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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Sept 20, 2008 21:02:47 GMT -5
- Do you have tons of moldy dishes in a humungous pile all over your kitchen and beyond? Is your kitchen sink unaccessible? First of all you can just THROW OUT the dirty dishes ... and pots and pans. Really. You can. But if you really need to have your dishes cleaned, here's an option: Dishes may be washed in the bathtub.
Just in case you never thought of it.
When the kitchen was overwhelming, that's what I did.1) Read the other threads on this forum about unclogging sinks and bathtubs. Purchase appropriate supplies. Don't use them yet. Just have the supplies ready. 2) Remove those boxes of crap that you've hidden in bathtub as a "storage space". 3) Fill bathtub with hot soapy water. If you're out of dish soap, don't worry. You can use shampoo, or laundry soap. It really doesn't matter. Editing to add: Optional step 3A) "Put a filter of some sort over the drain - an old pair of pantyhose, for instance." (Thanks to member "60isolderthanithot" who posted this idea later in this thread.) But, if you don't have pantyhose or screens or filters or anything like that, don't worry. You can skip this step. 4) Cover face with mask or scarf. Put on gloves. 5) Grab hideously moldy dishes from kitchen. Do not scrape or clean them first. Just grab them. Do not think too much.6) Now just dump them in the bathtub. When I did this, they were so gross that I could bear to carry only three at a time. After carrying the three, I came here and read ... for a break.... Then I brought more dishes to the bathtub. 7) Now that all dishes are soaking in bathtub, go to kitchen and fill trashbags with all the trash in the kitchen. 8) Scoop any large clumps of goo out of kitchen sink into trash. Pour some of the stuff from step one into kitchen sink. Let it soak. 9) Wash your dishes in the bathtub. When your back starts hurting from the bending over, take a break and come here and read ... or sweep your kitchen floor for the first time. 10) DO NOT WASH DISHES PERFECTLY. Wash most of the crud off of them. That will be good enough for now. You can always rewash them later. Right now you're just doing major desqualoring. You're not doing a health check. 11) Throw away any dishes that are cracked, chipped, or ugly. Don't even bother washing them. 12) Go back to the kitchen and clear off your counters. Be amazed by the empty flat surfaces. Smile in awe. 13) Wipe out your kitchen sink and actually make it clean enough to use. Not perfect, but clean enough. 14) Carry your clean-ish dishes from bathtub to kitchen. 15) You can put empty boxes in kitchen and line them with towels or paper towels -- or sheets -- or pillowcases. You can turn the clean dishes upside down in these sheet-lined boxes to dry. This step #15 is explained in better detail on page three -- click here go to that post: takeonestepatatime.proboards.com/thread/1821?page=3#4531416) While the dishes are drying, drain the bathtub. Get some paper towels and a spoon to scoop out any mold and food remaining in the tub from the dishwashing. Use the stuff from step #1 to clear the clogged bathtub drain. 17) Put away any dishes that are actually clean enough to eat off. 18) Now actually wash your bathtub out -- so that it's clean enough for a human being to bathe in. Be amazed. 19) Rewash the imperfect dishes in your newly clean kitchen sink. 20) SMILE. 21) Take a hot bath in your clean bathtub and celebrate your victory! -
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Post by tiredofthis on Sept 20, 2008 21:10:44 GMT -5
I lived in an apartment for almost 4 years that didn't have a kitchen at all. The landlord made a deal with my then boyfriend that in lieu of rent, said bf would remodel the kitchen. Bf figured out that the longer it took him, the longer he would be able to go without paying rent. Sooooooooooooo, I washed dishes in the bathtub, and cooked in crockpots and two electric fry pans. You can cook just about anything in those babies. I cooked more then than I do know. I have led a very peculiar life.
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Post by DJ on Sept 20, 2008 21:11:50 GMT -5
that was really one of the greatest step by step desqualoring guides i've read.
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Post by drivermom on Sept 20, 2008 21:17:00 GMT -5
Went my dishes have gotten overwhelming, I have taken a couple of big plastic storage bins and filled one half full with dirty dishes and then filled it with hot soapy water. Filled the other with hot clean water. Let the dishes soak for awhile then wash them and put them in the clean water to rinse. I have cleared off my kitchen table and covered it with towels and placed dishes upside down to dry. I have also put towels on counter to let dishes dry. I have actually put the plastic bins on chairs and sat on another chair to do dishes as not to make my back hurt as much.
Great idea though CL, I hope I just added to you thoughts.
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Post by gringa7ape on Sept 20, 2008 22:26:18 GMT -5
have you guys ever read "The Man who Didn't wash his dishes" ... at least I think thats the name. well it was always my favorite book growing up. about this man who lived alone, who let the dishes pile up.. and up.. and then he had to use anything for dishes.. plant holders, etc.. and then he got so overwhelmed, he needed to wash dishes.. and it was raining.. so he just took them all outside for the rain to wash them. i love that story!
i was gonna make a comment about the bathtub.. growing up, there were times when we had to wash dishes in the bathtub b/c in the kitchen sink, hardly any water comes out.... so i've been there..
also once we had to clean my parents house b/c of a CPS ordeal.. and there were just loads and loads of dishes.. we just piled them up in containers and we were gonna take them to my uncles house to use his dishwasher.. then they just got put in a storage trailor for awhile.. don't know how many years.. but yeah..
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Post by saffron on Sept 21, 2008 0:12:31 GMT -5
PositivelyPickles, you don't know how many dishes I've thrown out. And I'm sure there will be more when I get to the kitchen. Tee hee.
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Post by 60isolderthanithot on Sept 21, 2008 10:59:18 GMT -5
It's a very bad idea to clog the bathtub. Don't do that. Put a filter of some sort over the drain - an old pair of pantyhose, for instance. There are little drain covers meant to keep hair out of the tub drain. Probably less than $2. Buy one and use it. Bathtub water is typically treated by the city, it's expensive to clean all that junk out.
I guess I don't understand the point of deliberately not scraping the dishes as a step between grabbing them out of the kitchen and dunking them in the tub?
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Post by 60isolderthanithot on Sept 21, 2008 11:04:19 GMT -5
Drivermom, I've done that too! I got d restaurant dish tub, filled it with hot suds and put it on the counter by the sink. It is big enough so I could empty both sinks into it. This let me clean the sinks themselves.
My main bad habit is being unable to let go of old stored food in the fridge. I am in denial about not eating leftovers. I hardly ever do but I keep kidding myself about it. Soon, I'm running out of dishes because everything is storing something in the refrigerator. The cleanout can be ugly. I've learned to wait a while, even overnight, soaking. The dishes practically wash themselves after a hot soak.
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Post by brenda on Sept 21, 2008 11:28:16 GMT -5
If dishes are an issue why not use paper plates? I have a dishwasher so this has not been a big problem for me but for those without one it seems it would make life a lot easier until you can get a handle on things.
Brenda
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Post by mouse on Sept 21, 2008 12:31:14 GMT -5
brenda: this isn't so much about not getting dishes dirty to begin with. It's a step-by-step for people whose sinks are piled to overflowing with dishes that have pretty much stuck to each other with old food and mold. The sinks are clogged with gunk, and it's pretty much impossible for them to get their dishes washed, and therefore impossible to get the rest of the kitchen clean.
Once the dishes are clean again and the sink is working, *then* the decision can be made to switch to paper plates.
It's the same principle behind not scraping the dishes before bringing them to the tub, 60isolderthanithot: sure, it would be better to do that, but at a certain point it all becomes too overwhelming by adding that "extra" step. Yes, it's bad to make the city do all that expensive water cleaning, but many squalorees would view that as a "reason" to just leave the dishes to molder in the sink even longer. So just bite the bullet once, do a "bad" thing once, and try to maintain afterward is the name of the game.
Whatever works, in essence.
~Mouse
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Post by tiredofthis on Sept 21, 2008 12:51:35 GMT -5
Plus, if you had been washing all those dishes every day, the city would have been processing the gunk anyway, just in smaller amounts, over a greater period of time.... so, squaloree's just use up their share over water purification all at once! I can rationalize just about anything... Actually, I'm running into this problem with DD cleaning her room. She wants to recycle, donate, hold on to cloths she might want to wear for grubby chores.... I'm saying ~ we can do all those good things once we get the house in order...
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Post by threeg on Sept 21, 2008 13:32:55 GMT -5
Clothes can also be washed in the tub! I have done it before, and hung the laundry to dry on the line. Years ago, when I was a newlywed, we often didn't have money to go to the laundromat. I spent many a day soaking clothes in the tub, then using a plunger type tool to churn the water and wash them. (I wonder if they still sell them....hmmn.) 3g
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Post by moggyfan on Sept 21, 2008 13:37:39 GMT -5
Amen, mousie! I think the "amnesty rule" definitely comes into play here. In an emergency, you gotta do what you gotta do (though using old pantyhose or something as a filter is a great idea!)
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Post by angelinahedgehog on Sept 21, 2008 15:44:08 GMT -5
gringa7ape, that's the name of it! And the Amazon.com link is www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Didnt-Wash-Dishes/dp/0385077351One day when I was a teenager, all the forks were dirty. All of them. The regular forks and the shorter tined dessert forks. My brother wanted to make a tuna salad sandwich, and instead of washing even one fork, he found an itty bitty pickle fork, and used that. At that point, I knew that I was looking at The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes.
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Post by messymimi on Sept 21, 2008 17:07:33 GMT -5
We have 2 hot water heaters. The one in the kitchen, which supplies the sink only, is electric. The large main heater is gas.
During power outages, especially after hurricanes, I take the dishes to the bathroom in my biggest mixing bowls so I can wash them in the hot water up there. I did the same when we renovated the kitchen 10 years ago.
Really makes me appreciate the dishwasher .
messymimi
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