This is how I do my dishes:

[sdecaro558]

We used to use our dishwasher, before it broke.  Now we're doing them by hand.  I'm sure it saves some water, but I never really gave it much thought.

[lannl]

I don't have a dishwasher. So, I hand wash, I try to be careful about using tons of water but I would not use cold water to rinse my dishes always hot.

[cateyes1]

I use styrofoam plates, dishes done 

[HLNew]

Dishwasher all the way.  I give most things a pre-wash/rinse by hand to remove anything that's sticking. My last dishwasher sucked, but this one is pretty good.

[depate99]

Mindless scrubbing with soap and water does the trick for me.  Man do I hate doing dishes.  Thanks fir reminding me.

[surveysmillenium]

Now that I am unemployed I wash all my dishes by hand. I do use hot water and I allow them to air dry for almost a day. I do think the key in ensuring the dishes are clean when washing by hand is to squeeze the sponge well and let it air dry with the spongy side up. I have a dishwasher, and it has the sanitize feature, but I think all things done by hand are actually more effective.

[angelawarhol]

          Great topic!! I myself use the great dawn dish soap, some warm water, and my Mr. Clean wash sponge and wash away all the icky film off every dish before I even put my   dish's into the dish washer. I enjoy the bubble's and aroma scent of the dish soap lol...                                                                                                                                                                                                           I guess i'm wierd and possibly a little OCD but that's okay it reminds me that I have dish's to attend too!  Thankyou                                                                                                     

[alabreu5]

Get a dishwasher and stuff as much as you can in it. only wash your pots and pans in your sink. saves lots of time and water all at once

[Skyisbluetoday]

I use paper plate's time to time, I can save some water! Mostly wash dishes by hand, and don't fill the sinks with water!   

[BK_Adores_Chase]

See, sometimes I want to use paper plates but I am trying to dig my way out of debt and save every penny I can...let me tell you, when I am out of debt I have LOTS of things that I've been wanting that will save me time - seems like I'm always short on time 

[mperez7372]

To save water, instead of filling the sink, I keep my fish soap in a hand soap dispenser because if I use it while it's in the big bottle it gets everywhere and messy and I waste some - so anyway, I squirt a squirt on whatever I'm washing first (the sink is closed so it won't drain the water) and I wash that one dish and rinse it off above the other dishes with hot water - I do this with the next dish and the next dish until the sink is full - after it's full, I don't use anymore soap and I rinse the dishes off in the other half of the sink with cold water.

It seems to me that what you are rinsing onto the other dishes is dirty water!  I am a clean dish freak, though.  I use a dishwasher now and only put dishes in after there is no food, residue or greasiness.  When I didnt have one, I would pre-clean dishes with my "dirty" sponge (the sponge I allow to touch dishes that have food).  I then cleaned the dishes with a clean sponge (it never touches anything but pre-washed dishes), soap on the sponge and running water.  When my "clean" sponge starts to get a little old, I use it as my dirty sponge and throw the other one away.  They are like a dollar for a pack of 4!  It won't break the bank.  I don't like to get anything clean in anything that's not purely clean!  I can't stand dishes that still seem greasy or dirty at all. 

[BK_Adores_Chase]

I do my nails everyday, so i also always do dishes BEFORE i do my nails for the day

[StarlitNirvana]

I always rinse my dishes off very well in the sink with hot water and than I wash them in my dishwasher

[katybug2016]

I just use a dishwasher, Saves Alot of time

[bholmes618]

Dishwasher.  Don't remember where, but I read the dishwasher actually uses less water than washing by hand.