For all of us washing dishes there is a big question, do it with running water or not? Sure, we save gas and water if we don't wash it on running water, but it's more convenient with it right? How do you wash your dishes?
I only wash with running water if is a mug or a single plate, otherwise I use a sink or a bowl. I am conscious of wasting water, but also sometimes you need to soak items to clean them properly. My parents never use running water and it's a habit that has always stayed with me.
My country is a semi arid desert, and water is a rare commodity. We don't get much rain. Our currency is even called "Pula" (rain), such is its importance to us! But I digress....Water conservation has always been drummed into us, so wherever I am I'm always conscious of wasting water. As a rule, I always fill the sink when I do the dishes and for rinsing as well.
Seeing that I use a dish-washing machine for the bigger items and every thing that comes from a meal, I only really manually wash small plates, cups, etc that come from quick snacks and from breakfast. When I do wash manually I do use running water, but since it's such a quick chore it doesn't really waste much water and I don't even use hot water, just a quick wash with cold water is enough.
I am currently in the middle east and I have found some interesting cultural behavior relating to this dish-washing thing. Some people here eat together in just one large stainless (or plastic) plate. They use a big plastic place mat to catch those that fall off during the eating session. At the end of the eating session, they will just throw all the left over on the plastic and threw it all in the bin. What they have left is just ONE large plate to wash. It saves them water.
I would like to learn how to use less water. It was ingrained in me to practically sterilize the dishes, so the idea of using "dirty" water to wash the dishes just doesn't sit well with me. However, I know that it will probably be just fine to fill the sink with wash water on one side, and rinse water on the other. As long as I am using hot, soapy water, the dishes will be sufficiently clean. Now, if I could just convince the rest of my family.
I'm usually not a wasteful person, but with water I absolutely am. I can't stand washing dishes in dirty water, whether I can rinse them or not. It creeps me out and I'd have to rewash them under running water anyway. Same with a bath, makes no sense to wash yourself in dirty water. I don't feel like anything is clean unless I do it this way. I feel bad, but otherwise I might never eat lol.
I try to not waste water as I know it is a natural resource that we need to be careful with for the future. Most of the time I wash the dishes in a tub of water, I like to let my dishes soak before washing them but sometimes I will let the water run if it will only be a few dishes to get the chore completed.
I keep the water running. I conserve water in every other manner, such as taking shorter showers/cutting the water while soaping up and doing fewer but fuller loads of laundry. When it comes to washing dishes, though, it's just a hassle for me to turn off the water between rinses for each dish. I prefer to keep the water running, although I'd love to implement a greywater system that takes the excess water and shoots it into the yard/sprinkler system to water the grass.
I run the water, but very lightly most of the time. I turn it off if something is taking a long time to wash. Like others said, I don't want to wash up my dishes in dirty water. I did test it out though. One day, I left the water running low, and I left the dishpan in the sink to collect it. The pan wasn't even all the way full when I got done washing dishes. So, I'm not wasting any more water than I would if I filled the dishpan and turned it off.
I use my dish washer daily so with that said, I run the water to rinse off all dishes before they get loaded. The dishes I don't put into the dishwasher, I keep the water running until I get them all done. I don't like having to turn the water on every time I need it so it just runs.
I don't have an automated dish washer so I wash my dishes and the dishes of my family members the manual way. I'm so accustomed to this method that I don't even mind washing all the used plates during parties. I've been washing plates manually since elementary and fast forward to more than a decade later, I can say I'm an expert in this area. I can wash 10 dishes in 10-15 minutes.
Oh my God, we could totally be dish washing buddies or twins. I HATE washing dishes in the same water. I may start out with one sink full of water, but it never stays that way depending on how greasy, dirty, the dishes that I am actually washing are. Not only do I not like to wash dishes in dirty water, but I don't like my hands to be in dirty water. Ewwww. It's like using someone else's bath water when they get done with it. Ewww lol. I like to run how water on dishes where food is dried on before hand too, in order to soften the stains up. So I do use a lot of water whilst doing dishes.
LOL I'm not surprised for some reason. I don't know when this started for me.. but I just can't stand the thought of a dish washed with other dishes in a sink full of dirty water. I mean, DUH, am I right? lol.. it's even dirty before you wash the first dish, let alone after! uuuuuuuuuugh. As for dried on food, I'm at the point now it doesn't happen. Future me hates that, so I do my dishes as I use them now Now they never pile up or loom over my head! I have a problem with water in general now though. I have no idea how it happened, but any standing water gives me the creeps. Things lurk in that stuff! And now I have no idea how lakes give me such peace lol.
I'm a bit lax in that area. Ever since I was a kid, I have always washed 1 plate and I then rinse it with running water. I then turn the faucet off, wash 1 plate again, and turn on the faucet. It's quite a waste of water as compared to just washing the plates by groups, but I can't seem to change my method. I wash utensils in groups though.
To wash dishes I fill a basin with hot soapy water and always start with glasses, then silverware, then plastic, dishes, bowls and finally pans.After each type is well scrubbed I stack them in the other bin, when that bin is full I use the sprayer to rinse and stack the dishes to dry. It is very systematic, I am not sure if it is more about my OCD or doing the dished correctly.
My mother is always moaning at me about wasting water. But something tells me that if I was washing them in dirty water, she'd berate me about that too. Can't win with that jackass, I swear!! Same with cleaning with a duster. Once a duster is really dirty and I am just spreading dirt around, then it's time to change it right? But I get yelled at for using more than one duster in one polishing day. It is definitely a DUH moment. You are completely and utterly right lol There are few things that makes my skin crawl more than dirty water. Uuuuuuuugggg!!! You are very lucky that you can do your dishes as you use them. Just get them out of the way. When I am at home, I stay in my room. Anything is better than having to endure time with the other people who live in this house, and the kids use a lot of dishes, and so they do pile up to where they need to be soaked ahead of being washed. We also have a dishwasher that has recently been fixed, and we've been soaking the dishes before putting them in there too.
It's okay to use running water in my opinion, just keep it at a medium flow rate, and make sure that you are continually washing the dishes. Don't get distracted and just leave the water running over the dishes, that would be plain wasteful. When it comes to tough stains and grease stuck on plates I tend to soak the dishes in the sink first, before rinsing them under running water.
I always prefer to wash my dishes with the tap closed at some point of time and then after a while I wash them with water. I think wasting water is really not required. But when I am in complete hurry I definitely leave the tap running.
I only wash my dishes with running water if it's only a few dishes and if I need to wash dirty dishes quickly to be used for other reasons. When I have a full sink, I let the water run until it's nearly full and then scrub all the dirty dishes, and then I wash them off. I like washing dishes much more than putting it in the washer machine, because it saves more on the water and gas debts, cleaning is more thorough and effective, and doesn't take as long.
