Use less dish soap!

Here's how I do it:

At my kitchen sink, I keep a small pump bottle of dish soap. When it's time to wash dishes, I squirt one pump of soap into the water. I wash until it looks like I need more soap. Sometimes I need more, sometimes not; it just depends on how greasy the dishes are. If I need more, I add another pump of soap.

It's handy (no reaching inside cupboards with wet hands!), keeps the counter looking tidy (no huge bottles setting out), and quickly and efficiently dispenses enough soap but not too much!

If you notice two little pump bottles in the photo, that's because I have hand soap at the sink, also. I just re-fill the same bottles over and over!

Bonus Tip: Cleaner, fresher dish water without wasting any water!

1. When I wash dishes, I start with two clean sinks. I plug one of the drains, and stack dirty dishes in that sink. I add a little soap and just enough all-hot water to wash them (usually about 3 inches in the sink). I pile clean dishes (not yet rinsed) in the other sink as I wash.

2. I wash until my water is cold and dirty, and the other sink is packed full of dishes. Occasionally I get all the dishes washed, but usually I am about half done.

3. I let out the dirty wash water, and rinse out the sink. I plug the drain again, and start rinsing all my clean dishes, and piling them into the drainer. By the time I have 3-4 inches of fresh hot rinse water in the sink, I turn off the water and keep rinsing until all the dishes are rinsed.

4. Then, I add a squirt of soap, and start piling in the rest of the dirty dishes. I continue doing this until all the dishes are washed -- sometimes as often as 3 or 4 times!

5. So, I get fresh hot wash water whenever I need it, and I'm not wasting water! (We live in town and have to pay for our water and sewer)