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I think the lack of a sense of humour is even stronger from others.
We have both a utility room and a laundry room, doesn’t everyone?
Not yet, completion is due in late 2025.
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.
Mrs Sandwich sometimes removes the bowl from the sink to stack pots and crockery in it! At some point a new patio is going to be required!
I could also lift out the bowl temporarily if I needed the sink for something else.
That was the real advantage for me in my old place. Dishwasher now.
The other advantage was that it stopped a lot of crap going down the plug hole and blocking up the drain (because it collected in the bottom of the bowl, and you could fish it out after pouring most of the water out).
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.
Or a dishwasher.. just saying...
I think the lack of a sense of humour is even stronger from others.
Sick burn dude.
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…
That was kind of my point. Why do we assume that the basin / sink should be "sterile"? Nothing else in the kitchen will be close to that - but is the relevant bit of the basin substantially worse than the relevant bit of the sink would be in the same manky person's house? I doubt it.
Ironically of course the OP answered one of the main reasons in his opening post - not everyone had two sinks, so draining liquids whilst mid washing is a benefit (it can be avoided with good planning - but e.g. whilst cooking I may have a basin of water where stuff not going in the D/W is placed to soak, and it can be handy to still be able to rinse something whilst the soaking is going on, run cold water over my burnt fingers etc!
Now a more alarming thing - I witnessed my SIL preparing a salad last weekend. Before chopping them, she washed the tomatoes and baby cucumber by placing in a bowl of soapy water then rinsing under cold tap. Am I odd in thinking this was somewhat excessive?
^^^
I can see something up there about washing tomatoes and I have seen enough.
People - you will only ever have one life. We wink in an out of existence like sparks from a bonfire - the odds against us being here at all in an unimaginably vast and mainly empty universe are huge beyond comprehension. But here we are with our lives, our loves... Together in this moment, what I think Larkin meant by "this frail travelling coincidence" in the final lines of the Whitsun Weddings. So I ask, sincerely please. Let's not talk about washing up bowls.
but is the relevant bit of the basin substantially worse than the relevant bit of the sink would be in the same manky person’s house? I doubt it.
Whether the sink or bowl is less manky is irrelevant. Nearly everyone else in the world washes up by having a sponge with dish soap on it and holding an item under a running tap of water. It doesn't touch anything other than your hands, and is cleaned and rinsed. Only in the UK do folk fill a bowl or sink and squirt soap into it and then wash stuff in it. (and then have to invent reasons why it's better to wash up like that)
So I ask, sincerely please. Let’s not talk about washing up bowls.
But what if that's our purpose??
This is your life now
I think the worst things by far are dishcloths and sponges which are more or less the E.coli equivalent of council housing estates
My OH has a habit of standing the drain plug on top of the sponge when she's finished washing up. I'm fairly sure that's not particularly hygienic.
Mind you, it's one of those filter-affair plugs where you pull it half-out to allow the sink to drain and she always rips it out completely. I asked her the other day whether there was a reason she kept removing the filter, she said "yeah, it keeps getting filled up with crap." Like, WTF do you think a filter is for? Gnn. About that patio...
If I use the dishwasher then I run out of both crockery and cutlery before it's full.
Then I run it half empty, which is wasteful.
Probably OK for a family though.
Apparently in our house it's a "man" job to pull the hair trap from the shower and clean it. Yet, I'm the one with a grade 2...🙄
Together in this moment, what I think Larkin meant by “this frail travelling coincidence” in the final lines of the Whitsun Weddings. So I ask, sincerely please. Let’s not talk about washing up bowls.
Yeah, but even in the same poem, Larkin appears endlessly fascinated by them.
They watched the landscape, sitting side by side
—An Odeon went past, a cooling tower,
And someone running up to bowl
🙂
Apparently in our house it’s a “man” job to pull the hair trap from the shower and clean it. Yet, I’m the one with a grade 2…🙄
Do you get more hair caught in listed buildings?
About that patio…
I reckon we could be on for a bulk materials discount.
To be on the safe side I’m going to start removing and setting fire to the sink after every washing up session then replacing the sink with a new one. So glad I only have the one kitchen sink or it could get silly expensive very quickly
but is the relevant bit of the basin substantially worse than the relevant bit of the sink would be in the same manky person’s house? I doubt it.
Almost certainly will be . Bugs find it hard to live on steel, easy on plastic. Your dishcloth and your hands are probably worse tho!
I’m guessing you’ve never had a Belfast sink.
They’re **** awful and will chip crockery for no reason.
therein lies your problem - solution - get a proper sink
My one bed rental flat has a utility room with the washing machine in it and I was going to put the washing machine in my flat into the utility room but decided not to as its next to the other flats bedroom and there is a bad sound bridge between the two
Mind you, it’s one of those filter-affair plugs where you pull it half-out to allow the sink to drain and she always rips it out completely. I asked her the other day whether there was a reason she kept removing the filter, she said “yeah, it keeps getting filled up with crap.” Like, WTF do you think a filter is for? Gnn. About that patio…
I didn't realise that my wife had another husband?
Apparently in our house it’s a “man” job to pull the hair trap from the shower and clean it. Yet, I’m the one with a grade 2…🙄
How many of you are living in my house?
We wink in an out of existence like sparks from a bonfire
Edit..... you said "wink"... not ....
Oh and I love the arguments over washing up bowls or not….. Sooooo STW!!!!
And that’s what I meant when I said snooty. I can’t believe people are actually bothered whether others use a bowl or not. This thread has amazed me!
To be on the safe side I’m going to start removing and setting fire to the sink after every washing up session then replacing the sink with a new one. So glad I only have the one kitchen sink or it could get silly expensive very quickly
And this wins!! On this basis alone, this should be post of the week never mind thread of the week. Thank you @funkmasterp my caravan sofa now needs red wine removal.
therein lies your problem – solution – get a proper sink
Have you not considered how many bike parts (or bike trips) you can get for the price of a new sink and inevitably, the worktop, tap and waste trap. And if you pay someone... That's probably a half decent bike. I'll stick with my nice red bowl and the crappy ceramic sink!
Actually. I'd forgotten that my plastic bowl also doubles as bicycle component parts washer. Surely No-nonsense degreaser hasn't poisoned anyone yet?
When we moved into our house it had - and indeed still has a white ceramic sink. It’s shit. It scratches, would easily break crockery and is just poor. I prefer a metal sink by miles.
Nearly everyone else in the world washes up by having a sponge with dish soap on it and holding an item under a running tap of water. It doesn’t touch anything other than your hands, and is cleaned and rinsed. Only in the UK do folk fill a bowl or sink and squirt soap into it and then wash stuff in it.
Do they? I asked some friends.
<<
A Brit living in the US: "Definitely using a bowl is [a UK thing]. We sometimes wash things in the sink (we have a double) but I’m not sure if that’s me being British or not."
A native New Yorker and wife of the above: "They [bowls] exist here but aren't the norm. Ideally you have a double bowl sink and fill one half. If you want to horrify Americans, don't rinse.
...
I use the running tap if it’s just a couple of things. Or a gross pan. It would be a waste of hot water to do that for a sink full though."
A Belgian: "In Germany and Belgium it is common to do it in the sink." (I'm assuming she's still talking about the dishes.)
A Brit, living in Britland: "When I worked in such places, the approved McDonalds method (which I assume is American in origin) was with two sinks - one hot soapy water for cleaning, and one fresh cold water for rinsing. Hand sprayer also available (with 60 degree water) for particularly stubborn bits of welded-on onion."
A Brit married to a Spaniard: "Yes! [my husband] thinks we're total weirdos"
A Brit - sorry, 'ex-pat' - now living in New Zealand: "Most Kiwis assume a dishwasher is an essential item, but I'm pretty sure they fill a sink with water when they do handwash? But NZ is quite British-legacy."
A Canadian: "In places with only one sink we (personal we, not Canadian we) generally wash under running water and apply soap to each item (bad for the environment, yes we know), if we have two sinks we fill one with soapy wash water and one with clean rinse water. If it's only a few items we wash under running, even with two sinks. Dishwasher takes priority if we have one."
>>
So the responses I've had so far would seem to suggest otherwise.
@johnx2 **** Larkin. The miserable bastard can rot in Hell. Sorry, Hull. So difficult to tell them apart.
(not a fan, especially when the Higher English teacher who was supposed to enthuse us said he was a whiny miserable twunt in as many words.)
therein lies your problem – solution – get a proper sink
@tjagain not my problem, mama didn't raise no fool. I just know the country kitchen fashion victim demographic. 😉
So the responses I’ve had so far would seem to suggest otherwise.
Cool, I've got access to Greeks, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanians, Germans, Canadians, Americans, Irish, and Indian sub continent...I'll be back...
Oh and an Italian
Some replies are back in already!!
Greek, and Romanian: Both under running taps, the Romanian (between you and me, she's a bit of a drama queen) found a bowl in her first apartment, and apparently nearly fainted with horror (like I said...)
Irish: same as UK, thinks his bowl is from his under grad days (may have been given to him by his mother) is more or less a family heirloom now, may pass to his son...
Canadian; Not rinsing is weird, doesn't mind the bowl washing method, but not rinsing is a crime against humanity, sorry (is Canadian, thus always apologising)
EDIT
late entry from the Americans, both said dishwasher, and looked at me like it was a trick question, but they don'tt have a bowl in the sink at home. One realised what I was talking about and thought his mum may have done this, but thinks most Americans would think it's weird...
Cool. So your US and Canuck correspondents broadly said the same as mine, there's a degree of consistency there.
This is weirdly fascinating. Keep 'em coming!
There's more;
Spain and Portugal: running tap, again both found the UK habit weird...the Spaniard doesn't mind the bowl (is married to a Brit) but still washes under a tap, habit.
I may have started an international dispute here, the Irish and Romanian are still arguing about bowls in sinks....
Indian: married to Brit, has bowl in sink because sink is marked easily, rinse before dishwasher.
****stani: running tap.
EDIT:
Last the German: No bowl in the sink, but sink filled with water and soap. Uses dishwasher mostly
So, pretty similar to yours.
Is it significant that most of the "warmer climate" Europeans and ****stani washed under a ruining tap, I wonder?
I dunno, could be. This is hardly scientific given the sample size!
I wonder whether water quality is a factor? Areas where water cleanliness is less reliable / less regulated are more likely to use a running tap rather than standing water? (Purely wild speculation of course.)
The sink is a bowl.
Fill the steel sink, add dish soap and gently running water, wash then rinse under the water and then onto the drainer. Glasses never look as clean as out of a dishwasher but we haven't died yet.
…international aspects largely now covered, I don’t think the social class dimension has been fully explored. Out of time so cutting to the chase: bowl use is lower middle fastidiousness with a bit of overspill, tending to working. No value judgment
Don't you end up using a load more washing up liquid and more importantly, water if you use the running tap method? There comes a point were (even rinsing) you'd use less water with a bowl surely? Given the scarcity of water in some countries I am surprised by the findings of nickc's extensive 'research'. Suspect water quality is a factor as Cougar speculates.
More importantly: 5 pages and 172 comments. Frivolous data that will be stored for years on a cloud server somewhere. What a waste;)
I take it lower middle fastidiousness would also include a pair of marigolds.
The plastic bowl keeps the water hotter for longer. Only a solution if you have a metal sink...
My work has a bowl in the sink. Whenever I use the sink the first thing I do is take the bowl out and put it on the floor. It spends more time on the floor than in the sink. Pointless. It's like putting a chair ontop of a chair. Or a plate ontop of a plate.
Put plug in sink.
Fill sink.
Wash up.
Empty sink.
Rinse.
More importantly, why do we have the laundry equipment in the kitchen?
Taking up space where a dishwasher could go? Our dryer isn't in the kitchen, I'd like to move the Washing machine too, then we could have a dishwasher but can't think of a sensible place, maybe below the dryer, but then I'd have to do DIY which upsets me.
We have a bowl in the sink, not my choice but it's there, I'm told it reduces collateral damage when I wash up.
why do we have the laundry equipment in the kitchen?
...
but can’t think of a sensible place,
Did you just answer your own question?
Ok, badly worded I could put it in the bathroom with the dryer but I'd have do some DIY to box it off nice and safely. The bathroom is now in a separate room to the toilet where the previous owners built a small extension for a hot tub of all things, (two up two down ex council house). They had to smash it to get it out as I really didn't want it.
I could move the toilet to the bathroom and have a laundry room where the toilet was but that's alot of DIY plus separate bathroom and toilet is so much better.
Don’t you end up using a load more washing up liquid and more importantly, water if you use the running tap method?
No, we covered this, you need just a gently running tap, it doesn't need to be a kitchen sized replica of Niagra. and you don't need a huge amount of Fairy either. It's about the same water/detergent use if you're emptying your bowl and refilling it because it's filled with food waste from your dishes.