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[Closed] Washing up bowls in sinks. Why?

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piss water/shit water

Remind me not to ask you for recipes.


 
Posted : 27/10/2021 4:40 pm
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Amazing amount of people who don't know how soap works. See all those suds? That means the water isn't actually dirty as the soap catches the solids. See 'micelles' and 'colloidal suspension'.

And people who just fling stuff in sinks when they're done with it have their own circle of hell.


 
Posted : 27/10/2021 4:43 pm
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Who the heck washes in dirty water?


 
Posted : 27/10/2021 4:54 pm
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Don’t use a bowl here, just means you lose space. Loving the ‘if you don’t have a second sink’ middleclasstrackworld at its finest. Unless you mean the one in the bathroom? No ****ing way am I carrying things upstairs to rinse them.

Draining board Jenga is fun too if no one is drying up!

I’ve broken or chipped so many things doing this. I’m not allowed to wash up Mrs F’s nice wineglasses!

Loving those worried about hygiene of washing stuff in the same water. I once got bitten by a person (long story) and turns out we have filthy, dirty mouths so I wouldn’t be too concerned.


 
Posted : 27/10/2021 5:14 pm
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I’m not your mum. If you want to wash the stuff you eat off in dirty water, go right ahead.

I do. And guess what, I'm fine.

You're squeamish, or worrying too much.


 
Posted : 27/10/2021 5:18 pm
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Because I wash my dishes in running water? The point of doing that is so that I don't have worry about it.

I think you may have misunderstood what's going on here. .


 
Posted : 27/10/2021 5:22 pm
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If any of you who change the water multiple times per washing up session or leave the tap running have dared to post condescending comments on any of the climate change/sustainability threads you need to be slapped by Greta or deserve to have your next car journey ruined by one of those folk glueing themselves to roads.


 
Posted : 27/10/2021 5:26 pm
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Who’s ever washer their car and just left the soapy crap all over their car and declared it clean. Nobody!

Me! Though to be fair the car getting washed usually relies on it raining rather than me🤣 I'd like to say it's maybe an annual occurrence, but probably not, other than the odd wipe down of lights and wing mirrors if it needs it 😁


 
Posted : 27/10/2021 6:24 pm
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Perhaps you are dead, and perhaps this is actually purgatory.

In that case, it's not too bad. I've got bikes to ride.


 
Posted : 27/10/2021 6:57 pm
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Life is too short to spend time washing up.

Paper plates are the answer. They burn quite nicely in the log burner too...(poor attempt at humour alert 😂)


 
Posted : 27/10/2021 7:57 pm
 myti
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Loving this thread as it's made me realise my recent mortification at my mother's washing up practices aren't unusual. It's obviously a chalk and cheese issue this! At home we have a large, single ceramic sink with double height precarious chrome dish drainer from IKEA and my preferred washing up method is inherited from my American step mother. I wash up with a spot of liquid on the sponge under a gently running tap, plug in and unless we've had guests round for a roast or something then the dishes will be scrubbed and rinsed by the time the sink is full. I've been living at my Mum's the last 5 months though and they have a plastic bowl in their metal sink. It's usually filthy and tea stained with discarded food left in plug hole under the bowl and when i look through their washing up i invariably end up rewashing half of it. Nothing is rinsed so everything has a layer of bubbles or grease left on it. I've given the bowl method a go whilst here and it takes a couple of bowls to get things clean plus rinsing the dishes off to the side and so I recon uses similar amount of water but actually end up wasting more water and detergent to clean the bowl and sink afterwards.

I should probably add to the multi generation thread to say 'don't do it! Unless you have separate kitchens'


 
Posted : 27/10/2021 11:15 pm
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Bowl keeps water dirtier for longer…

So a sink with a plug in, full of soapy water and the same number of items is somehow, magically, going to stay cleaner? Really? My sadly missed g/f tried to get me to do the washing up in the sink, because it’s a bit bigger than the bowl, but it’s also a lot harder, I have a lot of mugs, glasses, and ceramic plates and dishes, some of which I’ve had for many years, and having them banging around in the metal sink made washing up last so much longer, because I was being extra careful to avoid anything slipping and breaking.
And hasn’t it occurred to anyone that chucking all the dirty stuff down the sink plug hole leaves detritus building up around it, which can’t happen in a bowl, cos most of the water has been carried out with the washing up, where it’ll drain on the draining board, hence the name, the rest goes down the drain, bowl gets a rinse and is left standing on its edge at an angle to drain and dry itself.
There’s a circular metal thing with little feet that sits in the sink that the bowl actually sits on top of, so it doesn’t get all manky on the bottom anyway.
I’ve never been able to afford a dishwasher, which would require my entire kitchen being stripped out and redone, so until I can afford several thousand pounds to get it done, washing up is done in a bowl in the sink.
Anyway, I’m doing washing up for one, so it’s no big deal.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 12:18 am
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Something tells me this won’t win the thread of the week award.

102 replies and on to page 3 says it’s in with a good chance 🤣


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 12:57 am
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I have read this thread all the way through...

Been a slow night.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 1:07 am
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I use the same method as @kayak23 although the majority is done by the dishwasher. Plastic bowl with a small amount of hot soapy water and rinse under the tap. I also use rubber gloves. The gloves mean you can use only the hot tap for washing and rinsing.
We have a small sink and the plastic bowl helps extend capacity if needed. E.g. wash a large pan in the sink, while something soaks in the bowl on the side prior to rinsing. Water in the bowl is changed regularly.

We were away last week and the place didn't have a bowl. The only real difference was the water didn't stay hot for as long in the metal sink.

My parents don't rinse and I actively deter them from washing up in our house.

Edit: actually they are just bad at washing up in general.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 1:35 am
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Ok. Final word goes to Nanette Newman.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 2:12 am
 LAT
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Something tells me this won’t win the thread of the week award.

it certainly is t a question of ethics. or isn’t it? a washing up bowl is smaller than the sink so it means that less heated water can be used. this is a good thing.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 3:46 am
 LAT
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I have never understood this grim British habit either. The bowl gets filthy underneath. Why? Why?

why? because no one ever turns it over to clean it


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 3:51 am
 LAT
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rather than worrying about the dirty washing up bowl or the unrinsed dishes (though this is odd), the real question should be, why is the toilet, or lavatory if you prefer, in the same room as the bath? that is simply disgusting. pooing, washington and brushing your teeth in the same room! it’s a wonder anyone survives.

interestingly, and inline with scotland’s claim to be a european country, the only house/flat/dwelling in the uk that i’ve been in that had a separate bathroom and toilet was my granny’s tenament in springburn. most places i’ve been in europe separated the functions. germany is the only exception that springs to mind.

my next question, why is the washing machine in the kitchen and not in the bathroom? obvious answer is because the loo is taking up the space, but washing clothes in the same room that you cook? madness.

perhaps these should be separate threads.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 5:40 am
 LAT
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Something tells me this won’t win the thread of the week award.

initially i agreed with this, but having read the whole tread, it’s pretty good stuff.

Loving the ‘if you don’t have a second sink’ middleclasstrackworld at its finest. Unless you mean the one in the bathroom?

interestingly, we have 2 sinks in our bathroom. until now i’d not thought about washing my face in one and rinsing in the other. possibly because i’m too busy worrying about the loo being in the same room.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 5:52 am
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Something tells me this will win the thread of the week award.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 6:18 am
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Loving the ‘if you don’t have a second sink’ middleclasstrackworld at its finest. Unless you mean the one in the bathroom?

I have some friends with an unnecessarily large house and acres of land. They like to renovate all the time and they do a lot of the work themselves... fairly slowly. They also like to entertain a lot. But they stopped inviting us around for a while, blaming it on their kitchen renovation. Eventually we went there and saw that they had no kitchen sink and the downstairs shower was where they were doing all their washing up.

... and yes, you do need a washing up bowl when using a shower tray as a sink.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 6:27 am
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I think this is probably a good place to address the perpetually irritating and confounding issue of people who put their dirty plates, mugs, bowls, cutlery etc into the empty bowl/sink when they're finished eating, instead of on the side next to the sink.

Wtaf is that about?

In order to physically be able to do the washing up, I now have to remove all of that pile of manky crockery Jenga from the bowl and stack it by the side so that I have enough working room in the bowl to submerge and manipulate my subjects and indeed the room to use my washing up tools, adding an extra and completely unnecessary step to the already tedious task.

Why on earth they can't simply put them on the side in the first place is beyond me.
Utter madness.

A special place in hell must also be reserved for those who come along after I've finished washing up, but have yet to empty the bowl of water, and just plonk their mug or whatever into the water and walk off.
Just give it a swoosh ffs. The water is just there! It takes seconds!

Honestly, this thread is helping to purge so many long suppressed emotions. Thank you OP. 🙏 😂


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 6:45 am
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^^^^^^^^^
My parents have an island sink which is just a sink and a draining board so there's nowhere but the sink to put the dirty dishes. It's the worst piece of practical design ever. To be fair, it wasn't them that designed it that way but still.
There's lot of worktop space along the wall but my parents are fillers in the sense that any uncluttered space is seen as an area to be filled with items.
I am supposed to be going for Christmas. I feel I may have to leave washing up/dishwasher filling duties to someone else this year. Although I won't because no one else but my mother will do it.
But between the impractical design, lazy relatives and my mother's penchant for leaving whites cloth in bleachy water in the sink to get them white again, it's enough to drive you insane.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 7:01 am
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Never found the need for a dish washer. Every one I've ever used has been crap, left dirty dishes. then who's job is it to empty the dishwasher? It just becomes and expensive cupboard. Apparently you're meant to rinse them first? That's half the job. Why spend $1000 on a machine that is crap and you have to do 50% of the work anyway?

"Where's all the plates???"
anon dishwasher owner

Oh and I love the arguments over washing up bowls or not..... Sooooo STW!!!!


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 7:56 am
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Normally a good dunk and lift after scrubbing is good enough to 'rinse' plates before the water gets too dirty, only glass gets a rinse normally. You can tell if someone isn't doing 'the dunk' as the plates feel rough if they have particles dried on them 🙂

PS This gently running tap...anyone else got a combi boiler that only keeps heating the water when you have a healthy flow rate. Turn it down low and it quickly goes cold, does my head in!


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 8:03 am
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Now you mention it, it is odd that the washing machine is in the kitchen, but the bathroom would seem odd too, and not everyone is STW-enough to have a utility room (or a dishwasher 😜).

And yes don't pile the fekking plates etc in the sink and leave me to lift all the gunky sloppy kacky stiff out on to the side so that I can actually wash up. Stack it in a nice organised manner along side the sink, and don't leave glasses on the edge of the work top where they'll get knocked off!


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 8:15 am
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I feel that people are getting rid of a lot of emotional baggage on this thread.

Let it all out folks...


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 8:33 am
 hels
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Washing machine in kitchen is just cheap British housing stock, cutting corners by using existing plumbing. The washing machine goes in the utility or laundry room, especially if you have an open plan living area, so you don't have to listen to it when you are relaxing.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 8:45 am
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I think this is probably a good place to address the perpetually irritating and confounding issue of people who put their dirty plates, mugs, bowls, cutlery etc into the empty bowl/sink when they’re finished eating, instead of on the side next to the sink.

Wtaf is that about?

They must be the same people I see filling up their trolley's in the supermarket then emptying them all out at the trolley shop to scan everything then putting it all back in the trolley! if you don't want to go through a conventional checkout so you can have a chat with Doris while the hell don't you scan everything as you go round and pack everything just once.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 9:08 am
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For those who use plastic bowls - they hold far more bacteria than a metal sink.

I find the bowl in sink thing completely unfathomable and none of the reasons on this thread add up at all


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 9:14 am
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For those who use plastic bowls – they hold far more harmless and yet perpetually scaremongered bacteria than a metal sink.

Ftfy 😉


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 9:19 am
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Never found the need for a dish washer. Every one I’ve ever used has been crap, left dirty dishes. then who’s job is it to empty the dishwasher? It just becomes and expensive cupboard. Apparently you’re meant to rinse them first? That’s half the job. Why spend $1000 on a machine that is crap and you have to do 50% of the work anyway?

I bet you're still using 8-speed drivetrain with a triple, or want a new frame with canti mounts.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 9:23 am
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The timing of the thread is fitting because I bought ours for ducky apples at Halloween.

Washing dishes was a secondary consideration.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 9:25 am
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Worth remembering that many of us do not have space for a dishwasher. I would rather hand wash my crockery than my clothes

As for a utility room…. We once had one of those for hand washing, shared between 8 households. It’s a shed now. Seriously, there is a lot of cramped housing stock out there.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 9:35 am
 poly
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or those who use plastic bowls – they hold far more bacteria than a metal sink.

Is there actual evidence of that? On the inside of the bowl? Under identical use conditions? What about if like my granny when you finish the dishes you then rinse the bowl and leave it upside down?

You do know that water doesn’t come out the tap sterile and there’s bacteria pretty much everywhere? If your aim was to wash in sufficiently hot water to really kill bacteria it’s probably easier to do that in a plastic bowl with lower volume and lower thermal mass and a kettle.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 9:39 am
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TrailriderJim
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Something tells me this won’t win the thread of the week award.

Something tells me different. Classic STW bollocks this one.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 9:42 am
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Is there actual evidence of that?

There have been endless studies about how flithy houses and kitchens in particular actually are. I think the worst things by far are dishcloths and sponges which are more or less the E.coli equivalent of council housing estates. If you're not drying it out completely or nuking it the microwave once a week its probably more germy than your toilet. While most of them (as folks have said) are harmless, lots of kitchens probs. have salmonella, listeria and campylobacter in them, and if you're vulnerable...

Joking aside, its good practice to at least have a separate cutting board for meat, and clean it well after each use.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 9:59 am
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The washing machine goes in the utility or laundry room

Of course! How naive of me. Is this where the third sink lives?


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 10:21 am
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Apparently you’re meant to rinse them first? That’s half the job.

You don't do that when using a bowl / the sink? I realise now why half of this thread is whining about dirty water, y'all never learned how to wash up.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 10:38 am
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I find the bowl in sink thing completely unfathomable and none of the reasons on this thread add up at all

I'm guessing you've never had a Belfast sink.

They're ****ing awful and will chip crockery for no reason. That's why you have a bowl. There is a thermal performance question as well, the plastic bowl will keep the water warmer than a cold lump of porcelein with a much higher thermal mass.

You don’t do that when using a bowl / the sink? I realise now why half of this thread is whining about dirty water, y’all never learned how to wash up.

x2


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 10:45 am
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Premier Icon<span class="bbp-author-name">kayak23</span>
I think this is probably a good place to address the perpetually irritating and confounding issue of people who put their dirty plates, mugs, bowls, cutlery etc into the empty bowl/sink when they’re finished eating, instead of on the side next to the sink.

Wtaf is that about?

In order to physically be able to do the washing up, I now have to remove all of that pile of manky crockery Jenga from the bowl and stack it by the side so that I have enough working room in the bowl to submerge and manipulate my subjects and indeed the room to use my washing up tools, adding an extra and completely unnecessary step to the already tedious task.

Why on earth they can’t simply put them on the side in the first place is beyond me.
Utter madness.

A special place in hell must also be reserved for those who come along after I’ve finished washing up, but have yet to empty the bowl of water, and just plonk their mug or whatever into the water and walk off.
Just give it a swoosh ffs. The water is just there! It takes seconds!

Honestly, this thread is helping to purge so many long suppressed emotions. Thank you OP. 🙏 😂

So well expressed.  Do we share in-laws by any chance?


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 10:50 am
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I’m guessing you’ve never had a Belfast sink.

They’re **** awful and will chip crockery for no reason.

Because they're designed for larger items like trays, shoes, overcoats  etc that the butler takes care of. The washing of cutlery and crockery is the responsibility of the housemaids, and they use the shallower London sink in the scullery

Standards these days


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 10:52 am
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The washing machine goes in the utility or laundry room

Of course! How naive of me. Is this where the third sink lives?

We have both a utility room and a laundry room, doesn't everyone?


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 11:10 am
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The snootiness is indeed strong in this thread.


 
Posted : 28/10/2021 12:51 pm
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