Can you please explain to clueless me how a single sink works?

[katycoo]

Don't rinse! I never bother (expect with wine glasses) and used my second sink for dishes that won't fit in the drainer.

Wait what?  Please explain because as written that disgusting and unsanitary sounding!  How do you not rinse the soap and food particles off the dishes and consider them clean?

You wash them, so the food particles are cleaned off, then you dry them.  If you don't overload with unnecessary amounts of liquid, there's not much in the way of suds to dry off.

[Ereine]

Don't rinse! I never bother (expect with wine glasses) and used my second sink for dishes that won't fit in the drainer.

Wait what?  Please explain because as written that disgusting and unsanitary sounding!  How do you not rinse the soap and food particles off the dishes and consider them clean?

I was once on a discussion board where there was a huge war/debate about rinsing dishes and the conclusion was that in some countries it's customary not to rinse dishes but that they also have different dish soap and so it shouldn't be done elsewhere, or so they claimed.

I have a double sink but I haven't been able to find a plug that fits the other one so I only use one. I usually use a plastic tub for rinsing (I bought it when I had a single sink and no counter space, I put it on top of my stove when I was washing dishes) and sometimes when there's only a few dishes I'll do it the way delabela does it. I don't think that I could bring myself to rinse under running water, it seems so wasteful.

[Yvaine]

I don't think that I could bring myself to rinse under running water, it seems so wasteful.

You only turn on the faucet in really short bursts--i.e. only when you have a dish to rinse--and I bet the amount of water used is lower than if you filled a sink of standing water. It doesn't just run the whole time.

[Bluenomi]

Don't rinse! I never bother (expect with wine glasses) and used my second sink for dishes that won't fit in the drainer.

Wait what?  Please explain because as written that disgusting and unsanitary sounding!  How do you not rinse the soap and food particles off the dishes and consider them clean?

You wash them, so the food particles are cleaned off, then you dry them.  If you don't overload with unnecessary amounts of liquid, there's not much in the way of suds to dry off.

Exactly this. Plus I suspect our (as in Australian) washing liquid is different since you don't need to rinse bubbles off, they don't really stick. Plus rinsing wastes water which is a crime over here! The only people I know who rinse are British ex pats. My MIL rinses but doesn't bother filling her sink with water, just wipes things over with a skanky dishcloth and rinses. That seems so much worse than not rinsing!

Most stuff goes in the dishwasher, not many things get washed by hand.

[Ereine]

I don't think that I could bring myself to rinse under running water, it seems so wasteful.

You only turn on the faucet in really short bursts--i.e. only when you have a dish to rinse--and I bet the amount of water used is lower than if you filled a sink of standing water. It doesn't just run the whole time.

That's why I said it seems wasteful, not that it necessarily is I think that we were taught at school that leaving water running is evil and obviously it applies to everything. I usually wash quite a lot of dishes at a time (because I hate doing them and am lazy) and I think that rinsing them would probably take as much water as my plastic tub and it seems easier to me.

[WillyNilly]

I don't think that I could bring myself to rinse under running water, it seems so wasteful.

You only turn on the faucet in really short bursts--i.e. only when you have a dish to rinse--and I bet the amount of water used is lower than if you filled a sink of standing water. It doesn't just run the whole time.

That's why I said it seems wasteful, not that it necessarily is I think that we were taught at school that leaving water running is evil and obviously it applies to everything. I usually wash quite a lot of dishes at a time (because I hate doing them and am lazy) and I think that rinsing them would probably take as much water as my plastic tub and it seems easier to me.

How do you shower?  or flush a toilet?
I don't think anyone is advocating just leaving the water running randomly, but rather during active washing/rinsing time, no different then rinsing your hands, or your toothbrush or your hair.

[Yvaine]

I don't think that I could bring myself to rinse under running water, it seems so wasteful.

You only turn on the faucet in really short bursts--i.e. only when you have a dish to rinse--and I bet the amount of water used is lower than if you filled a sink of standing water. It doesn't just run the whole time.

That's why I said it seems wasteful, not that it necessarily is I think that we were taught at school that leaving water running is evil and obviously it applies to everything. I usually wash quite a lot of dishes at a time (because I hate doing them and am lazy) and I think that rinsing them would probably take as much water as my plastic tub and it seems easier to me.

I don't think of it as "leaving" water running--I figure water needs to run for some things, and it's OK as long as it's not running while you're not using it. Like brushing your teeth--it's "leaving" the water running if it's just merrily running while you stand there and brush, but you genuinely need to run it at the very beginning and end of the process.

[bloo]

I don't think that I could bring myself to rinse under running water, it seems so wasteful.

You only turn on the faucet in really short bursts--i.e. only when you have a dish to rinse--and I bet the amount of water used is lower than if you filled a sink of standing water. It doesn't just run the whole time.

That's why I said it seems wasteful, not that it necessarily is I think that we were taught at school that leaving water running is evil and obviously it applies to everything. I usually wash quite a lot of dishes at a time (because I hate doing them and am lazy) and I think that rinsing them would probably take as much water as my plastic tub and it seems easier to me.

How do you shower?  or flush a toilet?
I don't think anyone is advocating just leaving the water running randomly, but rather during active washing/rinsing time, no different then rinsing your hands, or your toothbrush or your hair.

I'm with you WillyNilly. When I was growing up in South Florida, we had water restrictions so my dad sat us down and explained that we could only let the shower run to get wet and to rinse off. And he started giving us time limits on showers. It's a habit I've continued but my kids and I do it out of necessity because the house we live in now has enough hot water for maybe a 10 minute shower if you were to run the water continuously. Consequently I don't run out of hot water but my DH is, IMO, pretty wasteful because he enjoys hot water blasting him the entire time. All part of the 'experience' for him I guess.

I really prefer a double basin sink. The house I'm living in has a single and while I do appreciate it when I'm washing my roasting pan or as today when I had to soak and wash six 11" x "18" jelly roll pans, I like a double basin for the day-to-day stuff. I run my dishwasher everyday, but I can't put my pots-n-pans, knives, coffeemaker, stickblender, extra large mixing bowls, wooden cooking utensils into it. I do a lot of cooking everyday.

[Slartibartfast]

I never understood the whole "conserve water" effort because I grew up five minutes from Lake Michigan and the water was plentiful and cheap there.  It also ran less than a mile from the lake to our house, so tap water there tastes awesome!  Then I lived/visited other places and was astounded at how nasty (and how variable) the taste from local water sources can be.  Where I live now, we have very hard water - it tastes odd, makes cleaning the shower a pain, and it makes toothpaste and dish soap foam differently.  It's still cheap here, though - conserving water might save us a nickel a month.

I think I would have a very hard time getting used to living somewhere where it truly was necessary to conserve water as a normal day-to-day thing (not just during a drought).  And I've never lived somewhere without a double sink 

[pharmagal]

Don't rinse! I never bother (expect with wine glasses) and used my second sink for dishes that won't fit in the drainer.

Wait what?  Please explain because as written that disgusting and unsanitary sounding!  How do you not rinse the soap and food particles off the dishes and consider them clean?

You wash them, so the food particles are cleaned off, then you dry them.  If you don't overload with unnecessary amounts of liquid, there's not much in the way of suds to dry off.

Exactly this. Plus I suspect our (as in Australian) washing liquid is different since you don't need to rinse bubbles off, they don't really stick. Plus rinsing wastes water which is a crime over here! The only people I know who rinse are British ex pats. My MIL rinses but doesn't bother filling her sink with water, just wipes things over with a skanky dishcloth and rinses. That seems so much worse than not rinsing!

Most stuff goes in the dishwasher, not many things get washed by hand.

I grew up in NZ - I don't know if it's regional or not, but most homes when I grew up had a single sink.  And you washed the dishes by washing the crockery and cutlery first, then the glasses (which my mum always filled with hot water before we dried them so they wouldn't streak).  then you washed the more heavily dirty items.  If you needed to, you refilled the sink, but we never rinsed the dishes at all. 

And none of us got sick from it. 

Willy Nilly, I found your post quite offensive.  Just because it's not something you do or don't do, doesn't mean it's disgusting or unsanitary.  Rinsing off shower gel or soap is what you do since you're standing under running water.  I know a lot of people who simply have sponge baths because they barely have any water left and it costs $$$ to get more.

[MariaE]

I don't think that I could bring myself to rinse under running water, it seems so wasteful.

You only turn on the faucet in really short bursts--i.e. only when you have a dish to rinse--and I bet the amount of water used is lower than if you filled a sink of standing water. It doesn't just run the whole time.

That's why I said it seems wasteful, not that it necessarily is I think that we were taught at school that leaving water running is evil and obviously it applies to everything. I usually wash quite a lot of dishes at a time (because I hate doing them and am lazy) and I think that rinsing them would probably take as much water as my plastic tub and it seems easier to me.

How do you shower?  or flush a toilet?
I don't think anyone is advocating just leaving the water running randomly, but rather during active washing/rinsing time, no different then rinsing your hands, or your toothbrush or your hair.

I read your reply#1 as washing under running water as well, and thought it really wasteful. Knowing that you only turn it on when needed makes more sense

To answer your questions - I shower rather than run a bath, to preserve water. I flush the toilet using the small flush rather than the big flush whenever I can, in order to preserve water. In Denmark the same water is used for everything, which means we pretty much flush our loos using drinking water which just seems ridiculously wasteful to me    I wish I lived somewhere that used rain water for non-tap water.

OP, I very, very, very seldom rinse off the dishes afterwards. Danish dish soap is apparently very much like the Australian one On the rare occasions that I do, I put everything on the drying rack, boil a kettle of water and pour it over. Rinsed dishes that dry even faster

[Yvaine]

Ah, I see. The post I initially agreed with talked about "turning the water off when you're not actively rinsing something," so I thought it was implied.

[Dindrane]

I personally cannot stand the thought of filling up half of a double sink with soapy water to wash dishes. I never washed dishes that way growing up, and something about it just totally skeeves me out.

On the other hand, I do intellectually know the benefits of that particular method, so DH and I acquired a $5 plastic dish tub that fits in one half of our sink. I fill it with hot soapy water and toss dishes in as I'm cooking so that nothing gets all caked on before I get around to washing.

We did have to have a bit of a come-to-deity discussion recently about rinsing things off before putting them in the tub, and not leaving things in there for upwards of 24 hours. There is nothing that grosses me out more than tepid water filled with soap scum and food particles that I have to stick my hands into because there are utensils at the bottom.

I ultimately much prefer a single basin sink, because I mostly find that the divider in a double basin gets in my way and makes pots harder to wash. But I do like using the plastic tub to soak dishes. It does make them easier to wash, and keeps them all contained and out of the way. It's also nice that it's separate from the sink, because I can carefully tip water out to avoid sticking my hands in more icky food-laden water than I have to to get those last few forks.

[MariaE]

Ah, I see. The post I initially agreed with talked about "turning the water off when you're not actively rinsing something," so I thought it was implied.

It was in yours, but not in WillyNilly's:

I have never had a double sink or known anyone in real life with one. Nor have I ever known a non-professional sink to be filled with water to wash dishes.

To use a single sink, you just neatly stack the dishes in the sink, soap up sponge and run the water. You rinse, wipe/scrub the dish with the sponge, then rinse under running water, and put in dish rack, then move to the next dish and repeat.

ETA: for dishes that need soaking - you just leave those lined up under the running water and wash last.

The bolded especially made me think she washed the dishes under running water rather than turning the water on and off, so I appreciated her explanation that that wasn't the case.

[StarFaerie]

Don't rinse! I never bother (expect with wine glasses) and used my second sink for dishes that won't fit in the drainer.

Wait what?  Please explain because as written that disgusting and unsanitary sounding!  How do you not rinse the soap and food particles off the dishes and consider them clean?

You wash them, so the food particles are cleaned off, then you dry them.  If you don't overload with unnecessary amounts of liquid, there's not much in the way of suds to dry off.

Exactly this. Plus I suspect our (as in Australian) washing liquid is different since you don't need to rinse bubbles off, they don't really stick. Plus rinsing wastes water which is a crime over here! The only people I know who rinse are British ex pats. My MIL rinses but doesn't bother filling her sink with water, just wipes things over with a skanky dishcloth and rinses. That seems so much worse than not rinsing!

Most stuff goes in the dishwasher, not many things get washed by hand.

I think you're in my town Bluenomi, so we also have very soft water. You don't need much detergent at all and certainly there is no need to rinse unless you have gone overboard with the detergent accidentally. I don't think I know anyone who rinses, except my stepmother who just pours boiling water over the dishes in the drainer so that they air dry quickly.