Soaping the dishes instead of sponge

[JennyDune]

For years, I always wondered why the dish sponge in our kitchen often never had washing up liquid imbued in it / leftover. Usually you would expect always a little bit left over from prior wash/s.

I just found out today, that my partner (for 15 years) was been putting the liquid on the dishes instead of the sponge!

Firstly, im annoyed that I never spotted this. But more importantly, surely this is weird? Only a mad man would soap the dishes instead of the sponge?

@JennyDune

But by washing dishes in a bowl/sink of water, youre washing dishes in dirty/contaminated water, and not pure h2o!

Unless of course you give the dishes a subsequent quick rinse with fresh running water after the bowl wash?

(For example, before I have a bath, I make sure I have a quick shower first)

What do you think the plates etc you are washing up are contaminated with?

Oh yes, the very same food that moments ago you were happy to eat.

@TirednWorried

I don't know anyone in real life who doesn't have a dishwasher. Of course i wash pans, but haven't washed cutlery and crockery for at least 25 years. Its like laundrettes, who uses them

I don't have a dishwasher. There was one here when we moved in but I wanted to use the space. I'm totally OK with hand washing in a sink and I don't feel poor or like I'm wasting my life . I do use one of those sponge things that you put the liquid into.

@TirednWorried

I don't know anyone in real life who doesn't have a dishwasher. Of course i wash pans, but haven't washed cutlery and crockery for at least 25 years. Its like laundrettes, who uses them

Wow... I've never owned a dishwasher and used a launderette until moving into my current home as I never had a washing machine then either.

Does anyone else have an advert for Fairy Liquid in this thread

I don’t have a dishwasher and I have no idea whether other people I know have one or not. It boggles my mind when people say “I’ve never met a person who does/doesn’t do/have X”. How could you possibly know? Surely you haven’t been in the house/kitchen of every single person you’ve met? Do you go around the first time you meet people saying “Hello, my name’s Fred and by the way do you have a dishwasher?”

@JennyDune
For example, before I have a bath, I make sure I have a quick shower first

You're just being silly now aren't you?

Honestly how do people become adults without being taught that you don’t waste water? Even primary school kids know you don’t leave the tap running. This is exactly why COP26 won’t work, because there are still too many stupid people who do idiotic things like leaving the tap running.

Fill bowl with hot water and add washing up liquid as its running. I add liquid to the sponge if I feel some things need 'extra' soap and then rinse off suds. I'd never leave the water running the whole time, the waste!

Strictly speaking, you wash dishes in water. The added detergent “soap” helps the process. You should add the detergent to the water initially, and you probably need less than you think you do. A cloth, sponge or brush may help remove stubborn particles. A hot rinse afterwards will remove any lingering residue/scent and helps the drying process. Here’s a well written, accessible article that helps explain.
www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/03/20/dear-science-how-does-soap-make-things-clean/

@JennyDune

But by washing dishes in a bowl/sink of water, youre washing dishes in dirty/contaminated water, and not pure h2o!

Unless of course you give the dishes a subsequent quick rinse with fresh running water after the bowl wash?

(For example, before I have a bath, I make sure I have a quick shower first)

I give up!!

Are you serious? You pour hundreds of litres or water down the drain every bloody day. Showering before bathing? Where have you been- down a mine? In a slurry pit?

For example, before I have a bath, I make sure I have a quick shower first

This is just weird. You must waste so much water in your house.

this op must be on the wind up

I've taught food tech to hundreds and hundreds of kids over the last 15 years. Washing up is literally lesson 3 in year 7.

Hot water, squirt of washing up liquid. Scrape off any nasties before you start. Start with glasses, then least messy bowls/plates to dirtiest.

If you need to rinse suds off you've used too much washing up liquid.

If the water is too dirty to drink, empty the bowl and re-fill.

I get them started with running the bowl before they unpack their ingredients.

Sponges are one of the worst germ magnets in a kitchen, should be rinsed completely after every wash. If there are suds left in the sponge, there are germs.

Then you have to pray its break time so you can mop the floor, dry little Jonnies jumper, flush the suds down 15 sinks...

Even dishwashers don't use a continuous flow of fresh, clean h2o to rinse dishes...

@RampantIvy

£75/month, 2 adults + 2 kids. But most of the bill comes from:

Washing car every 2 weeks
Gardening / watering plants

@VainAbigail

For example, before I have a bath, I make sure I have a quick shower first

This is just weird. You must waste so much water in your house.

this op must be on the wind up

Just to clarify the bath/shower thing:

I only have a bath once a month as a treat. But before having a bath I want to be clean, so that the water I am soaking in is clean (and not my own dirt). So have a literal 2 minute shower 1st.

Either this is a wind-up OP.... or I despair. No wonder the world's in the state it is.

I'm one of the poor souls who doesn't have a dishwasher. Squirt of eco-friendly washing up liquid into hot water as the washing up bowl is filling. Then wash everything in the bowl using a washable dishcloth, starting with cleanest things, and muckier things last. Then everything is left to air-dry on the draining board.

It's perfectly as hygienic as it needs to be. We've never been poisoned by our dishes.

And don't get me started about washing up sponges. Disposable plastic. Awful for harbouring germs unless you use a new one daily, which is heinously wasteful.

This level of water/energy/plastic/resource waste is totally unsustainable. People like you OP are in for a shock. The times they are a changing.

[quote JennyDune]@RampantIvy

£75/month, 2 adults + 2 kids. But most of the bill comes from:

Washing car every 2 weeks
Gardening / watering plants[/quote]
Jesus!! Mine is £18. I think I'll stick to my way of washing up

Defo not a wind up, its just a personal thing. Dont feel comfortable washing dishes in a sink/ large bowl. But I do see your points about extra costs

@JennyDune

Defo not a wind up, its just a personal thing. Dont feel comfortable washing dishes in a sink/ large bowl. But I do see your points about extra costs

It's not just extra costs - it's literally environmental vandalism.

Not only are you wasting clean water (which requires processing prior to reaching you), you're wasting the energy required to continuously heat and run hot water presuming you use hot water to wash and the excessive use of washing up liquid being sent into the ecosystem (although to be fair your partner undoubtedly wastes more than you).

No wonder this planet is fucked!

[quote JennyDune]@RampantIvy

£75/month, 2 adults + 2 kids. But most of the bill comes from:

Washing car every 2 weeks
Gardening / watering plants[/quote]
How do you know where most of your water is used? Unless you are power washing your car for hours it can't possibly be a major source of water use given what you have said about your insane way of washing the dishes.

Does your partner live with you? How in 15 years have you never seen him wash the dishes?

Liquid and hot/warm water in a bowl/sink. Wash the least dirty items first building up to the pans. Rinse if necessary. Air dry or dry with a clean kitchen towel.

I don't use a sponge though, I use a dish brush with a scraper on the back and a metal scourer

You really need to change your ways op. I am not one to judge but I am judging you harshly. It's a disgusting waste of water. Especially when there are children in this world that can't even get a clean glass of water to drink.

I love these sort of threads which make me question my very existence as a human if I’ve been doing something aa simple as washing dishes wrong for most of my life.

@Greyeverywhere

Soap on sponge. Clean all dishes with sponge, then you put it under running water to rinse off the soap and dirt. Water isn't running the whole time. Only when rinsing the dishes. Washing up bowls are rank

This sounds pretty much like how my DP washes up. He is from Jamaica and thinks washing up in a bowl of water is grim, and says nobody in Jamaica washes up in a bowl of water. He sometimes runs a bit of hot water onto the plates in the sink if he's not going to wash up immediately I guess so bits of food/grease don't dry up and become harder to wash off.

@JennyDune

Defo not a wind up, its just a personal thing. Dont feel comfortable washing dishes in a sink/ large bowl. But I do see your points about extra costs

So screw the planet?