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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Cups used once don't go in the dishwasher!

157 replies

BelleOfTheProvince · 29/10/2021 20:19

I have family down. It's raining. So endless cups of tea are in order. However, one member of the family likes whisking cups away the instant you put them down and puts them in the dishwasher. Then another clean mug is used for the next round of tea, even though it is the same four people drinking it and all have personal, identifiable mugs. And obviously once whisked away and put in the dishwasher not everyone remembers their own mug so you can't get them out again. Also risks offending the person 'helping'. Now the dishwasher is running and my extensive mug collection is taking up all the space. So drinking out of a 'non mug' vessel and have to do the actual washing up in another lot.
I know this is a first world problem, just thankful I actually have a dishwasher otherwise I would have to do two lots of washing up by hand.

Aibu? Or just a wee bit precious.
Yabu: It's normal to get a new mug for each refill.
YAnbu: whisking is unnecessary and fussing.

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 29/10/2021 21:58

For heavens sake rinse your cup out and use a sponge to remove any lipstick/dregs/stains it take seconds and doesn't require heating a dishwasher to 30 degrees for an hour!

No. I put the mugs in the dishwasher and when the dishwasher is full with all other stuff I run it. I don’t put single mugs in.

limitedperiodonly · 29/10/2021 21:58

I'm the same with drinking glasses and I wouldn't drink anything out of a plastic-lined takeaway paper cup unless I was dying of thirst.

Sparklingbrook · 29/10/2021 21:58

I don’t mind reusing glasses as I use a straw,

meltingappointment · 29/10/2021 21:59

Can't believe the amount of people requiring a new mug for each drink

Can you not just rinse it out in the sink?

I could, it I neither want nor need to.

10yearwarranty · 29/10/2021 22:03

@MrsTumbletap

Clean mugs every time Laundry loads each day 20 minute showers Aaarghh all these wasteful habits!

Do people not see the connection with wasteful habits and climate change? Do you not see how they are linked?

For heavens sake rinse your cup out and use a sponge to remove any lipstick/dregs/stains it take seconds and doesn't require heating a dishwasher to 30 degrees for an hour!

My thoughts exactly. Bang on about saving the planet and yet the majority seem to be in the clean mug corner.
Dreamstate · 29/10/2021 22:04

I only drink herbal tea so no milk involved. I just rinse the mug and teapot between each new fresh pot of tea for the day. Id run out of mugs otherwise

SpookyPumpkinPants · 29/10/2021 22:05

Whisker needs locking in the under stairs cupboard!! Don't touch!! I'm a hanger-onner.

I have favourite coffee mugs, 3 of. A fresh one each time (as it's 'proper coffee' with cream) as they get grim (cream)

A tea mug, weak black tea, so reused, IF I have a second cup (not often)

Another mug for hot water, which I drink a lot. That gets refilled frequently and just washed up with the dishes whenever they're done.

Quite happy to reuse the same mug at family/friends, as long as it's the same drink.

No mixing drinks types until it's had a proper wash.

Bellfor · 29/10/2021 22:06

Not all day, but 2-3 uses before washing is totally normal.

Wombat49 · 29/10/2021 22:06

Dishwasher & lots of mugs.

It works well as we get efficient loading of the dishwasher.

I drink a lot of tea. It's minging seeing tea stains from the previous cup. I have low standards elsewhere but not with mugs

SpookyPumpkinPants · 29/10/2021 22:07

@MrsTumbletap

Clean mugs every time Laundry loads each day 20 minute showers Aaarghh all these wasteful habits!

Do people not see the connection with wasteful habits and climate change? Do you not see how they are linked?

For heavens sake rinse your cup out and use a sponge to remove any lipstick/dregs/stains it take seconds and doesn't require heating a dishwasher to 30 degrees for an hour!

Ah bless, do you not realise you don't wash one mug at a time?
Benjispruce4 · 29/10/2021 22:07

I have a new mug each time but I’m at work all day and drink water only there. So, my first cup of tea is at 7am, second at 5pm and third at 8/9pm so I don’t leave dirty cups lying around for hours, I put them in the dishwasher or wash it up.

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 29/10/2021 22:07

@MrsTumbletap

Clean mugs every time Laundry loads each day 20 minute showers Aaarghh all these wasteful habits!

Do people not see the connection with wasteful habits and climate change? Do you not see how they are linked?

For heavens sake rinse your cup out and use a sponge to remove any lipstick/dregs/stains it take seconds and doesn't require heating a dishwasher to 30 degrees for an hour!

@MrsTumbletap

FYI my dishwashers don't run on 30°C, they run on 50°C, which is the ECO cycle - when they are full.
you surely can comprehend that people will fill up their appliances before switching them on, nobody runs a cycle for a single cup!

It's not convenient for us to rinse cups, no matter how many eco warriors cry themselves to sleep

Dishwashersaurous · 29/10/2021 22:09

I have a fantasy about owning two dishwashers, one of which will probably be purely for mugs.

godmum56 · 29/10/2021 22:11

godmum56
team fresh mug here but I would be livid at having my half drunk drink or half eaten food snatched away
@godmum56

100%
it's one of the first thing DH learnt about me.
I don't care what anyone thinks, I will finish a 1/2" of cold coffee even the next day - I like cold tea & coffee anyway - and I loathe people pouring stuff away when I'm not done, especially in my own house!!!

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba

my lovely sister who stays with me a lot (we are both on our own) can't get this. She needs her coffee nuclear hot and cannot BELIEVE I will drink it cold! luckily (for her lol) she understands we aren't alike :)

DuploSubmarine · 29/10/2021 22:13

@MrsTumbletap

Clean mugs every time Laundry loads each day 20 minute showers Aaarghh all these wasteful habits!

Do people not see the connection with wasteful habits and climate change? Do you not see how they are linked?

For heavens sake rinse your cup out and use a sponge to remove any lipstick/dregs/stains it take seconds and doesn't require heating a dishwasher to 30 degrees for an hour!

Clean mugs every time you have a hot drink really isn't making a vast difference to your dishwasher load though, unless you're drinking copious numbers of hot drinks a day. In which case argh, how many times are you boiling the kettle? Do you not link these wasteful habits to climate change? Do you not see the connection?
Sparklingbrook · 29/10/2021 22:18

I hope we aren’t going to see people glueing themselves to the M25 in protest at ‘new mug each time’ users Shock

Inertia · 29/10/2021 22:19

I’m not convinced that the ‘swill it under the tap’ dishwasher refuseniks actually are saving water and energy. Dishwashers are increasingly efficient in terms of water and energy use, and you obviously run a full load, not one cup at a time. It’s not efficient to run the tap water to hot (and use enough washing up liquid to remove lipstick and stains) multiple times a day just to keep reusing the same cup. At some point you’ve also got to wash the plates , pans etc, so it’s likely to be more efficient to heat the water once and use one cleaning product for lots of items.

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 29/10/2021 22:20

@Dishwashersaurous

I have a fantasy about owning two dishwashers, one of which will probably be purely for mugs.
@Dishwashersaurous

🤣
a mugwasher!

we also have a beer fridge.

closedown · 29/10/2021 22:22

@Inertia

I’m not convinced that the ‘swill it under the tap’ dishwasher refuseniks actually are saving water and energy. Dishwashers are increasingly efficient in terms of water and energy use, and you obviously run a full load, not one cup at a time. It’s not efficient to run the tap water to hot (and use enough washing up liquid to remove lipstick and stains) multiple times a day just to keep reusing the same cup. At some point you’ve also got to wash the plates , pans etc, so it’s likely to be more efficient to heat the water once and use one cleaning product for lots of items.
I don't run the tap water to hot or use detergent though. That would be washing the mug, not rinsing it. Rinsing it is just turning on the tap for literally 1-2 seconds.

Not that I care either way on the environmental argument. Just saying rinsing between uses is a 2-second job.

HarrisMcCoo · 29/10/2021 22:23

See, what I do is when I move on to my next drink I pour boiling water into the mug to swirl around then get pour down sink then make new cup of tea.

I have loads of mugs but just can't justify having loads lying around. It gets messy and it's just a waste of resources to go through so many mugs in one day.

Inertia · 29/10/2021 22:23

Good point about the kettle @DuploSubmarine- I do hope those berating others about wastefulness are boiling the kettle once and filling a flask with the rest of the boiled water to use throughout the day.

HarrisMcCoo · 29/10/2021 22:26

Well said closedown. I sometimes use a bit water from kettle but also use tap at the sink to swirl the water round. Takes seconds.

Inertia · 29/10/2021 22:27

@HarrisMcCoo

See, what I do is when I move on to my next drink I pour boiling water into the mug to swirl around then get pour down sink then make new cup of tea.

I have loads of mugs but just can't justify having loads lying around. It gets messy and it's just a waste of resources to go through so many mugs in one day.

So how much unnecessarily hot water are you wasting throughout the day? You don’t need to use boiling hot water for that- it’s a waste of resources.
ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 29/10/2021 22:27

@Sparklingbrook

I hope we aren’t going to see people glueing themselves to the M25 in protest at ‘new mug each time’ users Shock
@Sparklingbrook

don't
I got stuck in that traffic - 57mins instead of 4. it was horrendous and frankly quite scary, an ambulance could barely make it through and I saw 2 incredibly close shaves. when I got to my destination I had a panic attack because I realised I also have to get home somehow.

Inertia · 29/10/2021 22:29

The OP mentioned guests , and not knowing whose cup was whose once they’d been moved. I wouldn’t be keen to drink from someone else’s barely-rinsed mug.