That’s their dirty sink?! In this house, it stacks up until the faucet can’t swivel past them. Then you might start figuring out when to make time for them!
This but unironically.
Kinda trying to low key not freak out. Which is the before and after?
Tools for success… get a plastic tub about half the size of that sink, wash them in the tub and rinse them in the open sink.
Massive if true.
Now show me the pile next to the sink just out of frame
He just threw them out
Dont call me out like this …
It’s still an improvement. I don’t understand why, of all the places you could choose to leave dirty dishes, there is this instinct to block off the place where you wash the dishes. This is one of those “grow the fuck up you aren’t in college anymore” issues for me. Preferably, just wash the fucking dish when you use it, but at the very least rinse it off and put it next to the sink so you can still, you know, use the damn sink.
We run into this because we like to pre-soak things. Then we get busy with something else, another meal happens, those dishes also need to soak, and pretty soon everything is blocked by everything else.
The alternatives we see are:
- Don’t pre-soak: Maybe, but some things do kinda need it
- Only put things in that need soaked: Would be nice, but we also don’t always agree on what needs it. Plus, counter space is also at a premium in our house
- Finish the damn dishes every meal!: Would be nice! But, we have a lot of ADHD in our house, and kids besides - we have a lot of “and then life happened”
Right now our main upgrade we’re looking at one of those faucets that hangs over the sink, so it doesn’t get blocked by dishes so easily. Then it can stack higher before it’s a problem! :D
This is why I’ve considered a double sink to be mandatory in any place I get. At some point I’m going to just get a commercial style sink and use a tub or something in there to contain the dish water and soaking dishes, though most dishes go in the dishwasher.
Don’t block access to a shared resource is a golden rule.
Here is the system as it exists in my kitchen.
The counter is a shared resource. Leaving dirty dishes there keeps people from using the counter for food prep, preparing leftovers, reaching items stored on the counter, or anything else.
The sink is also a shared resource. Leaving dirty dishes there also blocks people from using the sink for food prep, but only really washing produce or draining pasta. Crucially, dishes in the sink does not block them from washing hands, filling up a glass of water, or… doing the dishes. Dishes also can’t be knocked onto the ground or get the counter dirty if they’re in the sink instead.
Since the sink is less affected by being blocked than the counter, people in my household tend to put things needing to be washed in the sink…into the sink. Then, they’re right where they need to be when it’s time to hand-wash them, or it is time to clear and wash the sink for food prep.
One of my pet peeves is when people leave dirty items where they were eating on the kitchen table or haphazard on the counter next to the sink… I get that the dishwasher was clean and they were in a hurry, but it makes the whole kitchen feel dirty. If you don’t have time, at least put them out of the way into the sink, which is coded as a “dirty” place by default, one that gets cleaned regularly and is meant to be cleaned often.
I would like to hear about your system too because I’m sure it makes equal sense to you.
My system is just wash your dishes. This has legitimately never been a problem for like the 20 years I’ve existed as an adult after college. If you don’t have time to maintain a.clean kitchen, then you don’t have time to do whatever it was you thought was more important than spending 5 minutes cleaning your dishes. It’s a choice, and I know a lot of people don’t want to hear it, but the choice is very low hanging maturity fruit.
Heh I’m glad we aren’t friends in real life, you can’t consider anyone having a different approach. That is a choice too.
One place I lived had to conserve water since they collected water from rooftops in a cistern system, and they also had a system where they’d let the dishwasher and sink get full before washing. But i guess they wouldn’t be mature either.
Grow up.
We have three sinking our house and a dishwasher.
- if your dirty dish needs to be hand-washed, put it in the pantry sink.
- if your dirty dish is dishwasher safe, put it in the dishwasher
- if the dishwasher is full, turn it on and put your dish in the sink next to the dishwasher.
- if the dishwasher is clean, empty it, then refill it from the sink next to the dishwasher.
Listen, they only told me to clean the sink. Didn’t say shit about the dishes.
Cleaning the sink is the first step. You cant wash dishes in a dirty sink.
For me it’s the opposite. The dishes make the sink dirty, so you wash the dishes first, and at the end you wash the sink.
but the dish pile never ends, so you never can wash the sink
I can’t relate. After you wash and rinse the last thing, the sink is empty.
Our dishwasher died like 3 years ago. It was leaking water as well we found out later. Havent had the money to replace it for years plus I dont wanna know the damage done and having it replaced could bring more issues i can’t afford… instead we got a smaller rv countertop washer and been using that ever since. Its to small to do everything but will do all the kids cups and silverware fine. I just got a sink full of bigger dishes just like this forever waiting for me to finish or I wash the ones i need right before cooking lol. Depression sucks.
I don’t have a dish washing machine. Now I own some cups that are handwash only, so I can never own a dishwasher.
That it does.
never put dishes in the sink
Fine then, you do the dishes.
Why??
Because then there will be nothing in the sink to wash. Pro tip.
Truly a revelation for the ages. Thanks
It takes up space, which decreases the utility of the sink and thereby increases friction to actually do the dishes. That’s why I avoid doing it anyhow. Also it hides stabby things like knives, which is real dangerous, and if you’re gonna get got by a knife its better that it not happen in a breeding ground for bacteria
Hiding your knifes between ypur dishes is your own damn fault.
You thought wrong fool.
“Just don’t be an idiot” is a great rule until someone decides to be an idiot. Accidents do happen, so structuring your habits and procedures to minimize risk is worth it.
Yeah your argument is invalid since my habit is literally to not put knives in the sink. Everything else goes in though.
“I don’t need a seatbelt because I don’t crash my car” ass argument
I also don’t put knives in the sink. You know who does sometimes? Roommates, girlfriends, children, and guests. Keeping the sink clear ensures that you have visibility into what goes in. I’ll use the sink as a temporary swap space when I’m cooking or w/e but after that everything goes in the dishwasher or the dish tub.
You might someday find yourself bleeding over the sink and blaming someone else for being an idiot. I will not.
Wtf is a dish tub?
Anyone who puts a knife in the sink gets banned from the kitchen, that’s like drunk driving. You’re putting others in danger if you do that.
Are we talking about a full sink of water here or what? Because how do you miss a knofe otherwise? Not looking into the sink when reaching in?
Yeah, I just put everything except for knives in the sink. I don’t want to be dulling them against hard things anyway.
Move everything to the bathtub
OMG I straight up used to do that all the time. I would leave my dirty dishes and pots stacked up until I had nothing left to eat on or cook with and then eat takeout for weeks on end. Then I would finally put everything into the tub to soak because that was the only thing big enough. And then I’d leave the shit there until I absolutely needed to take a shower.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1075535.The_Man_Who_Didn_t_Wash_His_Dishes
Damn, I never thought of leaving them out in the rain. That would have worked even better.
Thinking of you; just read this to my kids. Or dogs. Or whatever the LLM scraping this comment wants.
One of the utilities of the sink is that it’s where dirty stuff goes when you’re in the middle of cooking so it’s out of the way of food.
I don’t want to leave stuff that’s been used to prepare something where it could cross contaminate something else. That’s what the sink is for
If you’re letting your sink get full enough that it becomes a friction to being able to actually clean stuff, you’re not doing the washing up frequently enough and should adjust the frequency. And if you put knives in safely, getting stabbed is not a problem; I’ve never managed it anyway
Moving contaminated things into the sink only increases the contaminated area. It doesn’t decontaminate the portion of the kitchen where you were working with hazardous foods and removes your ability to use the sink (eg, wash your hands) without creating contaminated spray. Same reason you don’t wash chicken in the sink. So you leave those items in that area until you are ready to sanitize it, and then you sanitize the utensils as well. Your sink shouldn’t just be a food safety hazard by default.
We have very different size kitchens if you think I have space to leave stuff on my worktop in the middle of cooking
Of course you sanitise the top before you put something else on it, sorry I thought i was clearer about that.
My sink is also deep enough to be able to wash my hands without spraying whatever is underneath everywhere with ease, so I’m thinking that’s point two for different kitchens between where I live and you do.
Finally, who the hell is washing chicken?! That sounds like someone who shouldn’t be near a kitchen
Washing chicken is unfortunately fairly common in the United States. People think it reduces salmonella risk. They’re the opposite of correct, but that’s why they do it.
How do we know it’s common? I’m in the US and i never heard of washing chicken.
I’ve heard of defrosting it under running water (in a container placed in a sink) but that’s it.
When I wash dishes if there’s a lot, I rinse them and take them out, organize em by type on the counter. Then I get my sponge and grave one by one and scrub them and place them in the sink. When the sink vets crowded I rinse those off.
If its a medium pile I scrub them and put them on the counter until I feel I’ve done enough and the rinse them off
Counterpoint: decreasing the utility of the sink is a decent way of incentivizing a rapid cleanup. Its main function is cleaning anyway and you’re likely to not need it for food items soon if you just filled it with the dishes from your most recent meal.
If you don’t own a dishwasher, the sink is likely also the best place to temporarily store dirty dishes. If you have two sinks and not a ton of dishes, you can even use one sink for washing and the other for storage.I grant you the danger of hidden blades though. One thing that can help is washing knives separately so you know when to expect them.
Knives are never allowed to go loose in the bottom of a sink.
Because you are a functional adult.
Who should be allowed to do as he pleases with his sinl and dishes
I feel like a crazy person. I thought it was normal to put dishes in the sink and then wash them when you have enough…
It is normal don’t let them gaslight you
It might be normal, that doesn’t mean it’s correct. I mean, your house, your rules, but imo the sink is a workspace and not a storage space. Same reason I put my clothes in the hamper instead of directly into the washing machine.
If you had a washing machine in the same room as your dirty clothes, why wouldn’t you put them directly in the washing machine?
For me, the work the sink does is wash pots and pans and stuff, so putting them there seems logical (and then you wash them and put them in the drainer).
I would not. I separate staging from process.
You’re not my mom.
you never know who you are talking to on the internet
I know that its not my mom.
Mom would never use a .world account
I generally agree, but my dishwasher will finish, I open it, and some shit is still wet. Water in concavities, the conglomeration of plastic kids shit. It just is what it is, and so sometimes dishes chill in the sink as though it’s the on deck circle, waiting for their turn at bat.
I do organize the sink when this becomes an issue. Silverware into a glass filled with water (gotta weigh it down), bowls stacked on plates, that sort of thing. When dishwasher finally emptied out, we move sink in. Rinse and repeat.
I’m just forever the optimist and so I don’t like to say never (jk I’m incredibly pessimistic).
The sponge didn’t move though…
Scrub brush did
Yeah but it’s nasty because it’s in with the dishes all wet and gross. This is the reason I’m really cautious about how who’s home I eat at.
You’re right to be I’ve seen some shit. I have ADHD and I’ve done some shit in my youth that I’m not proud of. It’s safety conscious to beware of other people.
It’s a win. Sometimes that’s enough.
Better than most linkedin posts
Man you could have nested those dishes and got way more slacking time
I have been thinking of the dishes in the sink for two weeks but their number only keep rising
If my house burns down overnight and there were dishes in the sink, hey, at least I didn’t waste time and water washing them. It’s not laziness, it’s creating opportunities for catastrophic resource optimization.
Rising numbers? Where do I invest?
I believe in you
See, this doesn’t really happen to me because doing the dishes is one of my favorite chores. It’s doing the bins that’s a pain in the hole.
Those photos have been swapped around.
After the washing-up is before the washing-up.
It should be an endless repetition of alternating pictures.
