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First off, I can see the benefit if you are washing up and don't have a second sink to chuck waste liquid.
The other 95% of the time, it just gets in the way. Getting rid of cold tea/gherkin jar remainders/anything is just made more difficult and/or less hygienic when there is a sodding big ugly plastic awkward bastard bucket in the way.
I'll stop the rant there. MIL, I love you really.
Something tells me this won't win the thread of the week award.
This actually reminds me of a thread on another forum titled “what’s your favourite motorway”
Anyway
Only have 1 sink*, and like to be able to rinse stuff straight away
Uses less hot water
Coz Mum did
Presumably it keeps hold of germs thus topping up my immunity……..🤷
* I believe our sink dates to 1936ish, cast iron and may well outlast me. We do actually have 2 sinks in the “Scullery” but these are very large stone things better suited to washing a weeks worth of clothes by hand. These are from 1904ish.
This actually reminds me of a thread on another forum titled “what’s your favourite motorway”
Now I think about it, I posted on that thread too.
You should see me at parties ……
Never used one, never will. I find the use of them weird. My family never used one either
I have never understood this grim British habit either. The bowl gets filthy underneath. Why? Why?
The bowl gets filthy underneath. Why? Why?
Stick it in the dishwasher with the plates?
Cutlery scratches the sink metal. I can understand not having one if you have a dishwasher, though.
You can clean washing up bowls as well, apparently.
Possibly goes back to the days of ‘we can’t afford to replace that sink; use the bowl to protect it”. Or, more simplistic you, a great ploy by Addis et al, as the latest ‘must have’, in the 50s.
Personally, I think it’s just a place for germs and crud to accumulate.
Bygone era.
Not a bowl user here either, just one sink and draining board. It does mean making sure everything is empty of gunky water before filling it up. Otherwise a stray pan of mucky water thing gets emptied down the toilet.
We do have one for when we're car camping on sites as they're handy then.
Double post
Odd British affectation? Never understood it either.
First off, I can see the benefit if you are washing up and don’t have a second sink to chuck waste liquid.
This I could never understand, once you've put the fist object to be washed in the bowl of water, everything after that will be washed in dirty water, plus it's covered in soap suds that you need to rinse off. Every other country washes dishes under a running tap...Weird habit.
Saves water.
Kitchen sinks about twice the volume of the plastic basin.
Dropped thing doesn't smash/mark the porcelain
Can rinse the dishes in the other half.
Realistically though all that gets washed in the sink is the sharp knifes and the odd thing that didn't make the dishwasher run.
When I had a metal sink, I don't think I used one. We've now got a horrible ceramic thing, the sink is huge so a bowl uses about a 3rd of the water. Plus a ceramic sink loves to chip and smash anything you might tap against it!
Every other country washes dishes under a running tap
Which plays into the hands of dishwasher manufacturers as it meant they could claim they use less water than washing up (in Europe but probably not the UK)
We don't rinse our stuff off after washing. I do rinse off plates and pans (as we finish with them/clear the table) before washing to minimise gunk in the washing up water.
Order of washing up is glasses, cups, bowls, plates, cutlery, pans them oven trays too. From least mucky/greasy to most.
Draining board Jenga is fun too if no one is drying up!
Steel sink here, and not an enormous one.
We don’t rinse our stuff off after washing.
you know Fairy Liquid* isn't edible, right? Don't you ever wonder why all you food tastes ever so slightly...soapy?
*other dish detergents are available
Not a bowl user here either, just one sink and draining board. It does mean making sure everything is empty of gunky water before filling it up. Otherwise a stray pan of mucky water thing gets emptied down the toilet.
You'd think that strategy would work but we've got a bowl in the toilet too. Came as a set.
No dishwasher, everything washed up by hand
Pot sink
Bowl protects pot sink
Bowl protects delicate items
Bowl keeps water hot for longer
I knew marriage of p20 was the right thing when his hatred of bowls in sinks was as strong as mine. Domestic bliss in our house. 😛
Bowl keeps water hot for longer
Bowl keeps water dirtier for longer...
Bowl uses less water, allowing you to change it more often.
Ceramic sinks.
Nearly every single mug we own has a crack of some sort in it, if it lasts a month, hence the bowl.
The mugs still get cracked falling off the ridiculous double-decker chrome style over utility drainer the other half insists on having over a single-decker plastic thing 😂
The sinks are massive so you need about half of Ladybower to submerge a cup. With the bowl it's much, much less.
As for dirty bottoms, tip the water away and as you do, give your bottom a quick swoosh too. It's fairly straightforward.
You can also get a bowl that matches your kettle and wows guests. What's not to like about that?
Which plays into the hands of dishwasher manufacturers as it meant they could claim they use less water than washing up (in Europe but probably not the UK)
Even in the UK, dishwashers still use significantly less.
Effectiveness of cleaning is a combination of heat (DW>hand), chemical (DW>hand), energy (toss up, pot brushes and scourers vs water blasting) and time (DW>hand in the sense that you can wash your dishes for hours - no-one wants to stand at the sink for that long)
So strong chemically hot water that can be filtered to remove solids and so stay 'clean' for longer and be recirculated over and over wins that argument. As the dishes aren't immersed in the sump water, as long as the filtration is good enough you only need enough to ensure the pump is kept full and so some very efficient DW can manage with ridiculously low amounts.
We have one in the Belfast sink in Ireland; Uses less water, less chance of cracking the porcelain sink (already cracked once by Mrs kilo chucking boiling water in it!!!) easier to clean out the waste (take bowl out and throw contents over hedge).
But washing up bowls are brilliant for soaking aching feet whilst sat on the sofa watching TV too don't forget
Even in the UK, dishwashers still use significantly less.
But that was assuming you change the bowl of water every two place settings, who does that???
What a time to be alive.
It's 2021 and it still amazes me that some folk either don't have a dishwasher, or those that do still wash anything (based on it fitting) by hand.
I've pretty much always had one, first house bought at 21 and installed before a washing machine and my folks got a dishwasher when I was 5 years old. In 1970, so over 50 years ago...
The bowl gets filthy underneath.
And we have cleaning products for that. Also don't stick the bowl back in the sink before cleaning out the foam and other muck from washing up.
Bowl keeps water dirtier for longer…
That thing with the valve on it attached to the sink. That's a tap! Change the water when it's dirty, it's not rocket surgery.
I'm assuming that with TJ's background in nursing one could eat out of his sink with little risk to health. I would be loathe to do the same in anyone else's.
Worried about stuff getting stuck under the bowl - use a sink basket to put your bowl in, simples.
As above, stops lovely posh sink from getting scratched etc, also stops mugs and glasses from shattering to a zillion pieces when kids chuck them in from time to time.
But dishwasher FTW
Dishwasher user here so much more efficient in every way, just a well established fact so let’s just move on.
But in the dark ages before the dishwasher we used a sink bowl. There are benefits to bowls in sinks most have been covered but they probably are traditional from back on the day before running hot water and drains in sinks where the dirty water was thrown out onto the street or into the garden.
Change the water when it’s dirty, it’s not rocket surgery.
So fill the bowl with clean water, add fairy, wash item, put on rack covered in soap suds, empty bowl of dirty water, refill with more clean water and more fairy, wash another item, put on rack covered in soap suds, empty bowl of dirty water, refill bowl with clean water add more fairy, wash item and repeat ad infinitum....
vs
turn on tap, add fairy to sponge, wash item, rinse off soap, put on rack..no cracking of mugs (it never leaves your hands) no cracking of sink (item never leaves your hands) repeat to finish...
Washing with another bowl in the sink is an unhygienic and stupid way of washing up, it's why ever other country in the world doesn't wash up like this....
Personally, I think it’s just a place for germs and crud to accumulate.
If you don't use one are those accumulating somewhere else (like your plug, chain, overflow) that you aren't really paying attention to. I see no reason why a plastic bowl should be dirty.
Every other country washes dishes under a running tap…Weird habit.
Wait. what? Surely not. We've a relative abundance of water here - surely countries with less are not pissing it down the drain to wash plates that could be done in a basin?
you know Fairy Liquid* isn’t edible, right? Don’t you ever wonder why all you food tastes ever so slightly…soapy?
its not inedible. its perfectly harmless at the quantities consumed. if you are leaving tastable quantities you are using too much and/or doing something weird with the way you dry your crockery.
surely countries with less are not pissing it down the drain to wash plates that could be done in a basin?
You only need to have the tap gently running with water, I tried at Uni with a bunch of flat-mates who tried to argue this, and we filled the bowl with the run off water. After I'd washed everything under a running tap, it just about managed to fill a bowl.
its not inedible.
Great reasoning, Rinsing everything after you've washed it, you're not eating off slightly soapy, slightly manky dishes, that apart from the first thing you've washed are being "cleaned" in increasingly dirtier water. I reckon most people do it because that's how their mum's did it, and they don't think about it. Once you start to think about it, you soon realise it's pretty pointless and horrid. Plus when that soft plastic bowl gets scratched, that's a home for bugs
Washing up bowls make cheap seats for outdoor sex ponds. Do I win five pounds?
We used to just use the sink until we got the dog, now only a bowl in the sink as nothing needs rinsing now.
turn on tap, add fairy to sponge, wash item, rinse off soap, put on rack..no cracking of mugs (it never leaves your hands) no cracking of sink (item never leaves your hands) repeat to finish…
Are you on a water meter? Cos you bloomin should be wasting all that clean water.
Washing with another bowl in the sink is an unhygienic and stupid way of washing up, it’s why ever other country in the world doesn’t wash up like this….
It's not the UK vs. rest of the world. It's North/Midlands vs. South in my experience.
Having experienced my wife's family 'washing in dirty, soapy bowl then just leaving it to dry' technique I can confirm that this method results in everything tasting of soap. How some people seemingly can't detect this baffles me.
Probs harps back to when we had porcelain sinks and people getting sick n tired of cracks and chips when the washing up gets chucked in.
Cos you bloomin should be wasting all that clean water.
This method uses no more water than filling a bowl, and then refilling it again a couple of times after it's dirty from dishes. Unless you never empty and refill your washing up bowl, in which case the last few items you're "washing" are in water so dirty you may as well not bother.
You can try all the reasons you like, but compared to either dishwasher or under a running tap, it's a useless way to "clean" anything.
when the washing up gets chucked in.
If you put all the washing up straight into the bowl, you've just made the water dirty, so nothing is being cleaned properly and you're cracking the sink and crockery.
Lets not get started on separate taps for hot and cold...
Not died of botulism yet, and have sparkling clean dishes from a single bowl of water.
The benefits outweigh the negatives for me, our bowl can also be used to then clean floors and so on, it can be used as a portable sick capturing device and many other uses, proper multitool.
Recycling that needs washing (cat food tins, etc.) goes in the plastic bowl.
Everything else goes straight in the DW.
When the bowl is fullish I rinse the recycling. Means the sink isn't full of manky tins, and I can take the bowl out if I need to soak a pan or something.
and have sparkling clean dishes from a single bowl of water.
Willing to bet money that while they may look clean, they're not.
our bowl can also be used to then clean floors
Wash the floor and then wash the dishes you're going to cook and eat from? I'm going to have to stop now, this thread is making me nauseous
turn on tap, add fairy to sponge, wash item, rinse off soap, put on rack..no cracking of mugs (it never leaves your hands) no cracking of sink (item never leaves your hands) repeat to finish…
Noted with interest - I've always been slightly concerned about just how clean the last few items are.
Willing to bet money that while they may look clean, they’re not.
They will be clean (i.e. free from organic matter etc).
They might not be completely sanitised*, which for most people isn't a big deal.
*btw, this is the same as giving them a wipe with a soapy dishcloth.
*btw, this is the same as giving them a wipe with a soapy dishcloth.
But then get rinsed under a running tap afterwards. Your dishes have more bacteria on them than mine after washing. Fact. One day, that might come back with a vengeance
Another point, what are kids meant to have a puke bowl by their beds, eh, bet ya didn't think of that one!!
Some of this reminds me of a place i worked where the cleaner used the same rag for everything, unfortunately we had the toilet next to the kitchenette, you could smell when she'd cleaned it and nobody would be using that for the rest of the day!
Your dishes have more bacteria on them than mine after washing. Fact
Double blind tested in a Petri dish fact or internet fact?
TBF, we do use the sanitise / rinse method on chicken chopping boards / other high risk items.
One day, that might come back with a vengeance
One day, your lack of resistance to basic bacteria might come back with a vengeance.
You've still used more water than me for no discernible benefit.
Anyways, each to their own innit. I like my pot sink and plastic bowl, I like my glassware and crockery and I like washing up by hand, listening to the radio and looking out the window.
The key to efficient washing up, however you do it, is to get rid of most of the food residue from pans, plates etc as soon as you can buy rinsing and/or using a spatula before it has the chance to dry on.
sweet jesus
of course we have a bowl, it's the EDC of kitchen centric water tools
as noted, the bowl itself can be cleaned
Some of this reminds me of a place i worked where the cleaner used the same rag for everything,
Don't ever go to China where the toilet is often "in" the kitchen in older buildings, and veg is often left to soak next to the loo...and that Chinese loos are squatters...just no.
Double blind tested in a Petri dish fact or internet fact?
I reckon if I could be bothered to Google it, I'll bet some-one has done a study.
You’ve still used more water than me for no discernible benefit.
I've used about the same amount of water to get things cleaner than you have, and given that you do this method with "high risk" stuff you knows it as well....
It saves water and energy. Wash the dishes, then tip water from bowl into a bucket to wash bike, which has been stting outside covered in Rhino Goo.
This running water versus bowl thing isn't a problem for me with my cleverly designed hybrid approach to washing up.
I turn on the hot, squirt of Fairy in the bowl, fill bowl to about 23mm, then turn the tap right down.
I then wash everything in the soapyness and then rinse it under the slow running water before putting it on the rack.
It's rare that the bowl fills before I'm finished washing up.
I also like looking out of the window and listening to the radio as above.
fill bowl to about 23mm
because 24mm would be flagrant and conspicuous over-consumption, right? 😂
It never ceases to amaze me how 'right' some people are on here, and because other people do things a different way, they are 'wrong'.
Point scoring over washing up bowls vs dishwashers.....lol.
FWIW some stuff shouldn't go in a dishwasher....wooden objects, items with certain type of print/patterns, a lot of non-stick/anodised stuff recommends not putting in dishwasher, plastic objects get stained/tainted, sharp knives that you don't want to go blunt etc.
Point scoring over washing up bowls vs dishwashers…..lol.
Or just gently taking the piss out of each other over nothing consequential...I doubt @jimdubleyou or anyone else is frothing any more than I am....
I’m assuming that with TJ’s background in nursing one could eat out of his sink with little risk to health. I would be loathe to do the same in anyone else’s.
Not casting any aspersions on TJ but don’t assume all health professionals follow their own rules. A couple of them I know live in veritable shit pits and lead chaotic lives 😂.
fill bowl to about 23mm
Bit vague.
And why do people leave sharp knives blade up in the drainer ?
My wife does it, probably learned from her mother who does the same thing !!
Ah yes. Domestic chore bantz. Got it. Sorry, dunno why I needed it explaining to me.
😉😂
Domestic chore bantz.
Dunno what you’re all on about, I just chuck it all in the dishwasher anyway, plates, crystal glass, wooden chopping blocks, sharp knives etc
🤣
If you put all the washing up straight into the bowl, you’ve just made the water dirty, so nothing is being cleaned properly
Yeah it is. That's what soap is for.
But anyway. Bacterial exposure is good for you in all but a few cases. They all keep each other in check and you're much less likely to get ill.
I seem to remember that some of you also clean bike parts in the dishwasher too?
Ah yes. Domestic chore bantz.
come for the bikes, stay for the lifestyle advice...It's the Singletrack way
Bacterial exposure is good for you in all but a few cases
yeah true dat, but quite a few of the "all but a few cases" are the ones that lurk in kitchens.
Tue story.
Once dated a woman who worked for one of the larger chicken processing companies. they did a survey (with Asda) about peoples cooking/prep habits with raw chicken. a surprising amount of people are washing chicken before cooking it, hence the rise in the "cook in the bag" chickens you see on supermarket shelves now, as an attempt to help limit the spread of campylobacter.
It’s 2021 and it still amazes me that some folk either don’t have a dishwasher, or those that do still wash anything (based on it fitting) by hand.
I appreciate it's difficult to think outside of your STW-heaven middle-class (soap) bubble, but not everyone owns their own home and not everyone has room in their kitchen.
Before I had my own place, I used a bowl simply because stuff gets broken far less often IME.
I was taught by grandma to use two bowls - one for washing and second one for rinsing - but then again there was no sink at all. And to sort the dishes so that no food remains on plates when washing them.
They lived on farm and had running water installed just in the late 80s.
yeah true dat, but quite a few of the “all but a few cases” are the ones that lurk in kitchens
Yes, I'm pretty lax with being clean but I don't mess about with chicken.
Well apparently my washing up technique is filthy, my food tastes of Fairy and I should probably be dead by now. Oh and it's a long time since I visited but I'm pretty sure my relatives in Germany used to wash up in a sink.
I use one because I have a hole in my sink.
I don't know why but I thought it was a good idea to bang a bag of frozen jointed chicken against it to break it up for my dog.
Unfortunately, I did not succeed in breaking up the chicken but I did succeed in putting a big hole in the side of my sink.
I wash up in the bowl and tip the water into the second half sink.
I can't ever imagine using one otherwise.
As others have said, there is mouldy sludge on the underside of the bowl and on the sink.
I've had a half-hearted attempt to get a plumber but not managed. Unfortunately, it's an odd size so I am looking at £200 for the sink only.
Damn expensive chicken that.
Camping yes
Home no
The sinks at campsites are normally HUGE so it helps, plus we don't have a sink built into our van so always carry a couple of washing up bowls with us.
Lovely effort argee..... I hope. 😬
In the old house, I had a washing-up bowl. The reason? The kitchen was a tiny late-1800s mid-terrace affair and every inch of space was a premium. Living on my own meant I generated dirty dishes &c slowly so it made little sense to do a sinkful of washing up twice a day. Using a bowl meant that I could rinse off plates down the gap between bowl and sink, then put them in bowl until I got around to washing them rather than tying up valuable worktop space. I could also lift out the bowl temporarily if I needed the sink for something else.
Fast-forward to today. I have a considerably bigger kitchen, a sink with a separate mini-sink drainage thing, a partner who's taken over washing-up detail, and no bowl. I also have half the amount of intact crockery that I had 12 months ago. This week's casualty was my favourite crystal glass which I'm told spontaneously cracked when it was placed in the sink, despite me washing it without incident for probably two decades prior and it now sporting what looks very much like impact damage on the rim where the crack starts. Sigh.
We used to have a bowl in our old metal sink for all the above reasons.
We don't have one in our new porcelain/ceramic sink but we have a mesh on the bottom that helps not bash the sink too badly and let's the dirt settle to the bottom.
I don't really get this unhygienic argument, that's more a user error than because your using a bowl.
Well apparently my washing up technique is filthy, my food tastes of Fairy and I should probably be dead by now. Oh and it’s a long time since I visited but I’m pretty sure my relatives in Germany used to wash up in a sink.,
Perhaps you are dead, and perhaps this is actually purgatory.
Which frankly, would be a reasonable explanation for everything else.
It’s 2021 and it still amazes me that some folk either don’t have a dishwasher,
As above, I never had the room. I do now, but it'll take some major rearranging to accommodate it. I might fix it with a new kitchen at some point.
Lets not get started on separate taps for hot and cold…
You know there's a reason for that? Historically, the hot water wasn't a particularly clean supply, so they were kept separate to avoid contaminating the otherwise drinkable cold supply.
And why do people leave sharp knives blade up in the drainer ?
My OH has been a mum for 20-odd years so 'safety first' is second nature to her. It's taken me months to finally persuade her not to jam my sharp, expensive knives point-first into a metal drainer.
For those bowl users, what colour is your bathroom suite - avocado or peach?