To think my moher in law does not know how to do the washing up...

[sea74]

Ok, i dont know if it's only her or not. A friend of mine told me that this is quite common in uk but, to me, it makes me sick. (i am not British)

My MIL does not rinse the plates, glasses or saucepans under running water but she puts them to drain covered in foam. Very often these are still greasy (also because she tends to wash the glasses as last thing when the water is already dirty) and then she dries them with a cloth instead of letting them dry in the air.

I repeat a friend of mine told me this is the british way (i am not british) but i dont believe her because i have seen other friends that instead rinse and dont dry with cloth.
I dont want to offend anyone, but could u tell me if this is very common? Thanks

LOL. 'Course not. Just don't invite me to supper. ;)

OK, then.

Dear god, I really think some of you need to get a grip on reality!

I don't think drying with a cloth is enough to get off any residue.

I do sometimes use a (clean) cloth to dry stuff, because either there is not enough room for it all to drain, or with some items, e.g. glasses, they get scale marks on them from our very hard water if they are not dried after rinsing. But everything that I dry with a cloth will have been rinsed first.

The reality for me is that I don't want to eat washing up liquid. I don't think that's unreasonable.....

I can't say I have ever put that much thought in to how I wash up or how other people wash up. We were taught on a brownies trip to wash 'cleanest first'. So glasses, cutlery, crockery then pans. I'm guilty of doing cutlery last though. I just wash it in hot soapy water then leave it to drain on the rack. If the water gets dirty I change it. I rinse glasses and cups before I use them. I dont have a dishwasher but they don't necessarily clean that well. I've seen people get dishes out that look smeared and unclean. Maybe it depends on how good your dishwasher or detergent is. I don't know much about them as never had one.

LucyGoose - what you describe are not "strange British habits" they are your pil's British habits.

Although I happen to agree with them about tumble driers .

bibbity, I stand corrected! Except the no-rinsing washing up - I saw that at university housing and shared housing in London, way before I met the inlaws.

And enjoy your crunchy clothes fresh from the outside line

Well, I´m beginning to wonder how we´re stilll alive, not always ill or at the very least not farting bubbles with my no rinsing habit.

My mum - who is a nurse, and thus should have a better grasp of good hygienic practises - fills the sink with hot water and puts all the plates, glasses, etc in it. Then she leaves them until the water has cooled - sometimes overnight - before washing and removing. So essentially all the plates, cups, etc are gently soaking in a tepid bacterial soup. Then she dries everything with a much used crusty tea-towel.

re: rinsing - if some tenacious e.coli is still hanging on to a dish after it's been washed, then a bit of cold water isn't going to shift it either.

FWIW: I pre-rinse, then wash everything (glassware first etc) in hot-as-I-can stand water, then leave to air-dry on the drainer. I don't use a washing up bowl. Prof. Hugh Pennington, noted bacteriologist they wheel out whenever there's a food poisoning outbreak, approved this method in a segment I saw on the news once.

Ooh ooh - here's an article with your man Pennington saying washing up bowls are a menace and you must rinse!

Nice Clean Ladies Do It Like This

I use a washing up bowl and also rinse - what does that say about me????

Is this whole thread about washing up?

Good lord above. Thank heavens it's Friday tomorrow.

Washing up?

I forgot about washing up bowls. They're a slimy nuisance. If I'm washing up at someone else's house, I fling he wretched thing on th floor.

I don't want to turn us all to Howard Hughes but look here:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7734939.stm

I thought you couldn't put wooden stuff in dishwashers. Have I been wasting my time all this time???

I have a lodger who has just moved in and she has surprised me with her washing up. She doesn't use washing up liquid and doesn't use hot water or even warm water then she stacks everything upright so the water doesn't drain away. I know she is from Japan so was thinking maybe this is how their culture cook and clean but it seems very odd to me and I don't like to butt in and criticise her but I am a tad worried for her. Luckily I don't eat from her stuff.

No rinse. I always wash glasses and cups first and then wash the rest in order of dirtyness. Any greasy pans get a rinse though and I leave to air dry. I'm British.
My mum prefers her dishwasher.

I hate dishwashers and all they stand for. There's always something still dirty in there after a cycle. Unless you wash the bastards before they go in. In which case what's the point? DH thinks I'm bonkers.