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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:

catlover1987 · 12/04/2017 14:44

We have a dishwasher now but in our old flat, we'd do it once a day. DH worked from home and would leave all his breakfast and lunch dishes (which drove me mad) so we'd just take turns to do the washing up after dinner. I was so resentful of it and am so glad I have a dishwasher now!

ElinoristhenewEnid · 12/04/2017 14:47

now there is just the two of us we wash up every lunch time after our main cooked meal which includes dishes etc from our tea the night before and breakfast. No faffing around with a few items at a time.

Original poster

kathkim · 12/04/2017 15:15

My partner not keen on a dishwasher, so I will need to persuade. Will need to be a tabletop tho!

OP posts:

BarbaraofSeville · 12/04/2017 15:18

Well that's your problem solved then. If your partner doesn't want a dishwasher they can do all the washing up then and it's not something that ever needs to cross your radar.

Original poster

kathkim · 12/04/2017 15:22

Thanks, Barbara - partner does do all dishes in the evening but I can't see it happening three times a day. I suspect he will think I am OTT for wanting to do this. Trouble is, I've been a bit laid-back about housework for years (as is he) but I am the one wanting to drive these changes. I am moving the goalposts so to speak. Still, i'm going to try it.

OP posts:

limon · 12/04/2017 15:29

I couldn't -I like to clean everything after each meal. but it's your house and if everyone in it is happy then it's no one else's business.

Original poster

kathkim · 12/04/2017 15:30

Loving all the replies. My visitor (who helped start this thread for me!) has just arrived so will log off for now xxxx

OP posts:

WritingHome · 12/04/2017 15:34

We leave the breakfast dishes - 3 bowls, 2 mugs, 3 glasses, 3 spoons neatly rinced in the sink as we are rushing out the work / school. We all eat lunch at home most days so once lunch is finished one of us washes everything and dries up and wipes the counters and the draining board. And puts the clean stuff away. It takes about 10mins to do it all.

I make dinner most evenings (due to work arangements) and tend to wash, dry and put away as I go if I can.

As soon as dinner is over I wash up and tidy up and sweep the floor,. Put tea towel and dish cloth in the wash and out out fresh ones for the next day.

We keep a very clean and tidy kitchen and messy dishes piled up would really bother me. I also can't stand 'drip drying' and stuff piled up all over the draining board. I reckon I am a bit anal about it.

But it is just routine now and none of it takes longer than 20mins in total. I LOVE walking through the spotless, organized kitchen on my way to bed - it gives me pleasure! I must be a right saddo!

There is NO WAY I could leave dishes for more than a day. That's utterly disgusting to me.

dementedpixie · 12/04/2017 15:36

When dh and i were students, days went by without washing dishes . Then it took hours to wash and dry everything. Was glad when we eventually got a dishwasher

PyongyangKipperbang · 12/04/2017 15:38

Aldi currently have table top dishwasher for £150....just sayin'

swampytiggaa · 12/04/2017 15:51

I keep my dirty dishes in the washing up bowl in the cupboard under the sink. That holds breakfast and lunch dishes then I wash up after tea. No different to putting stuff in a dishwasher and turning it on at night really.

Topseyt · 12/04/2017 15:54

Dishwasher here, and wouldn't be without it. The mess and chaos a family of 5 can create in the kitchen is incredible otherwise.

At times in my life when I haven't had a dishwasher I always washed up after every meal. I am no domestic goddess either, but dirty dishes sitting on view in the sink or on worktops are a massive no-no for me. I can't stand it.

notarehearsal · 12/04/2017 16:39

Before I had a dishwasher I hated hand washing dishes so much that I'd often leave it a couple of days, we all survived and I still had many people around!

Areyoufree · 12/04/2017 16:56

whispers
Sometimes we leave ours on the side until the morning.
Slinks away, leaving pasta sauce footprints

TwentyCups · 12/04/2017 16:59

I wash after every meal, or snack etc because the kitchens so small. If I had a bigger kitchen with space to leave them beside the sink til the evening I might do that instead.

PickAChew · 12/04/2017 17:03

Dishwasher powder, tabs etc are a lot more expensive than fairy liquid.

I used to let it build up and hated it. Now do a sinkful, when I have one, which can be anything from 3 to 8 sinkful a day, depending on what's been cooked, that day. There's just too much mess to deal with and look at if it gets left until it's overwhelming.

Itaintme · 12/04/2017 17:05

I love my dishwasher because I can stack all my dirty pots in it.That's if someone has emptied it first though.

lemonzest123 · 12/04/2017 17:07

thinks about wok that's been in the sink for three days

is 'utterly disgusting'

Kikikaakaa · 12/04/2017 17:28

Kids wash up once a day. It's their shared chore. It's only breakfast and dinner stuff anyway. Everyone is out all day and I have nice fingernails I don't want in water all day long

MrsCharlieD · 12/04/2017 18:25

We have a dishwasher now but prior to that breakfast pots would usually get left until the evening if we're all at work. At the weekend I would wash after every meal as I don't like the kitchen to be messy when I'm home.

ElinoristhenewEnid · 12/04/2017 19:31

Washing up liquid bottle lasts me a year at least!!

Cleanermaidcook · 12/04/2017 19:56

no dishwasher here - 2 adults + 2 children in house.
Usually I boil kettle in morning for a brew and use the leftover boiling water mixed with cold to wash breakfast pots (4 bowls, 2 cups, 2 glasses) Then put immersion on at night to run a bath and do washing up from dinner. No ones home for lunch.

swampytiggaa · 12/04/2017 20:38

BTW I manage happily without a dishwasher as a family of 2 adults and five children aged 23-8. Wouldn't live without my tumble dryer tho.

tinyterrors · 13/04/2017 08:43

I wash up whenever the sink is full. On a school day that's usually after the kids eat their dinner and then when we've had dinner.

School holidays I usually have to wash up after lunch as well.

We've got a combi boiler now but I did the same with washing up when we had an emersion heater as it was cheaper to leave it on all day. The only difference was I couldn't do any washing up within an hour of dh getting home or there wasn't enough hot water for a shower and he comes home filthy.

BeautyQueenFromMars · 13/04/2017 08:47

We hand wash, usually after dinner. If I'm off work, I might do the breakfast things before we have lunch, but that's usually because I'm cleaning in general. If I'm not cleaning, I often leave the dishes. It's so boring, washing up!

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