- Things you wish your mother had told you
- Your Basic Toolkit
- How to Clean and Tidy Your Room
- How to Clean a Toilet
- How to Clean a Sink or Bath
- How to Wash Dishes in a Shared Kitchen
- How to Make Your Bed
- How To Sort your Clothes Ready For Washing
- How to Wash Your Clothes
- How to Clean a Floor
- Guestbook
- good food bad food
- Help! I hate vegetables!
- Falling in love with Mr Potato
- Meat sauce
- Cooking for a Crowd
How To Wash Dishes in a Shared Kitchen
You may be sharing a kitchen with a few people or with a crowd. Whatever the situation, it's not always easy sharing as everyone has different standards of cleanliness and tidiness. Either one person needs to take control and make a cleaning rota or, more usually, everyone just muddles along.
You need to identify if you are a tidy person or an untidy one.
Notes for tidy people:
If you are a very clean and tidy person, a shared kitchen may cause you annoyance and stress as there are bound to be people who are not as clean and tidy as you are. If you find the sink is always full of dirty dishes and the kitchen is generally dirty and untidy you can try a few tactics.
1. You can leave polite notices around ie Please wash your own dishes and leave the sink clean.
2. You can call a meeting of all flatsharers to discuss problems and how to resolve them. This needs quite a bit of tact and good humour - you don't want it to be an exercise in public humiliation, and if you attack someone's personal habits they are almost bound to retaliate.
3. You can say nothing but occasionally set a good example and do some cleaning up yourself of other people's mess. This may impress some people and shame others into doing their share, but sadly it may have no effect.
If you really don't mind doing it and it makes you feel better, OK. But if it makes you seethe with rage and bitterness at other people's inconsideration, then stop doing it. It will only spoil your friendship with others in your accommodation.
4. You can accept the fact that some people are messy slobs and just decide to work around them, remembering that you probably only have to put up with them for a few months. The cleaners will probably complain if things get too bad and then they will be forced to clean up their act to some extent.
You can try a few of these options, but try to see that option 4 is a way of reducing your own stress levels. Remember: you can only be responsible for your own behaviour. You are not responsible for other people's behaviour. It's better to accept that we are all different. We all have our good points and our bad points. One day you will probably have your own kitchen and you can be as tidy as you want. This isn't your kitchen; it's a shared space, so perfection is an impossible goal.
Notes for untidy people:
If you are an untidy and disorganised person, you need to realise that you are probably causing stress and annoyance to others sharing your accommodation. You need to realise that:
1. You are responsible for your own dirty dishes. When you have finished cooking and eating, wash your pots, pans, plates, dishes and cutlery within a reasonable time ie the same day unless this is really impossible to do. Leaving dirty dishes in the sink or on the worktops will add to the mess and probably annoy some people.
2. If you see notes around the place reminding people to wash up and keep the kitchen clean, don't ignore them. They probably mean you!
3. If there is a cleaning rota, make sure you do your turn.
4. Cleaning up after yourself also means:
* wiping down worktops where you have left a mess
* cleaning the top of the cooker if you have spilt things
* wiping the inside of the microwave if necesssary
* leaving the sink and the washing up bowl clean
* putting your food away in your cupboard, and also your cutlery, pots, plates and mugs
* emptying the kitchen bin when it is full and not always leaving it to someone else
5. In addition to all this, you need to clean up spills in the fridge and to make sure that your fridge food isn't out of date and causing a health hazard.
Notes for everyone:
So, the kitchen sink is full of other people's dirty dishes and the place is a bit of a mess. You have your own stuff to wash up but how do you go about it? Isn't it easier just to leave it and add to the mess?
There is a relatively stress free way round the problem. Try following these instructions:
This is what you need:
Your own washing up bowl (or 2 if possible)
Washing up liquid
Sponge
Metal scourer for burnt on food
J cloths
2 clean tea towels (or more)
This is what you do:
1. Clear a space in the sink. Just lift out the dirty dishes that are there and put them on the worktop for now.
2. If possible, clear a space on the draining board for your clean dishes. If not, a second washing up bowl may be the answer. Put your washed dishes into it. Or you could clear a space on the work top, put down a clean tea towel and place your washed and rinsed dishes on it to drain.
3. Give the sink a quick clean, removing gunk from the plug hole. Put your own washing up bowl into the sink.
4. Scrape your dishes well so all food scraps go into the kitchen bin.
5. Rinse your dishes under the cold water tap to get rid of most of the remaining food residue.
6. Run some hot water into your washing up bowl, adding a squeeze of washing up liquid.
7. Starting with the cleanest items first, use your sponge or a J cloth to clean everything, rinsing each item under the tap. Put them onto your clean draining space (the draining board, your second washing up bowl or the space on the work top covered in a clean tea towel). Don't forget to wash well around the rim of mugs and also inside to prevent a build up of tea and coffee stains. A sponge is good for this.
8. Leave baking trays, casserole dishes and pans until the end. They may need a rub with a scourer to get them clean. Be careful not to use a metal scourer on a non stick surface.
9. Dry everything with a clean tea towel (or better still, leave to air dry) and put them away in your cupboard.
10. Empty your washing up bowl, rinse it under the tap and wipe it around with your cloth. If it feels greasy, wipe it again with a bit of washing up liquid. Rinse and dry.
11. Rinse out your cloth, sponge and scourer. Hang your cloth over the side of the washing up bowl to dry and put them away in your own kitchen space or in your room.
12. Hang up your tea towel(s) to dry.
Watch this video clip. It may need some translation from American but you will get the idea! And you probably won't need the vinegar!
http://www.howcast.com/videos/133376-How-To-Hand-Wash-Dishes
You need to identify if you are a tidy person or an untidy one.
Notes for tidy people:
If you are a very clean and tidy person, a shared kitchen may cause you annoyance and stress as there are bound to be people who are not as clean and tidy as you are. If you find the sink is always full of dirty dishes and the kitchen is generally dirty and untidy you can try a few tactics.
1. You can leave polite notices around ie Please wash your own dishes and leave the sink clean.
2. You can call a meeting of all flatsharers to discuss problems and how to resolve them. This needs quite a bit of tact and good humour - you don't want it to be an exercise in public humiliation, and if you attack someone's personal habits they are almost bound to retaliate.
3. You can say nothing but occasionally set a good example and do some cleaning up yourself of other people's mess. This may impress some people and shame others into doing their share, but sadly it may have no effect.
If you really don't mind doing it and it makes you feel better, OK. But if it makes you seethe with rage and bitterness at other people's inconsideration, then stop doing it. It will only spoil your friendship with others in your accommodation.
4. You can accept the fact that some people are messy slobs and just decide to work around them, remembering that you probably only have to put up with them for a few months. The cleaners will probably complain if things get too bad and then they will be forced to clean up their act to some extent.
You can try a few of these options, but try to see that option 4 is a way of reducing your own stress levels. Remember: you can only be responsible for your own behaviour. You are not responsible for other people's behaviour. It's better to accept that we are all different. We all have our good points and our bad points. One day you will probably have your own kitchen and you can be as tidy as you want. This isn't your kitchen; it's a shared space, so perfection is an impossible goal.
Notes for untidy people:
If you are an untidy and disorganised person, you need to realise that you are probably causing stress and annoyance to others sharing your accommodation. You need to realise that:
1. You are responsible for your own dirty dishes. When you have finished cooking and eating, wash your pots, pans, plates, dishes and cutlery within a reasonable time ie the same day unless this is really impossible to do. Leaving dirty dishes in the sink or on the worktops will add to the mess and probably annoy some people.
2. If you see notes around the place reminding people to wash up and keep the kitchen clean, don't ignore them. They probably mean you!
3. If there is a cleaning rota, make sure you do your turn.
4. Cleaning up after yourself also means:
* wiping down worktops where you have left a mess
* cleaning the top of the cooker if you have spilt things
* wiping the inside of the microwave if necesssary
* leaving the sink and the washing up bowl clean
* putting your food away in your cupboard, and also your cutlery, pots, plates and mugs
* emptying the kitchen bin when it is full and not always leaving it to someone else
5. In addition to all this, you need to clean up spills in the fridge and to make sure that your fridge food isn't out of date and causing a health hazard.
Notes for everyone:
So, the kitchen sink is full of other people's dirty dishes and the place is a bit of a mess. You have your own stuff to wash up but how do you go about it? Isn't it easier just to leave it and add to the mess?
There is a relatively stress free way round the problem. Try following these instructions:
This is what you need:
Your own washing up bowl (or 2 if possible)
Washing up liquid
Sponge
Metal scourer for burnt on food
J cloths
2 clean tea towels (or more)
This is what you do:
1. Clear a space in the sink. Just lift out the dirty dishes that are there and put them on the worktop for now.
2. If possible, clear a space on the draining board for your clean dishes. If not, a second washing up bowl may be the answer. Put your washed dishes into it. Or you could clear a space on the work top, put down a clean tea towel and place your washed and rinsed dishes on it to drain.
3. Give the sink a quick clean, removing gunk from the plug hole. Put your own washing up bowl into the sink.
4. Scrape your dishes well so all food scraps go into the kitchen bin.
5. Rinse your dishes under the cold water tap to get rid of most of the remaining food residue.
6. Run some hot water into your washing up bowl, adding a squeeze of washing up liquid.
7. Starting with the cleanest items first, use your sponge or a J cloth to clean everything, rinsing each item under the tap. Put them onto your clean draining space (the draining board, your second washing up bowl or the space on the work top covered in a clean tea towel). Don't forget to wash well around the rim of mugs and also inside to prevent a build up of tea and coffee stains. A sponge is good for this.
8. Leave baking trays, casserole dishes and pans until the end. They may need a rub with a scourer to get them clean. Be careful not to use a metal scourer on a non stick surface.
9. Dry everything with a clean tea towel (or better still, leave to air dry) and put them away in your cupboard.
10. Empty your washing up bowl, rinse it under the tap and wipe it around with your cloth. If it feels greasy, wipe it again with a bit of washing up liquid. Rinse and dry.
11. Rinse out your cloth, sponge and scourer. Hang your cloth over the side of the washing up bowl to dry and put them away in your own kitchen space or in your room.
12. Hang up your tea towel(s) to dry.
Watch this video clip. It may need some translation from American but you will get the idea! And you probably won't need the vinegar!
http://www.howcast.com/videos/133376-How-To-Hand-Wash-Dishes