没有洗洁精行不行？

据统计，美国的消费者在2018年将花费大约370万美元用于购买洗碗的洗洁精。这一数据让人十分震惊，也我们不禁想问这样一个问题：我们真的必须需要洗洁精来洗碗吗?

The short answer is: No, we can get along without it.

答案当然是：不，没有它我们也能活得很好。

So what does it take to remove all the grease and food particles and kill the pathogens that are left behind on our dishes and cookware after a sumptuous meal?

那么在一顿丰盛的饭菜后，我们到底需要些什么东西来除去餐具上的油脂、食物残渣以及那些有害的细菌呢?

Common sense tells us that water plays a major role in the process. Thermal sanitizing using hot water is an effective and time-tested method to remove debris and kill a broad range of dangerous bacteria. A lot of what we eat can simply be rinsed away with very hot water. Carbohydrates like sugars and starches are water-soluble, and all that's required to clean them off dishes is hot water. So if you only eat carbs and emulsified fats you can clean your dishes with hot water and a little elbow grease.

常识告诉我们，水在洗碗这个过程中起着重要的作用。用热水洗碗是一种有效且经过时间检验的方法，热水可以清除餐具上的食物残渣并杀死各种危险的细菌。我们吃的很多东西都可以直接用热水冲洗掉，糖类和淀粉之类的碳水化合物就是水溶性的。因此，如果你只吃碳水化合物和乳化脂肪，你只需要用热水就可以清洗你的餐具了。

Animal fats and proteins, however, are not water-soluble and need an alkali to break them down. So, if you're out of dish soap and have a greasy pan to wash you'll need to make your own soap by adding an alkali like baking soda (yes, that stuff in the yellow box) or ashes from, say, your fireplace, wood-burning stove or outdoor fire pit to steaming hot water and scrub your pan clean. While wood ashes and an improvised grass or shrub scrubber may not win the good housekeeping seal of approval, they'll clean your pan and get it ready for rinsing and sanitizing in boiling water and, finally, air drying.

但是，动物脂肪和蛋白质并不是水溶性的，你需要用碱来分解它们。所以，如果你没有洗洁精但又要清洗一个泛着油光的锅，你可能需要一点小苏打或者从壁炉中取出的灰烬用来把锅洗干净。虽然木头灰烬听起来不怎么卫生，但它们确实能够有效地清理你的餐具。

Keeping in mind that dishwashing soap as we know it has only been around since the middle of the 20th century, it's interesting to note that people throughout the ages used all sorts of ordinary things found in the natural world around them – sand, animal fats, ash, alkaline salts, cuttlefish bone, plants like horsetail, mare's tail and soapwort, hay mixed with ash, baking soda, maple sap debris known as sugar sand, along with that major component – hot or running water – to scour and clean their dishes.

我们知道，洗洁精是在20世纪中叶才出现的。有趣的是，历代人都能在自然界中发现各种各样的事物来清洗餐具。比较常见的有：沙子、动物脂肪、灰烬、碱性盐、马尾草、肥皂草、小苏打、砂糖等。当然，最主要的成分还是热水。

So whether you find yourself down to the last drop at home, forgot to bring it along on your camping trip or just want to try an eco-friendly, off-the-grid alternative to performing the age-old chore of washing dishes, here's a quick old-school how-to for modern times:Baking Soda、Vinegar、Chlorine Bleach and Campfire Ashes.

所以，无论你是在家里发现只剩最后一滴洗洁精了，还是忘记了带洗洁精去野营，或者只是想尝试一种环保的替代方式，只要你是需要洗碗，你都可以用以下这些东西来代替洗洁精：小苏打和白醋、醋、氯漂白剂以及木头灰烬。