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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to not wash dishes after every meal?

76 replies

kathkim · 12/04/2017 13:16

I don't have a dishwasher.

I only wash up last thing and do all that day's dishes.

Am I slovenly? If I had a dishwasher, I guess I'd store the dishes in there until it was full.

Does anyone else hand wash dishes? Do you do it after every meal? Or do it at the end of the day? If the latter, do you just stack the dirty dishes up in view or what?

OP posts:

HerRoyalFattyness · 12/04/2017 13:21

I hand wash. I wash them after every meal.

laurzj82 · 12/04/2017 13:21

Same as you OP. Hope we're not the only ones

Katedotness1963 · 12/04/2017 13:22

I have a dishwasher now but when I didn't I washed up after every meal. I still wash my lunch dishes by hand as I'm the only one home then, and I wash up if I have a cup of tea.

Wolfiefan · 12/04/2017 13:22

Depends on how many people are in the house. If it was just me I don't know if I would have bothered to run a bowl of hot water for my side plate and single knife after my morning toast. If the whole family is here I would definitely wash up or the bowl would be overflowing!

ThePigletatwork · 12/04/2017 13:23

I hand wash.

I tried to leave it for a couple of days at a time, but I'm so messy in the kitchen that the place soon resembled one of those huge rubbish dumps that you see in India.

Plus I tend to use the same pots and pans every night.

Original poster

kathkim · 12/04/2017 13:24

I only have hot water through an immersion heater and I don't really want that on three times a day, you see.

OP posts:

patronsaintofglocks · 12/04/2017 13:26

As long as you don't have rats! It's your choice x

BastardGoDarkly · 12/04/2017 13:28

Boil a kettle? I hand wash after every meal yeah (dh does dinner dishes) lm no domestic goddess by any stretch, but can't handle rank dirty plates all over my kitchen the whole day.

tabulahrasa · 12/04/2017 13:29

Oh at the end of the day, not reusing them without washing...lol

Itaintme · 12/04/2017 13:29

Before my dishwasher we mostly only washed up once a day.

swampytiggaa · 12/04/2017 13:29

I hand wash and wash dishes at night. Don't see a problem with it tbh.

SuperManStoleMyPants · 12/04/2017 13:31

I wash after every meal, but we have a small kitchen so it gets very cluttered very quickly. Glasses, cups and other bits get left throughout the day until the next meals wash.

Itaintme · 12/04/2017 13:32

Now I have a dishwasher dirty pots get shoved in it out of sight. So we still only wash dishes once a day or every 2 days if there are not many pots.

acquiescence · 12/04/2017 13:32

We don't have a dishwasher. I couldn't stand this! I wash after every meal, snack, cup of tea.
Your house, your choice though. I really hate dirt dishes with food/drink in hanging around and would find it pretty gross if I was at a friend's house. Would you wash up if you had people coming over?

mirime · 12/04/2017 13:32

Before I had DS we washed up once a day in the evening while cooking dinner, so we'd be washing up the previous days dinner things plus that days breakfast plates. Worked for us as neither of us felt like doing dishes or any house work after dinner.

loosingsanity · 12/04/2017 13:33

I do the same as you OP. I find it hassle to wash up after every meal, so I wash up everything we've used during the day whilst my LO is eating dinner of an evening. Might be the odd cup, or cutlery piece in the sink prior to going to bed at night - but I can live with a sink that's never completely empty. Once a day is plenty for me!

Original poster

kathkim · 12/04/2017 13:34

Yes, I would wash up if I had people over. Not that it happens often!

In fact, my question was prompted by the fact that I am expecting someone to come over after 3pm today (to do with work) and I have just had a flurry of cleaning in the kitchen as we'll be using the kitchen table. I've mopped the floor, washed down the table and put things out of the room that don't belong.

It made me think how much better life would be if I was semi-visitor ready for a change!

OP posts:

eddiemairswife · 12/04/2017 13:36

No dishwasher, only me, every other day.

Original poster

kathkim · 12/04/2017 13:36

I am trying to keep my bills down too, so not sure how expensive it would be to put the immersion on 3 x day or to keep boiling kettles.

I am guessing running a dishwater and buying all the cleaning stuff for it gets expensive? Anyone?

Hmmm. Maybe a compromise would be to at least find a way of keeping my dishes out of sight.

Will need to mull this over.

I just don't want another day like this one - panic stations in anticipation of visitors.

OP posts:

Original poster

kathkim · 12/04/2017 13:39

I have, however, found time to read MN half the morning

OP posts:

amusedbush · 12/04/2017 13:40

I don't have a dishwasher. It's just DH and I at home, and I eat breakfast and lunch at work so very few dishes. Anything really manky is washed as we go but I'll sometimes leave plates/cutlery/mugs for a couple of days.

abigwideworld · 12/04/2017 13:42

Who on earth has the time to wash up three times a day? Usually there's only a couple of things anyway, like a few cups and bowls. It's nothing that can't wait til evening.

DevelopingDetritus · 12/04/2017 13:45

I wash up about every 3 days.

PuntCuffin · 12/04/2017 13:47

I have a dishwasher. There are still some things which don't go in it. I leave them until there are enough to justify running a basin of hot water. Which is usually each evening after supper, or while I cook. But might be more often if I have been baking.

BarbaraofSeville · 12/04/2017 13:49

Before my dishwasher we mostly only washed up once a day

We were probably even less than that. In fact, it was the arguments about washing up that led us to go out and buy a dishwasher.

Dishwashers are probably cheaper to run than washing up by hand, especially if you need to use an immersion or even boil a kettle to wash up by hand. I'd say they use less water too - ours uses 11 litres for a full cycle of 12 place settings plus pans, breakfast things etc etc, which is about half a sinkfull of water - much less than you'd need to do it by hand. And infinitely better for your sanity and more hygienic because the water is hotter.

The tablets aren't particularly expensive either. I get the all in ones from Aldi or Home Bargains and aim to pay no more than 10 pence per tablet. Some people even break them in half and still get good results, but I can't be arsed trying that.

OP, if you have space (or even if you don't - we put the fridge in the dining room in order to make room for a dishwasher) and can afford one, get a dishwasher, they are worth their cost 10 times over.

When our last dishwasher broke, I ordered a new one the same day and only looked at places that could deliver the next day - I wasn't waiting longer than that.

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