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.

Yes, and surely there must be millions of Aussies living in flats? Not everyone lives in a ranch house in Ramsay Street.

I was about to say the same. Gypsy isn't a slur

Washing up. When washing up liquid first came to this country in the 50s it was advertised on TV with the slogan "No rinsing and no wiping dry!". People happily embraced this to replace the tedious, greasy, tiresome process of washing up that preceded it. And a slatternly friend, married to a Jamaican, had to adjust all her unacceptable practices, not washing the chicken, etc. The most irritating was - and this may have been an individual thing - being told how filthy it was to spit in the sink when brushing her teeth. Brush with running water and Colgate, then spit it out into the lavatory.🙄

@ExitChasedByABee it's like a smaller shower next to the lav. If you have a wash basin beside the toilet it's a cheap, easy DIY job any handyman could do it not just a plumbers (you plumb in on the hot/cold water feeds) like a mixer tap.
despite mnet threads you don't spray shit everywhere you use it like a hose pipe and not a jet wash, bum crack gives a natural valley for the water same at the front so you don't get cheeks and legs wet. Lean forward or back depending, gentle rinse, wash if you need it and a dab dry. If you have periods or bowel issues it's a godsend.
Also perfect for washing hair and feet and makes cleaning the loo very easy.
We've found it cuts down on showers because your undercarriage is washed more often.Water use is about the same as a basin of water for a full wash and rinse, hardly noticeable.
don't get a cold feed only if you are in the UK, winter is too cold!

The reason that a lot of house in the U.K. have washing machines and tumble dryers in the kitchen is because they are old house lots of homes over 100 years old, when they wear built the washing would have been down outside in a washroom, also that’s why the bathrooms are often quite small as out side loos were the norm really until after the Second World War. If you live in a more modern house (1980’s) there usually is a utility room next to the back door. I would not really want my washing machine in the bathroom because it upstairs would need to take it down stairs to get it on the line.

Keep it respectful please, no one is asking for opinions on what is the "right" way to do things.

A valiant effort doomed to failure, OP!

When I lived in Japan in the 1990s some women wouldn't touch their husband's dirty underwear when putting them into the washing machine. They had a pair of chopsticks kept by the washing machine for picking them up and putting them in. I first saw this being done in a television advertisement, found it odd, so asked about it in the English language classes I gave. It turned out to be surprisingly common.

Later in the 1990s I was at a several week long conference in southern India. Accommodation and food was provided, but it was fairly informal and one could go into the kitchen where the cooks were preparing food. All of it was vegetarian, and no vegetables were ever washed or peeled. Out of curiosity I later read up about this and it turned out that it was normal in that area for most people to be vegetarian and not wash vegetables. Apparently micronutrients, minerals and so on that might have been insufficient due to following a vegetarian diet over generations were gained in this way.

People from the area who moved out of India and followed the same diet but ate vegetables that had been scrubbed clean before being sold in the shops were prone to developing problems due to insufficiencies in their diet.

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

The advice for hayfever sufferes is not to do this @BadAtMaths2. Also, not to dry washing outside.

Flip flops and communal slippers for visitors......yuck. No way would I be wearing your slippers, or visiting your house. Boots on in this house unless covered in mud. Please keep your shoes on, I don't want your sweaty paws on my floor.

One great grandmother on my father's side was Gypsy. (Roma, married a Jew) Despite having an inside bathroom they had two outside loos, one for women and children, one for men. Same when I was growing up. My father never used the loo in the bathroom, same in my house.

Washing was divided meticulously. No underwear in with outside clothing, mens and womens separated, colours too. I still do this, and won't let my DH near the washing.

Other side of the family were Jewish. I'm not in any way kosher but still use separate utensils and pots for meat and dairy.

My mother's family were all farmers, so had cats in agas, when they emerged from the aga you entertained yourself by picking off fleas. Calves in the kitchen, and lambs in front of the fire. My mother polished the furniture and fussed over soft furnishings, but floors are for animals and walking on. I'm the same.

Wash ya bum,....not sure where that originates from, but yep.

Roma and indeed the Jews have picked up cultural norms from other cultures due to diaspora. So I think its highly unlikely you'll find very strict adherence to specific practices across all families claiming the same heritage.

‘Later in the 1990s I was at a several week long conference in southern India. Accommodation and food was provided, but it was fairly informal and one could go into the kitchen where the cooks were preparing food. All of it was vegetarian, and no vegetables were ever washed or peeled. Out of curiosity I later read up about this and it turned out that it was normal in that area for most people to be vegetarian and not wash vegetables. Apparently micronutrients, minerals and so on that might have been insufficient due to following a vegetarian diet over generations were gained in this way.’

I read its why b12 deficiency is rare in Indian vegetarians…tasty that comes from manure that isn’t washed off. I rarely wash vegetables, but do have low b12. Go figure.

@RampantIvy I know, so we don’t, but I’d much rather have aired bedding and house ….. if he’s away for a week I fling all the doors open and hope for good weather to air stuff…

I always air the house in the morning. Frustratingly, DH always forgets to open the bedroom windows on days that I go to the office, so it gets aired in the afternoon.

Yes, but even small flats in Australia have a separate cupboard type thing with the washing machine and a laundry sink.

Many Victorian terraces didn't originally have a bathroom so often a back bedroom would be divided to put a bathroom in, it was not uncommon for the bathroom to be a '2 piece' a bath and a sink, people still used the outside toilet, this was not common but not that uncommon when I was a young adult, It seems to be something the Gypsy/Roma/traveler communities have retained.

@MiniTheMinx do you wash clothes from the top of your body separately to those worn on the bottom of your body? I don't mean underwear but T-shirts and jeans?

I don't air the house as much as I did when younger but I do fold my bedding down to let the bed 'air', I was confused as a teenager staying over at my boyfriend's when his mum criticized me and boyfriend for not making the bed in the morning.

It just feels wrong to me to get out of a bed where you have been sweating and making the bed so any sweat is kept in the bed.

Am I the only one who's getting a massive urge to deep clean readng this?

🧹🧺🧼🧽🧴

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.

I did some volunteering in the North of India after college. It was a scheme wherein children living in slums had access to the classrooms of a posh private school for certain hours of week and were taught by volunteers. They were always turned out impeccably, as were the families when we visited them.

I understand that Travellers keep their vans spotlessly clean and that they don't have toilet facilities inside. What do you do about cooking? Is it difficult in such a small space?

I understand that. I guess my question is why the 'official' advice doesn't cover whether to wash the packaging we are all meant to recycle, since it is exactly the same issue. Just pointing out an inconsistency!

I am a gypsy and that's the term I use to describe myself.
We have a lot of cleaning practices other people consider strange.

We don't use mops as they're considered dirty.
Typically men would never clean.
We don't hang women's underwear on the washing line.
We often dismantle things to clean inside them.

Most won't cook or use the toilet inside. They cook outside

Italian part - put left leftover food (and cheese) covered in a cupboard (not fridge).

Indian part - shoes off in house. Completely - don’t go against, but wear socks in my house please. Wash hands thoroughly before eating. I personally don’t care if you kept your shoes on as have hard flooring.

English part - do whatever. Don’t care 🤷‍♀️

I don’t see what’s wrong with a WM in the kitchen, either. Washing is sorted upstairs, comes down, straight into the machine. Once washed, taken away to hang up or stick in the drier. It’s not as if anyone’s strewing dirty knickers all over the worktops.
Any non-Brits who are ‘aghast’ need to get a grip.

Personally I find the habits of bleaching everything and Dettol baths decidedly weird and OTT.

I watch a lot of cooking videos on YouTube and I got into the habit of washing meat after seeing a Jamaican cook do it. I’ll never go back now as I can tell the difference.

In this country we’re taught not to wash meat full stop for safety reasons, but I think most people could wash meat and clean up competently without putting their family’s health at risk. If it was the “done” thing.

Yes! I always aired my bedding in Japan over the balcony rail with the big clips for futon. I wish I could do it here, over the end of the bed is not the same.

Also never shoes in the house but there is a kind of mini-hall (genkan) for shoes.

I lived for many years in the tropics, and I’m a convert to meat washing. The reason I do it is that as soon as it’s butchered, meat will start to develop a layer of bacteria on it, it’s not an inert substance. The longer you leave and/or the warmer the climate, the greater the number of bacteria. It gives off a slightly farty smell and can result in a bitter taste. Similarly any blood left in the meat can give a fishy taste when cooked. I think just giving any meat a decent rinse under cold water before cooking is a good idea, and can improve the taste.