Washing up bowl

[HerculesMorseShrank]

Ladies and gentlemen, can I ask what may be a controversial question - do you use a washing up bowl or do you wash your dishes in the sink itself?

I personally think washing up bowls are pointless and inexplicable, but am interested in the Mumsnet consensus and willing to be educated on what the reason for using one is.

YABU - Washing up bowls serve some useful purpose
YANBU - Just use the sink that was designed for washing dishes

You’re just using the washing up bowl in place of the sink it’s already in though. Utterly pointless.

We have washing up bowls that live under the sink in the kitchen and utility. Both our sinks are great big steel squares that would take ages to fill so I bought bowls so that the few things we hand wash could be done in less water. We have a boiling water tap over the sink so the bowl gets dried, collapsed and put away so any overspill can go straight down the sink.

I use one and I have a 1.5 sink so don't need the space for pouring out cups or anything as there's the half sink for that (although we tend to use that for the cutlery drainer). Our sink is a huge ceramic one that takes ages to fill and the plug doesn't actually hold water in at all so you can't soak anything without a basin.

So I have a Joseph Joseph washing up bowl with a plug in the bottom so I don't splash water everywhere from tipping it out, and it has a little section in the corner for sponges and brushes to sit in. It saves on water usage compared to the size of our sink too (although we're in Scotland so we don't have to pay for the amount we use at least). If I drop a dish I'm less likely to break it in the bowl and if I do somehow manage that it's easier to clean it out and I'm not worried about damaging the sink.

Maybe it's the way you do your washing up that matters then. We don't pile stuff in the sink until its ready to be done, they are put on the side until everyone's finished then it gets done, and I wash up as I go along when cooking. We Don't leave things long enough to get 'cruddy' and needing soaking, washing up liquid on the cloth/sponge, wet and squeeze run tap and wash each item individually so I'm not changing great or dirty water frequently. A washing up bowl would just be another unnecessary thing to wash, and get in the way if anything.

Still can't get over people use them.
Other than not wanting to turn on the hot tap. Still bizzare.
Unbelievable. Is it 1965

Don't you just love doing the individual cutlery like that. Lol its the hot tap that does half the work.

To protect the sink from scratches!

To protect the sink from scratches!

That's another good point

I assume that posters who think they are pointless must have quite small kitchen sinks.

To fill a large Belfast sink with water to the same depth I would fill a washing up bowl would use such a lot of water and energy to heat the water.

Still can't get over people use them. Other than not wanting to turn on the hot tap. Still bizzare. Unbelievable. Is it 1965

I find your post bizarre. People who use washing up bowls have given completely sensible and valid reasons why they use them. Your faux naivety is odd. For your benefit I will write them down again.

1. To prevent glass and delicate items from being chipped
2. It uses a lot less water
3. It protects the sink from scratches
4. For people with single sinks it means that any dregs from drinks can be tipped down the side of the bowl
5. They aren't any more unhygienic than the sink itself unless the user doesn't clean it after use
6. I don't understand why people think they are ugly. They are just a functional piece of kitchen equipment, and most people I know don't keep them in the sink unless they are being used for their original purpose - washing up
7. You can run the tap to rinse things by the side of the bowl without diluting the contents

You are then filling the bowl up with water. Then rinsing things off by the side of the bowl.

Then washing the whole bowl afterwards so it doesn’t get manky. I don’t think it does use less water. One poster even said they rinsed before they put things in the bowl!

It doesn’t take me much water to clean a few plans under a running tap. Everything else in the dishwasher.

Why are people washing pans under a tap when they have a dishwasher, they all go into the dishwasher surely, if it's full they just go in the next wash.

Yeah sometimes I put them in but they take up so much space and if it’s just had pasta in it or boiled veg then a quick wash will do.

A dirty pan goes in!

A pan used for boiling or steaming veg doesn't need much of a wash and takes up a lot of room in the dishwasher.

Because in my case it wrecks my pans. They say they are dishwasher safe, but it is recommended to hand-wash them. I am rather precious about my kitchen equipment and look after my stuff very carefully.

Besides, I have a compact dishwasher and they wouldn't fit. It seems rather wasteful to run the dishwasher with only 4 items in it. I don't put sharp knives or wine glasses in either.

The dishwasher goes on in the evening and takes over 3 hours for an eco wash. I don't want to wait for it to finish then empty and refill it at bedtime and I don't want to come downstairs in the morning to dirty dishes.

Christ on a bike that's some extrapolation going on there!

@WatchoRulo Wait til you hear my theory that the Venn diagram of washing-up bowl users and Meghan Markle haters is a circle.

Dishwashers shouldn't be running overnight or at any other time when there's nobody about. They are a fire risk, like tumble dryers. We had one once which started belching out smoke shortly after it was switched on. Fortunately I was in the room with it. I'm very cautious with my dishwasher usage now. I generally only use the quick programme, which can take 20 minutes when it's in the mood. (Compact Beko model, does a perfectly good job.)

Purely for my own curiosity, last night I turned my hot tap on full and filled the washing up bowl to a level where a mug was covered, laying on its side. It took approx two minutes. This morning, I turned my hot tap on full and filled the sink up to a level where a mug (same mug) was covered, laying on its side. It took approx 4 minutes. So, even though I didn't measure actual litres, this basic experiment showed I would use around twice as much water, gas to heat said water using the sink rather than the bowl. I will stick to my bowl thanks.

I feel validated now @DoraSpenlow
I have no opinion about Meghan Markle @stuntbubbles. I neither hate nor like her.

Every Bowl should be banned in the UK. Out of Stock permantely.
I could never date anyone one that used one. Maybe some 30 or 40 something single men or women do, perhaps old fashioned tight people worrying about hot water usage.
No thanks life is too short to have dirty dishes! and ugly bowls.

perhaps old fashioned tight people worrying about hot water usage

It's very 'now' to worry about hot water usage, whether from a CoL or an environmental pov.

My dishes are not dirty, thank you very much. Bloody cheek.

How in the name of God can a bowl be ugly.

If you wouldn't date anyone who used one you must be a very shallow person. Get a grip.

Or is this a stealth boast that you have so much money you can afford to waste energy and water. Oo, look at me, see how much much hot water I'm letting run down my sink. How right on and fashionable am I.

Co-sign! Do you have a Substack I can subscribe to?

How in the name of God can a bowl be ugly.
Stop! In the name of aesthetics, before you break my heart!

Overplaying your hand a bit here. Fortunately, most of us do care about hot water usage, both for environmental reasons and so we don't waste money, especially with rocketing fuel charges. Nothing tight about that, it's just obvious common sense.