The washing up bowl debate....

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To do my washing up I use a plastic washing up bowl within a stainless steel sink.
Work colleague was appalled, never uses a plastic bowl as a sink is a bowl in itself.
AIBU?

Ceramic sink here. No bowl

We had a bowl growing up. I think there is not the need today as people have utility room with sink or extra bathrooms.

But back in the day the kitchen sink was also a general sink used for cleaning really dirty stuff so using a bowl for dishes was more hygienic. That's my theory.

My grandparents had a sink bowl and my parents never did. I think it might have been a generational thing. Saving utilities. Having said that, my parents had a dishwasher and neither set of grandparents did.

Since living with DH, we have always used a bowl. We prefer it since it saves water. You don't need to fill the entire sink, just a small bowl. Just wipe it down with vinegar to disinfect it and keep it clean. We also add a tiny splash of vinegar to the washing up water to cut through grease and make everything shine. We don't have a dishwasher, though.

I think bowls were considered an elderly relative's quirk but they are making a comeback amongst eco-conscious younger generations.

Never used a washing up bowl. I worked somewhere that had one - it never ever got cleaned and gave me the heebie jeebies

If i lived on my own I would have a bowl because i would always give it a rinse off afterwards, but my partner doesn't think to do it and it ends up all manky/greasy.

Laughs
Maybe someone will think I'm being unreasonable because I add a tiny bit of vinegar to the washing up water!

@Gemma2019 That looks awesome. Where's it from?

@KrakowDawn

I would also point out that it's not purely a British thing. Romanys have separate bowls for whatever they're washing, e.g. food, clothes, upper body, lower body etc. It's an important part of their 'etiquette' to use the correct bowl for correct thing and not mix them. (I mean, imagine washing your dishes in the bowl you'd soaked baby's nappies in!)

That's interesting. I wonder whether, in both cases, it comes from using the kitchen sink for lots of different functions. as we are less likely to have separate laundry rooms and utilities. If you only have one sink to do laundry, food and DIY painting cleanup, bowls do create a separation. Though I do accept a sink is very cleanable.

Always had a plastic bowl to wash up in. I
Wipe it out after I've used it and it's replaced with a new one about every five or six years or more.
Kept the old one as 'sick bowl'!
Can't do without a washing up bowl.

I'd love a utility room! Must be handy to have and use without just having the one sink in the kitchen.

I use the dishwasher, but for any hand washing I use the sink.That's what its intended for.

The washing up bowl is for sick in our house. Never understood the point of a bowl in the sink just gets in the way and another thing to wash dry and put away

We just use the dishwasher for everything so no washing up bowl. We had one until fairly recently but it just got disgusting.

I would probably prefer a very clean washing up bowl to a sink that hadn't been cleaned for a while though.

@the80sweregreat I do the same with the old bowls! I have enough bowls for several people to be sick at once now - and they are useful for cleaning the car, dyeing clothes etc.

I also choose bowls that can sort of hang off the sides of my sink, so I can tip stuff over the side of it and it goes straight down the plughole and isn't impeded by the bowl itself.

I don't know how people cope without a washing up bowl. Even though I have one of those mini-sink thingies you can put liquids down, it just feels so much nicer to wash up in a bowl.

I don't have a dishwasher as there is no room for one and even if there was, since there's only me on weeks my DD is with her dad I'd run out of plates before the dishwasher was full enough to make it worth running.

I use a bowl so I can fill it with hot water, soak the plates and then wash them and rinse in warm running water from the tap directed between the bowl and the sink without either overflowing the bowl or cooling the water. It also means that I don't have to worry about chipping plates or glasses on the metal sink, and if anything needs soaking then I can leave it to the end in the water without it then being left sat in dirty water. Additionally I have a bowl with a plug in the bottom (you just twist a tab and a circle opens in the bottom of the bowl to drain the water) so it's easy to empty and I can just give it a rinse out as the water drains to get rid of any bits/gunk left.

Never had a bowl in my life, it’s always one of life’s great mysteries

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba

we use dishwahers🤷‍♀️

bowl in sink is disgusting and so is not rinsing the washing up liquid off with water.

How can the bowl be disgusting as long as it’s washed and kept clean in the same way the main sink is? I don’t have a bowl, but we used to when we didn’t have the separate middle sink and it wasn’t any harder to clean it than the sink itself.

YANBU

Imagine being so easily appalled.

We've always had a bowl and a dishwasher. I also have a round washing up bowl under the sink for pan lids. The pans hang up.

I've always had a sink bowl but it's never actually used to sit in the sink and wash dishes in.

Mostly used to transport water to wherever something needs cleaning or as a sick bowl or to hold water for feeding plants or used when doing DIY to put paint brushes/rollers in.

It is currently a barbie swimming pool.

My £1 sink bowl is one of the most used things in my kitchen!

I always wash up in the sink under a running tap. Washing up in a bowl of soapy water with food particles and saliva makes me cringe. It's much more hygienic to do this way.

I hate the bowl in the sink, it feels so dirty. Makes me feel ill doing the washing up at MIL's house. I had never come across it until I came to the UK.

I have the JosephJoseph bowl with a plug, too. It has feet so it doesn’t touch the sink surface. I’ve used it with both a single and a double sink.

In Italy they LOVE plastic bowls, buckets, laundry baskets etc. Just go to a weekly local market and you’ll see the variety on offer. Higher end plastic products like Guzzini are even good design. www.fratelliguzzini.com/eu/colander-and-bowl-set-6800.html

I got a plastic washing tub as a joke wedding present and really appreciated it for bathing toddlers!

I started using a washing up bowl when I was in University halls, to take my dirty mugs etc. to the communal kitchen. I also sent DS off to university with a collapsible bowl. So useful.

I’m not a fan of the washing up bowl but our kitchen has an enamel sink without a plug (was lost before we moved in). I don’t do much washing up but like to fill the sink with water for cleaning so I have no choice until we change the kitchen.