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Post by AnnieOkie on Mar 2, 2009 9:20:44 GMT -5
I just wanted to include a note on something that helped me out when I was trying to get my kitchen under control. I don't have a dishwasher, so when I wash, I just leave them to dry in the drainer. When I had so many dirty dishes, I knew it would take forever to wash, dry, wash more, dry, etc.....(of course I could have hand dried, but I didn't : . So I put a bath towel on my kitchen table and put the dishes from the drainer there to dry and then I could keep washing. It isn't something I would do everyday, but it helped me when I was struggling to gain control of those dishes! Hope this helps someone.
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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Mar 2, 2009 11:04:24 GMT -5
- I just wanted to include a note on something that helped me out when I was trying to get my kitchen under control. I don't have a dishwasher, so when I wash, I just leave them to dry in the drainer. When I had so many dirty dishes, I knew it would take forever to wash, dry, wash more, dry, etc.....(of course I could have hand dried, but I didn't :. So I put a bath towel on my kitchen table and put the dishes from the drainer there to dry and then I could keep washing. It isn't something I would do everyday, but it helped me when I was struggling to gain control of those dishes! Hope this helps someone. Great idea, AnnieOkie. I had the same problem. No dishwasher. And TOO MANY dishes to air-dry them all in the dish drainer. It would've taken forever. But ... I had no table. So I did what is described in "step #15" of the opening post of this thread. Here's more details: I had empty cardboard boxes in my home. I laid the boxes face-up on the floor, and on the couch, and on the one clean corner of my desk, and on a chair. Then, I rounded up some clean towels, or sheets, or pillowcases, or t-shirts, or pieces of cotton fabric (ANY clean piece of somewhat absorbent cloth or clothing). I lined the boxes with the cloth/clothes. Then I put the freshly-washed dinner plates vertically in the boxes (as if I were putting them into a dishdrainer. There were no dividers between each plate, but I was able to put them into the box at a diagonal angle, so that the water would drain off, and be absorbed by the cloth. For smaller dishes and bowls, I just put into the boxes -- wedged into any spot in which they could drain. I think I had one or two boxes that just had knives, forks, spoons, and cooking utensils, laid flat to dry. Or perhaps I just wedged them in between the plates, wherever they would fit. I didn't do this process perfectly, but it was good enough. The idea was to just get the dishes washed and done, as soon as possible. So that you could SEE some visible progress and feel encouraged. -
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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Sept 10, 2010 2:46:58 GMT -5
bumping up for the newcomers
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Post by saffron on Sept 10, 2010 5:02:26 GMT -5
This is a great thread. Thanks for bumping it for the newbies. I saw a note I wrote in 9/2008 about throwing out dishes. Now my kitchen is clean, just a few unwashed dishes, so it makes my heart sing that I have been able to get out of kitchen squalor. I used to have spider webs with spiders in the sink. I don't know how many months it took me to get the courage to clean out the sink. I didn't use the sink for ages. I ate out, or used paper plates. I hated walking by and seeing those dirty horrid dishes with spiders and all kinds of dried up sink pudding. There is hope, just be brave.
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Post by catcat on Sept 10, 2010 17:15:25 GMT -5
I do have a dishwasher & I tend to rinse if just a few & plop them in one sink---it's a double one---& later in day when I have more, I rinse & put them all into DW. Now don't ask me why the first teeny batch, probably 3 little things , didn't make it to the DW right away. 'Cause I don't know. VERY IMPORTENT---must hear the plop sound when storing first ones in sink,very importent. catcat
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Post by catcat on Sept 10, 2010 17:16:50 GMT -5
I mean IMPORTANT---can't spell today. catcat
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Post by yearning4order on Sept 12, 2010 0:41:30 GMT -5
I didn't end up having to do dishes in the bathtub--but this thread had been bumped around the time that I got here. Honestly this helped me realize that I was going to be ok tackling the kitchen any way I needed to, including throwing away dirty dishes that I didn't love. I also used the laying down of towels as drying rack, and once the kitchen floor was decently under control, would even put a beach towel on the floor and use that as a drying rack when needed.
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beyondallmeasure
New Member
I am a...Christian, wife, mommy, homeschool teacher, artist, writer-- in that order
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 68
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Post by beyondallmeasure on Apr 21, 2012 8:50:42 GMT -5
funny... I thought I was the only one who did this! I have a hand held shower nozzle with a back massager... works like a giant sprayer...great for cleaning larger pans or messy dishes...
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Post by downandout on Apr 22, 2012 2:18:05 GMT -5
just read this thread and this post from Pollyanna really hit me: brilliant!!! i still have trouble with leftovers in the fridge. i need to learn to just throw at least some of them out!! like diced tomatoes. a couple of days ago i threw away two containers of diced tomatoes because they had gotten so gross and i couldnt bear to even open them! i threw away the containers too and they were my nice ones
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Post by lizzie on Apr 22, 2012 3:37:05 GMT -5
maybe the trick is to put leftovers in crappy old containers (maybe takeaway food containers) so that makes it easier to ditch them! I know I have plenty of take away containers, it would help me use them up if I started doing this - but stopping believing in leftovers would be good too.
I can confirm I have thrown away a favorite container in the past, what was in it would have gone nuclear if I had opened it, and I suspect I would never have felt happy about using that container again, no matter how well I cleaned it
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Post by fluffernut - now Jannie on Apr 22, 2012 9:11:36 GMT -5
My kitchen sink was clogged due to washing dishes in it. Grease had collected underneath and wrecked the plumbing, the joint under the sink actually broke and flooded the floor. I dragged dishes upstairs to the bathroom sink and did them there. After several weeks of this HELL I had a plumber in. He had to actually cut a hole in the wall in the room below my kitchen, left a gaping space. Cost around $400 also. My daughters once cleaned my frodge by throwing out ALL the containers with leftovers. Lost a lot of good Tupperware. Hey, you can always buy more tupperware or that food storage stuff they sell in groceries.
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Post by grungygeorgie on Apr 22, 2012 9:26:00 GMT -5
i have, "been there, done that" as well! Pitching a pot or pan is waay better than dealing with the stress. You can always pick up another at a thrift store or garage sale.Once I got my dishes done & sink clean I filled up a tub of hot soapy water and threw a dish or implement in the tub to soak. At the end of the day I give them a quick rinse and into the dishwasher they go. I am still not consistent about my dishes and sometimes wind about with a "situation" once again!
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Post by fluffernut - now Jannie on Apr 24, 2012 11:09:25 GMT -5
My dishwasher broke one year just before (US) Thanksgiving. I didn't have the money to fix it until February . I did dishes by hand in the sink for those 3 months. Will never forget. One thing good I discovered is, buy good gloves. Before you put them on, smear hand cream all over your hands, rub into your cuticles. Then put on the gloves and use the hottest water possible. Your hands will look and feel wonderful.
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Post by messymommy on Apr 24, 2012 17:39:09 GMT -5
Oh yes - good, thick, rubber gloves make the task sooo much easier and less repulsive when dealing with old gunk on dishes and pots and pans.
I do have a dishwasher in my house now but I didn't for many, many years. I don't have one in my tiny little get away place, tho. Here is something that helped me to no end - I got rid of the dish drainer! Mine always seemed to collect gunky stuff anyway. Instead, I have a stainless steel-topped rolling cart in both kitchens. I bought the smaller one at IKEA for less than $100 (in the as-is section) and it has casters and 2 shelves underneath. The other one is a work table I bought at Sam's for about $100 and I added casters to the bottom.
Anyway, I just roll the cart up to the sink and when I rinse a dish or pan - I just put it directly onto the cart to dry. No dishcloth or anything. It's stainless steel so nothing will rust. Since I always rinse in very hot water, the stuff dries very quickly. Usually I only have a little water left to wipe off the cart.
The carts serve as work space for me (like a moveable kitchen island) and the household rule is that they are always left clean with nothing on them. That way, any time anyone needs to prepare food or make a sandwich, there is a clean spot to do it. Since stainless steel is non-porous, I know the surface is sanitary after I clean it so I can happily place my clean, wet dishes on it to dry.
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Post by womble on Apr 24, 2012 18:46:04 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. Wow I mentioned this book in chat a couple of weeks ago, it was the first book I ever chose myself in the school book club 38 years ago and it has always stayed with me, I wasn't sure what the title was though so wll keep an eye out for a copy now thank you
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