WIBU- washing dishes under running hot tap

[Naughty1205]

Just a heated discussion between dh and I now. Who fills their sink with hot water to wash the dishes and/or who washes each item under the running hot tap? I've been told that no one does it my way and he's gone off in a huff. Just curious!

I usually fill the bowl, but OH runs the tap.

I'm not too worried about how he chooses to do it to be honest, as long as he's doing it!

The only thing that is irritating is that his method rinses through the washing up liquid because he has to squeeze it on everything individually.

Only in Blighty this unsanitary yucky habit of swishing dishes in greasy water in a bowl is considered as "washing the dishes". The rest of the civilised world washes under hot running water from the tap. May the dishwashers save this god forsaken land.

I also imagine the rest of the civilised world has 2 shower a day, not faffing about in a basin with a "flannel", or proudly washing "once a day".

Saving water? Ah just piss off. Saving water is making sure you tap doesn't leak, not scrimping on basic hygiene of one's body and surroundings.

BloodyDisgrace

I disagree with most of your post, but I have always found washing up bowls icky.

I don't find baths gross, because it's only me in there, but a load of different plates plus soap and hot water has always grossed me out.

That said... dishwasher, dishwasher, dishwasher.

Running tap as they need rinsing in clean water after suds on. I tested this out. I don't run tap on full at all, just a constrant stream. Sink wasn't even half full when finished when I put the plug in to test how much water was using. Had a flatmate who used to fill the sink full of bubbles and hot water however much they were going to wash up. That's wasteful. Use only what you need.

How are washing up bowls any more icky than washing up in the sink? If anything, you can rinse off eg bean juice and not have it go into the washing up water, before cleaning the pan properly. When you're finished, you wash the bowl, inside and out, just like you would clean up the sink.

Also, I have a git big Belfast sink which, while fab for washing big stuff, takes a ridiculous amount of water to fill, so having a small bowl means we can wash non dishwasher friendly pans and glasses without having to fill said git big sink (and pollute the huge amount of water when we realise, too late, that we did, indeed, forget to rinse away the worst of the bean juice).

I have the same argument with my DH all the time! I let them soak and then scrub each and one of them and then rinse each of them under water. The whole washing bowl and not rinsing is so disgusting to me.

Your way is incredibly wasteful OP. I bet you're not on a water meter are you? I fill the sink and haven't died yet. YABU.

I'm always surprised at the people on here who say things like 'I couldn't put my hands in the dirty water'... it's water with small bit of left over food in it, not chemical waste. 🤷🏻‍♀️

FWIW, we have a dishwasher, but when we do need to wash stuff, I scrape the leftovers into bin, rinse anything really caked in food, then wash in hot water with liquid in a bowl. When water gets dirty I change it.
I rinse then if stuff is bubbly. And leave to drain. I've don't think I've ever seen a single person I know wash up under a running tap...

All of those who wash up under running water. Do you have water meters?

All of those who wash up under running water. Do you have water meters?

yes (I mainly use dishwasher though).
A water meter doesn't stop me from having 2 showers a day usually, running 1 or 2 loads of laundry a day and having a paddling pool for the kids in the summer. I use water I need. I don't leave the water running when I brush my teeth or wash my hair 🤷

The day I move to Australia who is badly suffering from drought, I will change my habits, as long as I am in soggy England, I am good.

"you see, persil grips the grease so it can't get back on the plate"
That is literally the job of washing up liquid. I agree a washing up bowl of luke warm water with bits in is a bit grim but the reality isn't like that

Wash under running hot water no matter how many dishes there are. No way I'm rummaging around in gadgey food filled water. I hate doing dishes as it is.

I live in Scotland, I'm not concerned about running out of water anytime soon.

Fill a bowl.would never just run the hot water away.

@EmmiJay Wed 11-Sep-19 20:24:30
I run the hot tap. Between the fairy platinum and boiling hot water I can get through a full sink in 5 minutes.

You think running water straight down the drain for 5mins is ok??

I can’t see how there is any benefit to using a running HOT tap rather than a running COLD tap, as the water barely has time to warm the dirt and plates (unless you do one item for ages) this has been proved with hand washing - no need for hot water as it doesn’t remove any extra dirt or germs.

At least when soaking it has chance to work!

Either way is still incredibly wasteful and I’ve never come across anyone in real life who does this!

I had the local water company round last month to check something with our storm drainage. Whilst here he did a quick check on showers, toilets etc for efficiency.

He told me that my dishwasher was a much more economical method of washing up and uses much less water.

We're on a water meter now so I'm a bit paranoid over my use.

I do the slow fill of a basin to wash. From cleanest item to dirtiest. Cutlery soaks in a small tub till it's their turn on the clean to dirty scale.

I wear rubber gloves and wash with the hottest water I can stand as it's the heat that activates the washing up liquid to clean. Use the smallest amount of liquid I can.

I rinse with a jug of hot water at the end and air dry if possible.

We do have a dishwasher and I now wait till that's full before turning it on. I'll also wait until I have a suitable sized pile of non-dishwasher items before hand washing.

If I had two sinks I'd use one for washing and one for rinsing

Our aim should be to save water, reduce energy needed to heat water and reduce consumption of the consumables (liquid/brushes/scourers/etc) when we wash up.

You'll all be washing your dishes in dirty water in years to come - just because we're a wet country doesn't mean we have enough water for people to waste it. It's estimated we'll have severe water shortages in approx 20 years unless we change our behaviour and already there are parts of the country that don't have enough water so we pump it from other parts.

@AuntieMaggie
I highly doubt that as there is always the option of setting up reverse osmosis water plants which convert sea water to fresh without the delay and energy requirements of the old desalination plants. The one I helped build was actually tide powered. There are islands off the coast of Africa which have no fresh water source now supporting populations in the thousands thanks to the work my teams did. It would be a simple matter to build a dozen or so on a larger scale to support the U.K.

Fill up the bowl with very hot soapy water, wash and then a quick rinse under the tap before going on the drainer. I turn the hot tap on and off between each item and then chuck a cup load over the cutlery.
No dishwasher here and I suspect my method even with using the on and off running tap uses about 1/4 of what a dishwasher does.

Do people use the same method of running water when we have drought conditions? We live in area where it rains a lot. My MIL lives on the other side of the country where it doesn’t rain as much, so local reservoirs won’t be as full as ours.

Also using more water than you need uses up more energy to heat the water and more resources at the water treatment plant. Especially if you are using more washing up liquid than you would in a bowl. It just seems so wasteful

I do them under a hot running tap. Not sure how much more water it wastes but but couldn't bring myself to fill a sink. But mainly dishwasher anyway.

For those of you who use a running tap do you ever have baths or go swimming, or let your DC have baths or go swimming? Just as well you don't live in the generation where people used to have a bath once a week and share the bath water.

Do you only wash one item at a time in the washing machine?

Don't think anyone who washes under a running hot tap answered my earlier question. Do you put a squirt of washing up liquid on every single item? And if you do, do you ever think about the impact of all that detergent and plastic waste on the environment?