Soaking dishes - just laziness disguised, right?

If we've had a casserole or something that has baked on bits then I put it to soak immediately and it's generally fine to go into the dishwasher by bedtime. Soaking has its place but I think it very rarely needs to be done overnight so absolutely agree that your family are being lazy OP. It's a bit my family's infuriating habit of putting things on top of the dishwasher. Even when it's empty. 😡

Why are you relenting and washing up, though? After they’ve soaked for a bit, ask them why they haven’t done their washing up. Tell them it’s not acceptable and you’re not a skivvy.

The soaking isn’t the issue. The assumption that you’ll wash up is.

I don’t agree with this! Warm water doesn’t do anything to kill germs it probably makes them grow more as they like warm temps. Bacteria soup. Water would need to be super hot to kill germs. But that’s not what is needed anyway - cold water soaking is perfectly fine for loosening dried on food

but the man in my house does use soaking to avoid proper washing up. When he does it the fairies have to come to finish the job 🙄

DH is a soaker and it drives me up the fucking wall.

Why no mashed potato?

If you do it in the end anyway then nobody will worry or take responsibility for it, if there are no consequences then no one else will care. If however they come home, there are no pans and plates to cook and serve with and you say you can’t cook, they may of course bypass that and take snacks. Eventually you let the snacks and convenient food run out, the washing build up, surfaces uncleared, the servant has gone on strike, all things grind to a halt, all because they went to bed and ignored the washing up. Then hopefully they will all see the need to pitch in and take their little jobs seriously.

Saucepans are fine in the dishwasher as long as they do not contain mash potato.

I’ll leave crusty hard to clean stuff to soak overnight. It’s definitely so much easier to clean them afterwards.

The difference is I’m the only one that washes up so I’m just leaving it for myself. I’d be annoyed if DH was supposed to wash up and then left it for me to do!

Why are you giving in and doing them the next day? You have taught your family that if they leave them in to "soak" then the washing up fairy will deal with them. Stop enabling them. You tell that that the pans will stay there until the person who put them in to soak finishes washing them even if it drives you crazy. They will learn.

Your time v the cost of buying a new pan? (My stainless steel ones go through the dishwasher all the time). I would get DH to rinse them and sling them in the dishwasher.

If something's got really baked-on food residue, soaking overnight will make the difference between endless scrubbing and elbow grease, and a simple quick wipe. Why would you not do it? It's efficient, not lazy. For crockery that encrusted, the dishwasher won't get it off without a soak beforehand either.

Things shouldn't be piled high though, you won't get more than 2 or 3 pans max per big cook that require it.

Soaking also doesn't mean leaving it for someone else to do. When you divvy up chores, it's yours til it's done. Washing up is my chore so when I soak pots overnight I'm leaving them for me to do the next day, not anyone else.

OP soaking overnight is acceptable, but if your teens were meant to do the dishes last night, they are still meant to do them this morning. The chore hasn't been transferred to you. If they have to be out of the house early it's also their job to make the timing work with that chore (ie, get up earlier or do it all the previous night).

Mostly yes! Something with really crusty, stuck on bits that’s been sitting out for any longer than about an hour will benefit from a short soak (the time spent to do the other dishes perhaps…!) but nothing else ever really needs it when hot, soapy water and a bit of a scrub will get through nearly anything.

I put everything in the dishwasher and wash nothing if I can help it.

Same here. My dishwasher bakes food onto plates and pots. The dishes in the sink are dishes I put there specifically to soak (usually lasagne pans, pots that held mashed potatoes, pie dishes, or pots with burnt on food).

Yes to this.

Gut it out, OP. There is no reason for them to bother when they know the sink mess fairy will swoop in and fix it all for them.

@TotHappy exactly the reasons i soak. my dishwasher never reliably washes anything dried on

Yep it definitely is just laziness, unless they are pans/dishes with really stuck on stuff! Even then, if it's their turn to do the washing up they should take care of it in the morning!

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/product-reviews/house-garden/g61433966/best-robot-lawn-mower/

The other excuse I get from DH is "the drying rack is full" 🤔

I have 2 sinks. I use one for soaking when needed and the other for washing.

I don't wash much though, it mostly goes in the dishwasher.

I don't mind soaking at it makes things easier than trying to scrape or scrub. I do all the washing up though so it's my own choice! I might feel differently if foisted upon me.

Why not get some pans that can go in the dishwasher?
Pretty sure soup tastes the same whether it is cooked in a £5 pan or a £500 pan

Just leave them there - and then casually mention that you can't cook the evening meal (if you were the one going to do it) as the pans aren't clean.
If nobody steps up, order on a take away for yourself only.
I predict there will soon be a change of heart.

If I use a frying pan, make a pan of bolognese or mash potatoes I’d never wash that manually and fill the dishwasher with easier to wash items like plates.

I do it. Put dishes in bowl in sink when done with. Run water as and when throughout the day. Sink will gradually fill with both water and dishes. Stack them in dishwasher when all the dirt is slidy and will easily fall off. This means sauce etc. won't get dried on while waiting for enough dishes to run the dishwasher. Our dishwasher doesn't clean dishes with dried on crud reliably, sometimes it bakes the crud on.

It's basically rinsing the lazy way.

If it happens every night yes its laziness.

Every once in a while, and there has been an attempt to clean the pan, Ok