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.

www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/cleaning#cleaning-food

Washing raw meat, such as chicken, can spread harmful bacteria like campylobacter.

Not rinsing dishes is grim, I can't believe anybody would do that! The soap lifts the dirt and bacteria off the dishes. If you don't rinse them then all you've done is add soap onto your dishes (yum!! 🤣) you haven't actually cleaned them! Yuk. Is that really a thing?

It is a weird thing and increasingly uncommon I think, most people will put laundry in a utility room if they have space. I guess because of high property prices people have smaller houses here generally? In flats or tiny houses there may be no other option but to have a washing machine in the kitchen?

Uuugh. Sounds like better bathroom design/ habits would be a better solution to this one than "wee shoes".

Thats not true- a lot of houses do have laundry rooms but many don't- its a space thing ( we've had houses in Australia with washing machines in kitchens and ones with utility/laundry rooms- it varies) - houses tend to be bigger here and also there are more modern houses..
In the UK wanted to put the washing machine upstairs in one house/in bathroom) but was told this wasn't acceptable and would be a problem if i wanted to sell - no idea why- I think if you don't have room for a laundry room the bathroom makes most sense but apparently not

And it's not about bits of food, it's about oil and grease. It will never mix with water, the soap won't be strong enough to take it off in combination with, well, oily and greasy water. So what remains on the plate is... oily, greasy drippings.

Surely that depends on what you eat? I don't have oil and grease on my plates, other than maybe a frypan, which goes in last, and which the detergent copes with very well.

My grandma was very fastidious about changing into comfy home clothes having been out, washing hands after handling money and washing fruit and veg before eating. I think that was a cultural thing because diseases and germs spread very quickly in a warm climate where she was from. Not sure though.

Money is filthy so she's right there. Washing fruit and veg is surely normal? All kinds of pesticides and grot from the factories where it is packaged etc: it usually specifically says on the packaging to wash it before use!

Changing into comfy clothes at home is just nice. Although I'm of the view all clothes should be comfortable. 😊 She sounds like a smart lady!

Not rinsing dishes is weird and frankly, disgusting. By the time you get to the last few items, the water is greasy and you're literally just dipping a plate / fork / pan in yellow-ish, greasy, soapy water and then leaving it to dry. All that doesn't just magically dry off the dish

I agree with you about the yuk of not rinsing but don't undersfand the rest? The bowl is full of hot soapy water. You clear the plates, rinse, then clean them with the hot soapy water (but not IN the bowl!) and then rinse again. Why would the water get greasy etc?

Oh yes this too! I have noticed some people do not seem to do this. But not sure if it's me that is weird or them!

I’ve noticed (white)British people don’t wash meat! Personally I have to - the gunk that comes off it when washed with salt and lemon is something else.

I had a Chinese ex many years ago and they had lots of different face cloths for washing feet etc and were very clean but never saw so many pots in the kitchen stacked so high up. Made the most delicious curry with coconut and veg. Never wore shoes in the house and I can see why as London streets not the cleanest.

Headlice detected in school - everybody checked and sent home. Class
closed. No school then for that class
until all children are ‘clean’. Lice are dealt with with special lice shampoo and a comb, no ‘slather with conditioner’ nonsense and having/living with lice is absolutely. It tolerated and seen as
dirty and completely unacceptable and neglectful. Hot country.

The dishes always washed first from a small bowl then washed off with hot water and I now do the same as it is dirty if just fill the sink and wash up as washing up in dirty water at the end. They say that washing chicken is bad as you are getting the raw chicken all over the sink and once it is cooked well it is fine.

@mubarak86

Quite a few Roma (Roma/Romani/Romany) here in the States.

I only know that because there was a tv show about them at one time. Very interesting because they had southern (U.S.) accents. I think the show was called “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.”
I think.

I was shocked when I first moved here to Australia and saw people not rinsing their dishes.
If it is just a few cups and a plate, I will scrape if needed, wet dishes, scrub with sponge that has a soap dispenser and quickly rinse them under the tap.

After a large meal, scrape (I miss not having a disposal in the sink), fill one side with hot soapy water about half way, put the dishes in, go off and do something else, come back wash each one with the sponge, quickly rinse with hot water and put in rack to dry.

I've always had a laundry room usually by the back door so it's easy to just walk outside to hang things up if you don't have a clothes dryer.
One house we built had a laundry room upstair centrally located. Another had a laundry area in back of the master suite.

Yeah I echo what the Aussies have said about rinsing dishes / laundry. I grew up in NZ and its not the done thing to rinse dishes in NZ either. My family nevr did, nor my flatmates when I was a student. My DH is British, and I remember when I stayed with PIL when I first met Dh, I offered to help with the dishes and they were aghast I didnt rinse them 😂Dare I say it the Kiwis and Aussies have lived to tell the tale. If I do the dishes I dont rinse them, I figured I survived 23 years without rinsing them so why start now, DH does though!

We also had seperate tea towels for drying dishes and washing hands in the kitchens.

In New Zealand it is also quite common who have your dryer and washing machine in the garages (we did) if you dont have a laundry room, many houses have biggish garages so it make sense rather than putting it in the kitchen.

@MayorDusty I’m curious how the spray hose works. Is it similar to a bidet? And how would you go about getting the hose installed? Lastly, does that make your water bill go up?

TIA

@BOOTS52PollyPrissyPants I’m assuming the chicken would be washed in a bowl and not in the actual sink?

I’ve had the washing meat argument many times. I say argument because it’s become quite contentious at times.

Chicken in particular is covered in slime and membranes. It also stinks. Cleaning it not only removes all that but it allows the seasoning to adhere properly. I can taste unwashed chicken a mile off.

This spreading bacteria around the kitchen nonsense only stands up if you have a dirty kitchen. If you are cleaning meat you are definitely not the type to not be cleaning everywhere else.

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 to tell you this, but washing up sponges are really really unhygienic.

I am pretty casual about germs, but washing up sponges are the one thing I always avoid. www.prima.co.uk/home-ideas/declutter-and-clean/news/a39899/washing-up-sponge-bacteria/#:~:text='Kitchen%20sponges%20not%20only%20act,disease%20outbreaks%2C'%20the%20said.

Well, judging from previous threads on here, there are LOADS of British women who don’t wash their hands after having a wee. And they were mightily insulted when other posters pointed out how gross that is.

I’ve lived on various continents, and there are smelly people/people with long dirty fingernails/people who don’t brush their teeth or shower, literally everywhere.

I will readily accept that culture plays a role, but individuals make their own personal hygiene decisions.

As for washing chicken and other meat, that’s culture driven. In many Western countries it is actively discouraged.

I must be disgusting. For washing dishes I don't rinse..before of after. Dishes go into hot soapy water, washed with a sponge and left on draining board to dry. Once the water looks grubby or is cold it's refilled to carry on.
It's how my mum does dishes so I just thought everyone was the same.

Tbh I think people clean too much. I'm unhealthy and eat shit but I'm never sick. I don't get colds or stomach bugs, still haven't had covid despite being very close contact a few times. Something to be said for building up a baseline immune system.

That first paragraph made me feel a bit sick!!

Love the assumption that washing will be dried on a line!

I have a friend who makes soap, not the melt and pour that you get from a craft shop, the actual real thing

One of the ingredients is lye AKA caustic soda / drain cleaner. If you want to sell it, you need to register the recipe and prove you have a testing process.

On the bathroom shoes / flip flops and the wet floor - don't think of a European bathroom, think of a squat toilet, a tap and a bucket. You might get a shower head, but not always you might have a jug instead. You don't get toilet paper.