When visiting my elderly father recently I noticed that his dishes, glasses and everything in his kitchen were covered with a grimy film. He explained that to save money he was cutting his dishwashing liquid with water (1/4 soap and 3/4 wanter) and using much less than the recommended amount dishwasher detergent. I say this waste of money, because there is no savings if you become ill from the germs accumulating in a dirty kitchen! You don't have to use a huge amount of soap, but please use full it strength to kill germs!
Also he uses a wooden cutting board for everything and rather than cleaning it with soap, he uses only wanter and then oils it. This is an old-fashioned and dangerous practice. Germs get in to the wood. Oil becomes rancid when out in the air. Best to use a non-porous plastic or glass cutting surface and clean it with soap and vinegar after each use. Food poisoning is more than unpleasant -- it can often be life threatening! Why take risks?
Spraying bleach on most wooden cutting boards will not santize it due to organic compounds in the wood nuetralize it. a spray of vinegar and then a spray of hydrogen peroxide should santize the surface and be safe for food.
Wooden boards should be cleaned with MINERAL oil and thus would not become rancid. But since your grandfather is skimping on costs or might not know that, he could be using organic oils instead, which would not clean the board.
Depending on the thickness of the wooden board, if microwaved for ten minutes in a 800W or higher microwave will santize the board, a way of santization that plastic boards cannot be.
Have him put a cup of white vinegar into the dishwasher along with the detergent (pour in the bottom), make certain the water is hot before turning on the dishwasher (so the dishwasher doesn't spend half of its time trying to heat the water).Also use a product such as Jet Dry. I do this about once a week (add the vinegar). Your dishes will come out sparkling clean and the vinegar also helps to rid the dishwasher of soap buildup. This tip was given to me by an appliance dealer when I thought I needed a new dishwasher. Still going strong after 15 years and no repairs.
He needs to get a spray bottle which he should fill with a mixture of bleach and water. The concentration should be about 1 part bleach to 3 parts of water. He should spray this on all of the surfaces after cooking -- especially a wooden cutting board. As far as washing dishes, if he lives alone, this method might not be so harmful, but it is certainly far from ideal. If he had a dishpan that he could use for washing all of his dishes by hand, he could fill that with soap and hot water, wash the dishes without having to use soap on each item. Then rinse them and leave them in a dish drainer or rack to dry. As far as his dishwasher use, he would be better off getting the pellets. They are premeasured, and can easily be placed in the soap dispenser. He might also benefit from using a rinse aid in his dishwasher. That only needs to be filled once a month. Has it occurred to anyone that if he were to use his dishwasher, he could wait to do a load of dishes until the thing was entirely full. I don't know how big the dishwasher is, but it might not have to be done for 3 days or more. That would mean he only has to run the dishwasher about 2 times a week. It seems to me that the amount of soap and water that the dishwasher would use during 2 cycles per week would be substantially less than the amount of water used when washing the dishes after 3 meals every day. A gallon bottle of bleach would undoubtedly last him many months. The little spray bottle with bleach would be more effective as an antibacterial agent, and use less material (both in terms of soap and water,) than the material he would use by washing these surfaces with soap and water and then rinsing them. If he is as stubborn as some older people I know, you would have to prove these things to him by showing him. Do a side by side cost analysis and see what he thinks. He'd be a lot safer, too.
I dilute my washing up liquid and none of my dishes or kitchen is covered in a greasy film. I feel the problem may lie in the washing technique rather than the amount of detergent used. I make sure I wash in hot water, (as hot as I can bear), and rub every surface of the item with a cloth. I have seen many people just 'rinsing' their cups, glasses, etc in the washing up water and their glassware is always smeared and grubby looking. I just make sure I use a sturdy cloth, (cheap facewashers are good!), and rub every surface, especially the rim and my glassware is sparkling and everything looks clean and shiny. I wash my chopping boards in the same way, using a green scrubber, (Scoth Brite), except after cutting raw meat - I then scrub with bleach.
My Gran was the same. Her eyesight was poor and she couldn't see what was clean and what wasn't - a cup of tea at her house was always an 'adventure' unless my Mum went in periodically and scrubbed everything down!
Let him use the wooden cutting board just have him pour some bleach on it every couple days and rinse well in plain water,,,been doing this for years with no adverse reactions
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