Can’t do basic things?!

[Cantdoit0]

Ok so please don’t judge!

I had a bit of a rubbish time with my parents as a child, and as such was brought up by other family members. They were fantastic to me and definitely spoiled me a bit, and I never had to do any chores or any jobs like that. Basically I was the princess of the family and now I’m lacking in some basic adult skills (not my families fault, mine for being lazy and avoiding chores for so long!)

I’m now an adult, and I’m realising there’s some basic things I don’t know how to do- purely a reflection of me being very lazy and a bit of brat growing up! So I’m just going to ask them here because I can’t ask in real life without sounding stupid.

How do you do the washing up with dishes? I’ve been putting dish liquid on each dish or cup or cutlery and scrubbing under running hot water. I know that’s probably not right and I don’t want to waste water and dish liquid as much as I am. How does a basin work? Do you rinse the dishes before they go in the basin? Or just after? Do you put dish liquid on each dish in the basin or just in the basin water in general? How do you do it?

I’ve so many other questions but that’s probably the one I’m most stuck with! Everyone seems to do it slightly different but everyone says the way I’m doing it is wrong

also, how do you do the washing? Do you just put it in the washing machine? How do you know what to separate and how do you know what powder or liquid or product to put in with it?!

Thanks in advance x

Try the wiki how website.

At the end of the day if your dishes are clean it doesn't really matter how

Google some videos. Now I predict a lengthy thread with people telling us how they wash up and deal with laundry.

If your dishes and clothes end up
Clean you are doing it fine.

Just fill the washing up bowl inside basin with hot water. Add a good squirt of washing up liquid.swish around and wash plate then rinse under water.washing clothes, I use a warm wash for clothing .liquid detergent in the drawer of machine .or powder if you prefer. No need to sort by colour. Same for sheets and towels.⁰

Washing the dishes:

I personally squirt the liquid into the sponge, then rub the dishes and rinse under water.

Alternatively you can squirt it into the basin/bowl and then dunk the dishes then rinse with water.

Doing the laundry:

Seperate by colour. (I don't have hand wash only clothes)

So darks (including black, dark denim jeans etc)

Whites (including bras / white/pale colour knickers)

Then colours - unless something is likely to bleed, e.g bright red colours, new school sweatshirts, all colours go in together, unless I have enough for a light colours and a bright colours wash.

Towels - all white so go in with the white washing or a load on their own if I've enough.

Bedding - colours for the kids, so usually with a coloured wash, or if I've not enough, they go through with other colours.

EVERYTHING goes through on a 30 wash, standard cycle.

I second the suggestion of wikihow. Honestly it's got everything you need.

And well done for asking and realising you need to know these things.

Your way of washing dishes is fine. It’s more hygienic than the tub in the sink method. If you buy a good quality brand of washing up liquid, like Fairy, you can squirt a bit in your dishcloth or sponge and it will have soap to get through several dishes. So that would actually save you time and money with no sacrifice of hygiene.

On laundry, basically you separate lights from darks and then look at the labels on the clothes to see what temperature they can be washed at. The vast majority of clothes can be washed at up to 60C, but it’s more environmentally friendly to wash them at 30C or 40C. Anything wool or pure linen you need to wash separately at 20C or colder and put on a hand wash or delicate cycle. Again, the labels on the clothing will tell you if you have any doubts or can’t remember.

Laundry soap is all about personal preference. Just sniff to find one you can deal with as far as scent. I prefer liquid soap that you put in a little tub and put in the drum with the clothes. There are also pods that you toss in as is into the drum. But other people prefer powder that you put in the drawer. Just experiment and go with whatever you prefer.

Great questions. If no-one taught you, then how would you know?! Don’t be hard on yourself. Keep asking questions like this and you’ll soon find that things become second nature.

dishes: people do these differently. There is no correct way. This is what I do.
Scrape food into the bin.
Rinse excess sauces etc down the sink with running water. Hot works better than cold. Ideally you need a good amount of pressure to blast off anything that’s stubborn.
pile dishes next to the sink.
Fill an empty, clean sink with hot water and while that’s running add washing up liquid. You only need a small amount. Half a teaspoon maybe (don’t need to measure it, that’s just to give you an idea). Again, using a good amount of water pressure helps to make the sink all bubbly.
The water should be hot (not warm) so you need to where rubber gloves.
Wash items in this order: drinking glasses, cutlery, plates etc, cookware. the key is to wash the cleanest items first otherwise the water will get dirty quickly.

Some cookware will need to soak. But 30-60 minutes in hot soapy water is enough. I don’t believe anything needs to soak overnight.
add a tiny squirt of washing up liquid directly in the dish, then fill up with hot water and set aside next to the sink while you wash the cutlery, plates etc.
After soaking, use a plastic brush to wash away anything big and get the pots relatively free from baked on food. Set a side while you empty the very dirty water from the sink. Refill with hot soapy water, then use a sponge or cloth to wash up.

Rubber gloves, very hot soapy water in a bowl. Start with the less dirty dishes (eg glasses, cups, maybe cutlery). Wash and rub in the hot water with a cloth and then pop upside down on the draining board. Then move to plates, do saucepans last. Don’t be afraid to change the water if it gets yucky.

Oh and if you want to hang out laundry then you hang tops from the bottom
and bottoms from the top. I never quite got what to do with dresses!!

Not everyone has a bowl in the sink

Squirt some washing up liquid into the basin or sink, and add plenty of hot water. Wash the dishes (I use a washing up sponge, with the soft sponge and green bristly top) while they're in the water - I usually do them one at a time, starting with the least dirty! The cutlery I put in at the start, and it can stay in the hot soapy water until the end. I usually give everything a quick rinse too, to get the soap suds off.

For the washing up, buy a dishwasher.

For both the dishes and the laundry, read the appliance manual and instructions on the detergent pack.

You can teach yourself anything. No-one taught me diy, yet I am diy person in my house.

I can relate to this, Mum was an housewife and didn't want others meddling in her routine, I to this day cannot put a meal together that's more than a tray in the oven and cooking from scratch I haven't a clue where to even begin / to think what to put together etc.

You'd be surprised what you can find on You Tube about this sort of stuff. There are many 'how to' content providers of basic skills for exactly the sort of reasons you describe.

You are on here so I'm assuming you can read.

Go forth & Google/read washing labels/instructions. You'll figure it out.

I'm much the same on some things, OP. I was pretty lazy as a kid plus I lost my mum when I was young. I don't seem to have alot of common sense on how to do some things bit for me it's trying something simple and see if it works. Also YouTube videos! As for DIY, I don't have a clue. My friend does most of her DIY. Lays floors, puts up fences etc etc. I'm sure there are YouTube videos for all that too!

I went to a girls grammar school and we were taught how to wash up!!
As per the instructions above with washing up liquid in a bowl of warm water, then follow the order:

1. Glasses


2. Cutlery


3. Crockery


4. Pans and cooking utensils.

Rinse each item as you do it or pour a jugful of warm water over the whole lot in the dish rack.