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29 September 2005

How do people with only one sink do their dishes?→[More:]So I'm looking for a new apartment and every time I check one out, regardless of how cool the rest of the place is, when I see a single sink in the kitchen, I'm no longer interested. This is cutting down heavily on my options for new apartments.

So... you freaks with only one sink in your kitchen: how do you do the dishes? I've thought maybe a bucket of water for rinsing but it seems a little strange.

post by: dobbs at: 02:51 | 42 comments

Leave the hot water running, and don't plug the sink.

posted by cali 29 September | 02:58

I have only one sink, and it's a pain in the ass, but you do get used to it. I wash, then set the washed dishes on the counter beside the sink, then once they are all there, I rinse them under running water, put them on the drainboard, then wipe off the counter.

When I'm at the top of my game I just wash everything as it becomes dirty. (I also have a dishwasher.)

posted by taz 29 September | 02:59

and what cali said.

posted by taz 29 September | 03:00

To clarify, I wash one dish at a time (because really, how many dishes can one person wash at a time? One, that's how many.) 1. rinse dish in hot running water. 2. scrub with soapy scrub/sponge. 3. rinse again. For particularly rough/baked on dishes, repeat steps 2 & 3.

posted by cali 29 September | 03:03

I start with about one inch of soapy water, wash and rinse one at a time, and when the sink gets about 3/4, I drain it back down to an inch.

posted by mischief 29 September | 03:14

Poorly?

posted by dg 29 September | 03:18

We bought a dishwasher.

posted by teece 29 September | 03:43

people with one sink do it deeper

posted by joelf 29 September | 04:44

What would you do with a second sink? Wash the dish, rinse the dish, put it in the dish drain. What's hard about that? I prefer the counterspace.

posted by Eideteker 29 September | 05:21

The dishwasher does the plates, glasses etc, I do the pots and pans, I prefer to have one sink.

posted by Chimp 29 September | 05:56

You Americans are CRAZY.

We had a second sink in our little duplex in Santa Cruz, and I had no idea, none whatsoever, what to do with the second sink. It was usually a repository for all the dirty dishes when we ran out of room on the counter. It was like some scene out of that movie where Crocodile Dundee goes to New York and tries to brush his teeth in the bidet or something.

We don't rinse our dishes here, we wash 'em in soapy water and dry 'em with a dishtowel right away. Rinsing is for pussies.

posted by tracicle 29 September | 05:58

Get a dishpan for soaking, soaping and staging. Scrub with a scrubby with full strength or diluted soap. I've used a small dish with soap and water in it to dip my scrubby in. I love the scotchbrite pads to death. Rinse under hot water, place in rack.

The landlord installed a newish dishwasher here a few weeks ago. It's absolutely fantastic. It even does filthy pots and pans. It's one of those mythical working dishwashers. The only failure so far was a pot with some kind of baked-on starches at the waterline.

I hate doing dishes. I'd rather scrub toilets or dig ditches.

posted by loquacious 29 September | 06:19

tracicle! You've touched on the greatest cultural divide between pode (yeah - I know it's not a word) and antipode, I think. We find not rinsing the soap off utterly horrifying (same here in Greece), and it's a source of astonishment to us... and evidently the same for you.

But I have a question: what do the Brits do? I've heard rumors of both.

posted by taz 29 September | 06:22

Rinsing is for pussies.

Not there's a t-shirt slogan. Take that....rinsers.

posted by Slack-a-gogo 29 September | 07:53

tracicle! You've touched on the greatest cultural divide between pode (yeah - I know it's not a word) and antipode, I think.

I thought you were talking about me, taz! ('pode). And I was thinking: "when have I ever discussed dishwashing with taz?"

Like tracicle, this antipodean *used* to eschew rinsing dishes. Until I moved in with mr. gaspode, who was horrified, and I now do it to shut him up.

We have one sink. I quarter fill the sink, fill it with dishes and then run the tap with very hot water the whole time I'm washing so I can rinse the dishes as I'm putting them in the dishrack. Two sinks for me would be a huge waste of counter space.

posted by gaspode 29 September | 08:34

I do what gaspode and michief do - while my Danish SO does it like taz does, on occasion not rinsing the soapy dishes but heading straight for the drying towel(!). One day he saw me doing dishes with cold water and exclaimed "what are you, French or something?" I'll never figure out the dish-code.

posted by dabitch 29 September | 08:41

That's why God made dishpans.

(and why on earth would you want to eat off plates with unrinsed soap on them? Ew. I'd puke.)

posted by bunnyfire 29 September | 09:03

It's fairly common for Brits to wash plates and then just stick them in the rack to dry. I've never done this because it's a) disgusting and b) leaves soapy marks on the plates - really appetising when you're tucking into your lobster thermadore and chips.

If me and Mrs Geezer do the washing up together then we do it her way which is her washing up and me drying (without rinsing). On the rare occasions it's me on my own I wash up with unbearably hot water and too much soap (I always put too much in by mistake). I wash and put everything on the counter, drain the sink, run the hot water again and then rinse and dry up each item.

This may make me sound like a cleaning demon but actually I'm a slob who just takes an unnatural satisfaction in getting plates sparkling clean.

posted by dodgygeezer 29 September | 09:22

Wait a sec... you're supposed to wash dishes?

posted by Fuzzy Monster 29 September | 09:40

Out in the West, where men are men and sheep are nervous, the usual solution is to have two dogs, one named Soap and one named Water. Then your dishes are as clean as Soap and Water can get them.

Seriously, folks, one more vote for dispans.

posted by warbaby 29 September | 09:49

er, dishpans.

A horrifying thought: you want a second sink so you can rinse your dishes in DIRTY water? Oh, ick. That's really disgusting. Ick, ick, ick.

posted by warbaby 29 September | 09:52

You wash the dishes in the dishpan, and stack them on the counter, from largest to smallest. Wash the silverware and place in a cup, pan, or bowl.

Empty the dishpan and rinse. Fill with water. Place the stack of dishes in it. Pull them out one at a time, rinse under running water, and place in the drying rack.

Empty the dishpan again. Fill with glasses, repeat. Finally, put the silverware in, repeat.

If you develop too large of a backlog of dirty dishes then this method becomes difficult. An incentive to clean them regularly.

Do not rinse with your pussy.

posted by sarah connor 29 September | 10:03

Gee. I had no idea so many people actually used dishpans... it's always seemed like some kind of old fashioned thing to me, somehow. I've never even seen anyone use a dishpan for dishes.

So you put it on your counter and use it there? And store it under the sink or something? It seems really awkward.

posted by taz 29 September | 10:18

My mom always used a dishpan, but I think it was just to keep pots and pans from chipping the sink.

Personally, with one very large, very deep sink (pseudo victorian reproduction fixtures in my apartment), I keep the water running as I wash and rinse as I go.

I also hate filling the sink with water and soaking everything, since the thought of brushing my hand against food in the water is enough to make me lose it. I put the soap right on the sponge, or in the pot if it needs to soak.

posted by kellydamnit 29 September | 10:38

When I first moved into this house I got a dishpan because I was having one sink anxiety. Now it stays under the sink holding cleaning supplies, because I've learned to do dishes with one sink, the same way others have explicated above.

At the various times in my life when I've lived without running water, we had a bucket system: boil a huge kettle of water, wash the dishes in one bucket with soap, put them in another bucket & pour boiling water with a little bleach in it to rinse.

posted by mygothlaundry 29 September | 10:42

When I had a single sink, I did one of two things:
1. Use a dishpan. (Stored under the counter when not in use.
2. Wait until the dishes are moving by themselves, and throw them out.

posted by goatdog 29 September | 10:42

This is the technique I have refined after a number of years of bachelor living.

1. Make sure you are washing at least one bowl, cup or glass. If you're not, either go have a bowl of cereal, or realize that you don't have to dishes just yet.

2. Put about half an ounce of dishsoap in the vessle, and fill with hot water, agitate.

3. have dishes to be washed on one side of the sink and drying rack on the other side. Which side is which depends on if you are in the northern or southern hemisphere

4. With the hot water tap running a little, wet a dish, dip sponge/rag in soap, wash dish, leave in sink under tap, repeat until sink full.

5. Turn up tap and rinse dishes in sink, place in drying rack. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until dishes are done.

Alternate method:

1. Buy new dishes from thrift shop.

posted by Capn 29 September | 10:44

1. Dishwashers are for hacks.

2. Like kellydammit, I am totally squicked out by dirty food water, and therefore keep the water going.

3. I will never eat off an antipodean's dishes before rinsing.

4. Sometimes I wash my dishes with cold water. If it isn't really dirty (say still wet yogurt) and I'm lazy.

Bonus fact: There are no garbage disposals in New York.

posted by dame 29 September | 10:58

Get 'em all a little wet. Turn off the faucet so as not to waste water.

Get 'em all a little soapy.

Lather.

When you're done you have a sink full of soapy dishes.

Turn on the faucet a little. Rinse 'em.

It's okay to use plenty of water to rinse -- that's how dishes get clean, and how you avoid disease. If you're dead from disease, you leave the environment in the hands of evil men. A little water use here goes a long way towards making the world a better place. Overconserve, and you make diseased, dead ass of yourself, and you hand the job of saving the world to evil men.

Put 'em on a rack to dry.

The second sink is for gin.

posted by Hugh Janus 29 September | 11:17

This is the most popular thread I've ever created on the internets. Heh.

(But I still want a second sink.)

posted by dobbs 29 September | 11:25

Having been a professional dishwasher at one (brief) time in my life, I have no aversion to the task. I've got a big, deep main sink tub with a smaller, shallower one on the side (I think they call them 2/3-1/3 sinks in the industry). My typical method for a small-to-medium batch of dishes and pots is to get the hot water going, rinse to wet and remove any large particulates, then scrub with a soapy sponge, then rinse again before putting the item on the drying rack. If it's a large batch, I fill the sink about half-way with hot soapy water to get stuff soaking, then pick up with the method detailed above.

The smaller sink, which is at the end of a peninsula that separates our sink/prep area from the stove/cooking area, gets used mostly for such things as pasta drainage.

posted by me3dia 29 September | 12:30

common for Brits to wash plates and then just stick them in the rack to dry

No wonder their food sucks!

posted by mischief 29 September | 12:33

What would you do with more than one sink?

I do what Capn does; I find a bowl, mug, glass, or two, and make soapy water in them. Wash and rinse.

posted by sohcahtoa 29 September | 12:38

Single sink here. I use a dishpan or just do as cali does and leave the hot water running and the sink unplugged. Or I just use the dishwasher. And I always, always rinse the soap off.

posted by LeeJay 29 September | 13:10

Wash em and dry em or Wash em and leave em to dry themselves. I'll sometimes rinse glassware after washing.
If your plates taste of soap after washing up, try using less washing up liquid. I just licked a plate that was washed and then just left to dry and there's no hint of soap on it.
Also, I'm trying to wean myself away from the "continual pouring water" way of washing because it's ecologically unsound.

posted by seanyboy 29 September | 13:45

You know what really pisses me off? When I drop a break a dish while drying it.

I mean, if I break a dish, I break a dish, that's fine, but to go to the bother of cleaning it, then breaking it?

posted by Capn 29 September | 14:22

seanyboy, glass are the only thing I ever rinse, in scalding-hot water. Then I let them drain to dry instead of towel-drying them because they don't end up with soap marks or lint from the towel.

I can't imagine just letting all that hot water run into the drain. It seems like such a waste! NZ electricity is way more expensive than US electricity, maybe that's why it's more acceptable over there.

Heathens.

posted by tracicle 29 September | 16:21

You need two sinks, you heathens:

Dirty dishes on counter and fill sink closest to dirty dishes with hot, soapy water. Wash dishes, glasses, misc., silverware, pots and pans in that order. As they're washed you place the clean, yet soapy item in the empty sink. Once you have enough items in the now not-so-empty sink, you rinse the clean, yet soapy items in hot running water. Once well rinsed, and no longer soapy, you place the item in the drying rack on the far counter, next to the soon-to-be-empty rinsing sink. Leave clean dishes to drip-dry unless you're in a hurry and then use a clean tea towel to hand dry them.

I have been washing dishes since I was seven years old and absolutely abhor doing so. I wish I had a dishwasher.

I was well trained by an anal-retentive bitch (aka: Mum). If one item wasn't clean enough I got to clean every goddamned, motherfucking, cocksucking dish, pot, pan, utensil, container in the whole freakin' kitchen.

posted by deborah 29 September | 16:34

This thread is the most interesting thing I've read all day.

Off to kill myself now, thanks!

posted by nickdanger 29 September | 18:03

Thing you didn't know about me #11: I don't know how to use a dishwasher. I've never had one.

posted by Eideteker 29 September | 19:01

oh, deborah - what an awful story! Honey, you deserve a dishwasher. A golden dishwasher that is programmed to make coffee in the morning and tell you how beautiful you look today.

posted by taz 30 September | 00:33

Awww, thanks, taz!

posted by deborah 30 September | 22:44

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