Soaking dishes - just laziness disguised, right?

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This just infuriates me so much!

Just gone to go to bed and the sink is full of tonight’s dishes that are ‘soaking’. Eg dishes left for me to wash up in the morning! My teens were meant to have done the dishes earlier.

My DH is actually the worst for this, he eats soup every day for lunch but refuses to do it in the microwave so leaves all the saucepans piling up ‘soaking’ until I relent and wash them up.

Its just laziness masked as being ‘helpful’, right?!

Yip indeedy.

I have to say, a dishwasher was life changing because I no longer play “washing up chicken” with DH until we run out of plates.

Now I just need some way of automating cleaning a bathroom and mowing the lawn.

It is in that case. A pan that won’t come clean with a quick wash does need a soak, but that’s not what you are talking about.

We have a dishwasher! I don’t like putting saucepans in it though.

Very occasionally I have a dish with baked-on crud that benefits from a soak. But a pan that's just been used for warming up some soup just needs a rinse out and a quick wipe. Leaving them sitting in the sink habitually (as opposed to occasionally when you're running late for a work meeting etc.) is nothing but laziness.

Eugh... because cold dirty dishwater is so lovely to wake up to and stick your hand in

Brace yourself...

You need to start ignoring the mess. Don't give in and do it yourself. That's what they want to happen, and why they don't bother to do it themselves. They know you will crack.

So don't crack.

Saucepans are lovely in the dishwasher.

I don't like emptying it.

Some day I'll be like my friend who has two. One is clean, one dirty in rotation. Bliss.

I think it's laziness - I don't mind a few dishes left by the sink but rinsed or at least scraped - was at a friend's recently and tried to get a glass of water. The sink, side of the sink, drying bit all covered in stacks of filthy dishes. Apparently 'ADHD', I just felt a bit repulsed won't lie

I wouldn't put nonstick stuff in, but a plain stainless steel pan or baking tray? In it goes. Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

In total agreement op! If you have a dishwasher how on earth have the dishes even made it to the sink! Surely they are moved straight from the table to the dishwasher, it's not even any more work than moving them to the sink!!

Sitting in cold water isn’t making anything clean. If they need soaking it needs to be in warm soapy water to get whatever is cooked on off and then they need washing soon whilst it’s still warm.
Leaving stuff soaking gives me the rage, either wash or leave it.

Had exactly this conversation with dh - manky roasting tins filled with water that goes cold in the night - wtf.

1. Use the dishwasher
2. If stuff is baked on and you insist on handwashing then yes it needs to soak.

We have got posh nonstick saucepans and they were expensive so I really don’t want them in the dishwasher…!

But as they are non stick the food mostly wipes off very easily. It doesn’t even need bloody soaking. But it’s more effort to wash up than just stick a bit of hot water in it and leave it on the side, I expect.

Buy some cheap and non-posh aka dishwasher safe saucepans for your husbands tinned soup then?…

This.
There are times that soaking dishes makes sense.

However, this isn't one of those times.

Where YABU is the fact you then do them the next day. It is like giving in to a toddler's tantrum - just shows them the behaviour gets them what they want.

It's fine to soak dishes.

You need to stop washing them for others.

Get people told that they need to do the dishes before bed as you're not doing them in the morning. Do not let them go to bed until they do them.

If they aren't done I wouldn't make dinner until the were. "You're hungry child, well do your dishes and then I'll make dinner. Yes it will be late but perhaps you'll do your dishes when I ask next time. No you cannot get a biscuit or crisps in the meantime"

Make them do them. Do not cave in the morning. I'd hide the soup so mr lazy can't just stack up more pans the ne t day thinking he's fly getting out of doing his share ....

My expensive non-stock pans go in the dishwasher every day. They come out sparkling clean and none the worse for it. The dishwasher is your friend - every dirty thing in the kitchen should go in it. Don't be a martyr!

soooo lazy!

Drives me nuts, my DH current favourite is to cook bacon in the air fryer (which I do not eat)…..and then leaving the used drawer to ‘soak’ in the sink. It’s grim, it takes no more than 30 seconds to actually clean it properly. I think I’ll bin the thing if I’m greeted by one more manky, cold, greasy water filled air fryer drawer….

I line air fryer drawers with foil depending on what I'm cooking...bacon being one of them.

Sometimes a pan or dish does need soaking but that is one item, not a sink full of things.

Also, refuse to cook until the kitchen is clear of dirty dishes and pans.