I've seen the House Md episode with lead poisoning from a varnished cup and now I am scaried!
I think that the water in my sink, where the dishes are soaking, has been in contact with varnish. How should I clean those dishes? Is a standard washing enough?
What makes you believe the water has been in touch with varnish?
By the way, lead poisoning risk is caused by paint, not varnish, and paint containing lead has been banned here for many decades. Lead poisoning from a cup, on the other hand, is usually caused by certain glazing techniques using lead-II-oxide to enhance the colors. The main risk lies in souvenirs bought at tourist traps in third-world countries.
If no varnish is visible, don't worry about it. If it is, get some varnish remover and remove the varnish with that, then wash the plates and don't worry about it.
Thank you for the reassurances ! It was a water-based warnish for metal and wood, so the water was coloured but not the dishes. We washed them twice.
Anyway, this incident really pissed me off. It can be atoxic, lead free , whatsoever, but I don't want to accidentaly eat warnish!!