Cultural cleaning practices

[mubarak86]

Sort of reminded by another thread about how when I got with DH and spent time with his non British family, how they were horrified by some of my cleaning (or not so) ways.
Eg, his family always wash meat/chicken before use. Not just a rinse under the tap, but they use flour, lemon juice and some even use olive oil soap and massage it in, before thoroughly rinsing it off.
Another one is how they wash the dishes. Small bowl of warm soapy water, sponge is dipped in, dish washed and set aside before rinsing soap off. Wearing of flip flops in bathroom, no bare feet ever. Flip flops left in bathroom, never to be worn outside of bathroom.

Would be interested to hear if you are in a mixed culture marriage or if you are not white British in what ways you feel you do things differently (or even if you just know others) . Keep it respectful please, no one is asking for opinions on what is the "right" way to do things.

The dishes one is about conserving water - a wet soapy sponge in a small tub, soap everything, rinse everything with trickle of water, or just wipe soap off. Common in countries where water is scarce. It's less about culture, more about climate and geography. In the UK we're profligate with water, because there's plenty of it (for now).

@Georgyporky there aren't enough legal sites with toilet facilities. They need to go somewhere.

@Stravaig yet we often don't wash the soap off!

Dh and the rest of his merry band boil sausages before frying.

Explains it all really

British and wash my dishes and pans (those that can't fit in dishwasher) under hot running water, with a soapy scourer sponge. I hate the thought of a soapy plastic bowl with bits floating in it 🤢

@mackthepony my ME friend deep fries pasta before boiling it. She thought this was a requirement in the cooking process , thinking that by boiling it alone it would turn back into the dough.

@ CactusFlowers. Yes correct. I am half roma. Roma are not travellers . Travellers are just that. British travellers. Thank god someone knows the difference.

Everyone I know rinses dishes off in clean running water. You don’t just scrub them in soapy water then eat off them.

I don’t know if this counts as cleaning, but I’ve looked after lots of Polish children, and many of them drink boiled water at age 4-5. I didn’t notice until one day a little girl’s mum handed me her juice bottle and said ‘sorry her water did not cool down yet because I forgot to boil the kettle.’ I asked a few other parents and they all said they boiled their kids’ water too. But at preschool we gave them tap water. I would only boil water for a child under age 1.

@DressingPafe

in the bathroom or a seperate laundry room. I wish it was that way here

We live in the UK, when we redid the ensuite, we included a washing machine.

Bliss.

@MayorDusty most travellers are very wealthy, especially the ones in my area.

No one in my family or close friends rinse after washing. They rinse before then dry with a tea towel

Travellers are not British, they're Irish.

Different strokes I guess - everyone I know/my family scrubs the dishes in the hot soapy water, rinses them, then dries!

I don't think 'British' travellers is correct...

British travellers are British travellers. Irish travellers are Irish travellers. Gypsies are Roma.

Can we please not derail the thread with terminology. It's enough that it's been established that some people consider themselves gypsies.

I'm curious. I'd like to know what countries wash meat, & why?
Is it historic because of former poor hygiene at abattoirs?
Or just because "it's always been done this way"?

I’m shocked people don’t rinse the dishes! 😱What about all the soapy stuff left on???

different tea towels for drying hands and drying dishes

Err no one is asking you to wash your meat, do whatever, who cares. Once again someone with no understanding of how other people may do things, telling them that they are wrong. And no, I do not care What the Uk and US advise is regarding that.

It's drains off... On the draining board

Hang up clothes to dry outside inside out so they don’t fade.

I'm not British and have never washed meat before until last weekend when the leg of lamb we got from Waitrose was covered in small dark hairs, presumably from the lamb ?? I will wash every joint of meat from now on.

In Italy they have a cupboard above the sink with no bottom with plate racks in, so you wash the plates then put them away wet and they drip into the sink. Genius!