Washing dishes

[ailbhe]

[Poll #1104344]

Comments

[djm4]

...but if time and air are at a premium, I use flat fabric.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Yeah, with me it's more likely that space is at a premium, so I dry the first round with a dishtowel.

Also, I knit my own dishcloths out of cheap cotton yarn - they work great and don't get slimy.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I actually use the dishwasher as a space to dry dishes I've just washed by hand. The only spaces in the kitchen that are really practical for drying anything as large as a dinner place are inside the dishwasher, the section of counter directly over the dishwasher (which I prefer to use for food prep), the kitchen table (half of which is dining table and the other half desk, in practice), and the floor (which is problematic.)

[juliet]

WHS. In general I will very, very rarely bother, though (99% of the time I'll just wait till things are dry to do another sinkfull of dishes).

The exception is the kitchen knives, which usually do get dried with a teatowel so that they don't hit the draining board & end up blunted. dogrando is very protective of our kitchen knives.

[tammylc.livejournal.com]

Ditto.

[natural20.livejournal.com]

I use one of those sponges-onna-tube into which you can pour washing up liquid. Rather fond of them really.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

I dry dishes with flat fabric and/or air and time, depending on what I need to be doing next (if more washing up, then with fabric; if going out, with air; other circumstances may involve one or both).

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I wash dishes with a Dobie Pad.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Oh hey, me too. I figured "sponge" was the closest option, but they're really not that equivalent.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

Me three.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

I use the no-scratch scrub sponges. I don't think I've seen the Dobie pads around here...

[thereyougothen.livejournal.com]

yep. my mum and dad bring me them over from the states since i've never found them in the UK.

[rpdom.livejournal.com]

I use a bristle brush or a handheld rag, depending on what I'm cleaning and what is on it. I also use metalic scouring pads on stainless steel pans.

For drying I air dry most things, if I have time, but usually use flat fabric for drying glasses and chef's knives. If I need things in a hurry, I use flat fabric for almost everything.

[alicephilippa.livejournal.com]

Hang on. You are me and I claim my £5...

[bafleyanne.livejournal.com]

We don't have the counter space to allow dishes to air dry, or I would.

[naath.livejournal.com]

I use a sponge with a scratchy surface (er, brillo pad?) to get dirt off, or a rag if the surface is delicate or wire wool if the surface is non-delicate and the dirt stubborn. I rinse soapsuds off sometimes; I debate whether it is bad to let them drain off or bad to run the water whilst washing up so I can rinse things. I dry with time-and-air or a flat fabric cloth if no time/space.

[oldbloke.livejournal.com]

Brillo pads actually are some sort of metal, aren't they?
Sponge with a rough plastic side for scouring is what we have.

[barakta]

We don't have much dirty dishes or drying space and I know my washing up stamina is about a 'drying rack' full so we usually air dry and then tea-towel (flat cloth) things dry before putting away if needed.

My partner is very sensitive to the taste of soap so all dishes are rinsed after soaping/scrubbing. Usually I use a sponge with scritchy bit as it's easier to manipulate but there's also a brush. Washing things are chucked when manky and we 'sacrifice' the tea-towel for spillages or something before throwing into towels wash. We have an abundance of teatowels and real towels thanks to fabulous mums who believe in plenty being invaluable.

[griffen.livejournal.com]

For the last one, I have two kinds of towels for drying (in addition to using hot water + air dry, my preferred choice): what are called "flour-sack" towels, about 9"x12" rectangles of white cotton, for glassware and flatware; and terrycloth towels for everything else. Flour-sack towels don't leave streaks or spots on glass, so they're preferable.

[dreamalynn.livejournal.com]

I use a sponge like this (http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?id=prod368733&CATID=100467&skuid=sku368734&V=G&ec=frgl_wic&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=sku368734), sponge on one side, and a scrubby pad embedded in the other side for stubborn stuff.

I don't get the not rinsing off soapsuds. Why would you leave soap residue on plates and glasses you eat from?

[pauamma]

Ditto

[bafleyanne.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was wondering about that myself.

[juliet]

If you're using so much washing-up liquid that there are large quantities of suds on the washed-up stuff, you're using too much liquid. You really don't need very much at all, in general - it's just to help cut any grease. Wash up least-greasy to most-greasy things as well, & you need even less.

When I wash up there's very little in the way of soap residue, and I certainly don't notice soap on the dried plates. Rinsing is very wasteful of water.

[oldbloke.livejournal.com]

Ah but I rinse with hot water and it goes into the bowl to keep it topped up and hot.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

It makes me uncomfortable when I'm a guest in someone's home, and they give me a glass of water or cup of tea that tastes like soap. Presumably, the person who does the washing up in that household can't taste the soap. Maybe nobody who lives there can taste it. But *I* can taste it, even if I am politely not saying anything about it. (And when I wash my own dishes, I usually rinse well enough for my senses...but I know some people are even more perceptive.

[rosefox]

I was wondering that too!

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

These need to be checkboxes rather than radio buttons, really.

[artela.livejournal.com]

I don't hand wash normally soiled dishes in the sink - they go in the dishwasher. I wash by hand pots and pans and large utensils and anything that won't go through the dishwasher, and for those I use one of those sponges with one green scratchy side for getting rid of burnt on bits, etc.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Oh, and about the rinsing: I only have one sink where I live now, so I leave the dishes for a few days, then stack up the dirty things on the left of the sink, wash everything and stack it up on the right, then wash the sink and run hot rinse water and rinse everything and put it in the drainer or on an extra tea towel on the left. I hope that uses less water than rinsing in running water. I don't use running water to brush my teeth either - never have.

[merryhouse.livejournal.com]

no, I've never understood that "save water by turning off the tap to clean your teeth" thing. Weird or what?

I've wondered whether it's to do with my formative period being in 1975-6 so that "turn the tap off" was engraved in my brain without me noticing.

[iuil.livejournal.com]

My answers are based on the very rare occasions that I actually wash dishes by hand. Everything, including pots and knives, goes in the dishwasher here.

[buzzy-bee.livejournal.com]

What she said. Except sippy cups (rice milk leaves residue) and DH's cheap baking trays for pizza (which rust).

[rmc28]

... but actually I avoid doing this as much as possible and use the SHINY DISHWASHER instead.

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

We mostly have a dishwasher though as were given a second hand one by Andy's brother.

[wingedkami.livejournal.com]

I don't rinse the soap off because I never use all that much soap in the first place, and if I dry with a teatowel the soap comes off them.

Not that I can always be bothered to dry up.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

It depends.

deyo likes scrubby sponges, I prefer a dishcloth, but we currently don't own any, so I take what's to hand. Also, sometimes my hands hurt in such a way that one or the other is easier to use. And all but the widest glasses get the "sponge on a stick" so I don't cut my hand open again.

If we're washing dishes at a fast pace, I wash, and he dries with a flat cloth towel. If I wash something I need right away, I dry it with a towel. If I wash only one dish-drainer full of dishes by myself, I let them air dry.

Re: Washing dishes

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

i use a dual-sided sponge -- one side is soft, one scratchy. i prefer that because it cleans better than rags, and gives more control than brushes (though i use a brush for getting inside cans where i might cut myself, and other tall containers).

i rinse with very hot water (not running); mostly when i actually am planning to dry the dishes right away, because that makes it much easier. but sometimes because i was overly enthusiastic with the soap. generally i use so little soap that rinsing the residue isn't necessary, but sometimes with very greasy dishes more soap helps it go away, and then rinsing seems a sensible thing to do.

almost all of the time i don't dry the dishes by hand. if i do, i use diapers (i buy them specifically for drying tasks since they do a much better job at it than teatowels).

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

I usually use one of those green plastic scourer things, unless it's something that'll scratch, in which case I use a dishcloth/rag.

Drying up is one of my favourite household chores, because it's one of the very few that actually does itself if you don't get round to it for a while.

[merryhouse.livejournal.com]

I always rinse glass and certain plastic items, and sometimes I rinse other things depending on how much excess bubbly stuff I inadvertently put in the water and whether the water has started to get bitty.

Normally I use air and time to dry, but I have flat linen for use if necessary.

I saw a site that said you should dry them immediately to stop bacteria settling. Do you suppose there are *really* any fewer airborne germs in the kitchen cupboards than in the kitchen?

[minding-maura.livejournal.com]

I didn't see the choice for -

Clan of Golden Retreivers cleans dishes.

Odd, I thought everybody did it my way.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

1. Sponge-onna-stick, like natural20.

2. and 3. I'm in the majority! Shurely shome mishtake?