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.

I wonder about headline...I've never had them my mum nor sisters have had headlice in our lives! We do not have English type of hair. I once asked my colleague.. and I asked her about headlice going in "clean" hair but often... it looks like that isn't always the case! DS has had several class letters saying to check your child's hair as someone has got nits in fact it happens multiple times a year. The kids are only 7... how could you not notice?

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

I'm in NZ also, and yes both us and the Aussies have lived to tell the tale after not rinsing our dishes - and I'm a lot older than you. It seems like such a waste of time to me, and totally unnecessary.

I'd like to know what countries wash meat, & why?

I lived in Cairo in the 80s. On Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays outdoor abattoirs were set up, often next to main roads. Live animals were carroled, taken out, killed and butchered. The air was full of flies and traffic pollution. I'd wash any meat bought there.

BTW, they used to eat a lot of camels.

Did someone say they had a washing machine in the kitchen and lived in Australia? Never seen or heard of that. In small apartments you get what are called "European laundries" which are basically cupboards with a sink and next to that a washing machine and dryer stacked on top covered by sliding or folding door.
We have laundries ( separate rooms) because they are near the back door so they are close to the Hills Hoist ( I think you guys call that a rotary clothes line - another brilliant OZ invention) and you take your basket of clean laundry out the door and peg it up in the sun and breeze. They are also great for storage , and "mud rooms - gum boots footy boots etc".
If my washing machine was in the kitchen I would have to carry the basket through the lounge and dining room and down the hall to get to the back door.

DS has had several class letters saying to check your child's hair as someone has got nits in fact it happens multiple times a year. The kids are only 7... how could you not notice?

In our class, there's a poor kid who never gets treated properly, so re-infects the class. As a result, there's definitely a fashion for those children with long hair to have it in french plaits!

DS2's caught them once, and because he has a massive mop of curly hair (at the time, it was just short enough because of the curls that we weren't tying it up), it was a nightmare to get rid of.

One place we lived, all the teachers were tested for worms every year, and if there was a report, all the children were required to be tested to. I had to explain to DS1 that I needed a sample of his poo in a jar and he was scandalised (not as much as he would have been with the alternative, which was having a nurse take a sample direct from source with sticky tape!)

My ex is British Asian and not sure about washing the meat but yes to all the other things. Always wear flip flops in bathrooms and I also wash up like that now too, I hate the method of washing everything in a dirty sink

O gosh yes, deworming. My mum dewormed us every 6 months as a rule. I still deworm my kids regularly, the pharmacists knows me by know but in the beginning I did get quizzical looks!

Ummmmmm…….

I’ve lived in Australia for 35 years and have twice lived in a home with laundry appliances in the kitchen.

Two other homes had laundries upstairs or off the first landing - nowhere near the back door,

Have also never met a fellow Australian who would be ‘aghast’ at where anyone keeps their washing machine.

No one washes in a dirty sink

Washing chicken also isn't good because it can spread disease into the water supply.

How old are you? 3? Do adults actually use the word 'yuk'?

I have travelled a lot with work. The cleanest houses I have ever been in were in Greece and turkey.
The proudest people were in India. I visited homes in the slums and those families sent their children to school in crisp brilliant white shirts.
The dirtiest houses I’ve been in were in the UK.

DressingPafe

agree with the hanging of the quilt out the window, it’s always done in Austria, I don’t do that but if it a nice sunny day when I change the bed I strip it put the quilt on the line for a couple of hours to air it and open all the window in the bedroom hover mattress .

MayorDusty

totally agree travellers and showman (people who run the travelling funfairs) are usually spotlessly clean In there wagons . My Dad knew a lot of Showmen when I was growing up and there caravans were so clean that they use to shine ( lots of chrome and polished wood that was polished all the time) I loved going to visit them always Had such beautiful homes .

When my SIL visits from Indonesia , mid afternoon she and my niece disappear for an hour for a short rest then come back all showered , fresh and and smelling of the most wonderful oils. It feels almost ritualistic but I’ve never asked.

One thing I don't understand about the washing meat question: I was the meat packaging for recycling, surely that carries just as much risk of spreading germs?

Disclaimer: I've ne mver washed meat, not a thing in our family, but am just interested in the logic behind the advice not to wash meat, and whether it extends to the packaging.

Airing the beds and bedding every day. Harder to do in rainy Britain. But in Japan if you didn’t air your bedding it was very frowned upon. It had to be seen on your balcony every day.

have disagreements with very Hayfever prone husband about having windows open and airing bedding outside.

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.

Agree with this. I'm half Iraqi, and even though its on the Gulf, people from desert climates are just naturally more conscious with water. Trees in garden = wealth.

I have French family & it's a thing to have the sink separate to the toilet

I also grew up with bidets & think they are actually amazing 😆

I'm in NZ and have always rinsed dishes before washing but not after. Also have a separate laundry room which is the norm here. If a house doesn't have a laundry room the washing machine/dryer will usually be in the garage.
Meat - I wash chicken, probably because my mum always did so it's just habit. Not red meat though.

This

Surely you don’t insist on it given his hayfever? It’s so miserable and getting pollen on your bedding and in the house makes it so much worse. That’s really not a caring way to treat your husband!

@riverpebbles the research shows that washing chicken can splash salmonella around the area. It's only a risk if you aren't properly cleaning up after yourself. It's incorrect to say that washing meat is unhygienic, the unhygienic bit would not to be cleaning up afterwards, which every meat washer I know does.