Another dish-washing question

[vilakins]

I should have added this to the last post, sorry, but I thought of it a bit late.

This is for people from the UK. Why do you wash dishes in a plastic bowl in the sink rather than directly in the sink? Is it to save water, to keep the sink clean, to be able to toss debris over the side, to protect dishes from hard metal, or for some other reason?

Just so people know my dish-washing habits, I rinse dishes to get loose food off and put them in the dishwasher. I wash delicate glassware (only used for dinner parties or special occasions) in the sink with a microfibre cloth, and pots and pans with a brush which goes through the dishwasher when it needs it. I dry any hand-washed dishes with a tea towel, and no, I don't know why it's called that. "Dish towel", as cited by an American, makes more sense.

The only reason I'm asking about dish washing is because of seeing so many knitted dish cloths on a knitting site and community. It's not normally a subject that exerts any fascination. :-P

Comments

[san-valentine.livejournal.com]

I've always used a bowl inside the sink - it's the way I was taught. As has been said, it uses less water. It's also useful if you have pans or mugs that have been filled with water and left to soak until washing up. You can just pour the dirty water into the sink itself, leaving the washing up water cleaner. Many houses in the UK only have one kitchen sink, so it can't be poured elsewhere.
You are also right in your comment about breakages. Glassware and china is less likely to be chipped on a plastic bowl than on an enamel or metal sink, which used to be more common.

In the UK, it's common to have fine, knitted or woven dishcloths, like these from Lakeland; http://www.lakeland.co.uk/F/keyword/dishcloths The Lancashire cloths are the most common type. Some poeple use them for washing dishes and they are also used as general kitchen cloths, for wiping up and cleaning.

Thhis is a guess, but it may be that tea towel is used to distinguish a towel which is used for drying teatime things, (and by extension, the things for other meals, but tea towel is alliterative), as opposed to a towel used for drying the person. Most people prefer to use differnt towels for the different purposes.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

So it seems all my imagined reasons are correct! I only have one sink here, but if I used a plastic bowl, I'd have to store the thing in a very small kitchen; besides I usually only have to hand-wash pots and I put the water directly in them.

Surely all your sinks are metal? I've never seen anything else.

We use woven cloths too, though I prefer microfibre, and there are also very thin, flexible sponges which are basically cloths; these are used a lot but I never liked them as they don't seem as hygienic. Cloths dry out better.

I can't imagine using towels for more than one purpose! We don't share bath towels either, though I had one English friend who said her family just used any dry towel to hand.

[san-valentine.livejournal.com]

Older sinks were glazed earthenware or enamelled metal. The old sink in this flat when I first moved here was a 40'sish enamelled. A lot now are moulded plastic. That and stainless steel are the most common.

Many people leave the bowl in the sink full time, moving it only when cleaning or when they need the full size of the sink. Mine tucks into a corner between units, on the floor.

People in the UK use a variety of cloths, sponges and brushes for washing up. Just look at the washing up section on Lakeland's website. I use their Washup Whizz - it's a yellow, plastic net/mesh. It scrubs decently without scratching and is quickly rinsed and left to air.

The woven cloth is less commonly used for actual washing of dishes these days; it's more often used for wiping surfaces. Sponges, brushes and microfibre-type clothes are much more likely to be used for the dishes nowadays.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of enamel or plastic sinks! It's all stainless steel here. New houses have twin sinks, one with waste disposal, and a lot have stainless steel bench tops, fridges, and ovens. I don't like it for those things myself; it's very hard to keep looking nice; one touch and it needs a wipe.

I've come across plastic bathroom sinks though.

I use plastic mesh too as it doesn't scratch.

[samantha-vimes.livejournal.com]

There are enamel sinks in the US, but I haven't seen plastic.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Wow. I only really see enamel in retro-look mixing bowls and saucepans.

[samantha-vimes.livejournal.com]

These were really retro sinks. I think they were common 30s-70s.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I used to have a stone sink in my first flat. That's the only time I've not had a plastic bowl. All the same reasons as everyone else - saves water, tip liquid down the side, rinse off under the tap etc. The bowl lives in the sink all the time

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've seen stone sinks in old "wash houses" which were the outside laundries used here in the days of boiling washing in coppers.

OK, if I did much dish washing by hand I might consider the plastic bowl, but it's usually pots and I just put water in the pot rather than fill a whole sink.