hanging rack was made from the sides of an old crib. 

According to MomOnTimeOut, a load of laundry can cost $0.44- $1.32. Let's say it costs $0.75 to be fair. I only do about two loads per week, but even so I'm saving $1.50 per week, equal to $78 per year. With my two loads of big-people clothes and some socks and underwear, it probably takes me 5-10 minutes to hang the laundry each week. Not a big hassle. If you were doing loads and loads of infant clothes it might not be worth it. But then again, if you use #4, you're saving the time it takes to hang up all of the clothes as well. Food for thought.

Do you line-dry indoors? What's your laundry secret?