Do You Rinse Your Dishes?

DH used to be married to a Japanese woman and lived in Japan, and he's told me that in Japan people always shower before getting into a bath. It's considered dirty to just step into a bathtub without washing your body first.

This is true, but the tradition comes from when there was only one bathtub for the entire family to use and they all sat in the same water, so obviously they wanted to clean themselves before they went in it.  In a traditional onsen, you sit on a little stool and wash yourself with water scooped from a bucket, then get in the tub to soak.  If only one person uses the bathwater, I don't think it's particularly nasty.  You're not sitting in anything that wasn't on your skin before you got in the bath.  But honestly I think bathing habits and dishwashing habits are apples and oranges.  I wouldn't eat my dinner off anybody's skin, regardless of whether they bathed or they showered, and I prefer my dishes very clean.  I wash them in very hot soapy water, then stack them on the draining board until it's full, then empty the sink, rinse the dishes, then stack them in the dish drainer.  Different strokes, I guess!   

I'm not afraid of germs or of getting sick from not rinsing, but the thought of eating soap turns my stomach.

I'm not a bath person, but I have to agree on a normal day I don't think the average person really gets all that dirty to worry about the bathwater becoming filfthy.

I always rinse the dishes.  DH does too, and he is the UKC.  Food particles get trapped in the soap which then remains of the unrinsed dishes.  Even if you don't rinse but dry the dishes right after washing, you will have some interesting stuff on the tea towel.  It's best to wash, rinse and then air dry the dishes.

In the US I used to help serve a Thanksgiving meal to the homeless.  Procedure was to wash the dishes in one sink, rinse in a second sink and dip the rinsed dishes in a third sink filled with hot water and a touch of bleach.  This was a requirement by the county in which I lived.  So there!

By the way, DH says if you agree with this argument, you should also never take a bath, as you would just be sitting in old, dirty, soapy water full of skin cells, dirt and other germs and then drying yourself off without rinsing off the soap and other particles. 

I agree with DH! Yuck. Baths are gross.

Another point, why would dishwashers have a rinse cycle if it wasn't the normal thing to rinse soap off? Wouldn't they just skip that part to save water?

Another point, why would dishwashers have a rinse cycle if it wasn't the normal thing to rinse soap off?

It *is* normal to rinse soap off! 

Even though I am not a bath person I don't think baths are gross though.  I see why someone would want to soak in a hot bath--great for muscle aches and pains!

It *is* normal to rinse soap off! 

Even though I am not a bath person I don't think baths are gross though.  I see why someone would want to soak in a hot bath--great for muscle aches and pains!

Well, baths are ok if it's for something other than washing oneself. Soaking with a glass of wine or one's honey is something else! But I never do that because it's so uncomfortable. I'd rather shower then have that wine while relaxing on the sofa!!

By the way, DH says if you agree with this argument, you should also never take a bath, as you would just be sitting in old, dirty, soapy water full of skin cells, dirt and other germs and then drying yourself off without rinsing off the soap and other particles. 

Personally, I don't use baths as a method for getting clean.  I take them very occasionally as a way to relax but I always get up at the end and take a proper shower.  I didn't know that anyone over age 6 actually took baths to get clean!

The first time my MIL came to visit, she insisted on helping out.  I would try to get to doing the dishes before she could; however, a couple of times I didn't manage this.  Well, I took a glass to get a drink of water and soap bubbles formed when the water hit the glass.  Needless to say, I rinsed it out and continued on my way. 

DH didn't believe me when I said she's not getting the dishes clean or rinsing them off properly (or at all for that matter).  He did the same as me, but didn't notice the bubbles in his glass.  He took a sip and was almost sick.  He believed me then.   

I seem to be really late to this party but am going to comment anyway.  When I got back from visiting my BF in England the first time, I mentioned to my mom about this curious (and gross, if you ask me) habit of not rinsing that he and all his housemates had.  I think I had found an earlier thread here on UK-Y about it so I knew it was a relatively nationwide thing in the UK.  She laughed and said oh, your (American) grandmother (my dad's mom) does that, too. I was like WHAT?  How did I never notice?  Apparently, when my mom was getting married, she was getting changed at her future in-laws house and was offered a glass of champagne.  When it was poured, there were soap bubbles mixed in with the champagne bubbles and it definitely tasted of soapy water!  Gross!   But of course she was polite about it and managed to tolerate a few sips.

Sure enough, the next time I was over at my grandparents, I noticed my grandmother tossing the dishes into the drying rack without rinsing.  Luckily, they have a dishwasher for most of the dishes but yech.  I suppose I have survived almost 26 years of eating at that house regularly so I will survive it when I move the UK but I don't think I'll ever become a non-rinser. 

I didn't know that anyone over age 6 actually took baths to get clean!

I don't , but lots of people do in the UK I think.  We always watch real estate programs like "Escape to the Country", and so many homes don't have showers in the main bathrooms--just a big bathtub--no shower head.

I didn't know that anyone over age 6 actually took baths to get clean!

I didn't realize so many people thought baths were gross!

I didn't know that anyone over age 6 actually took baths to get clean!

There's loads of properties here that actually don't have standing shower heads - just tap ones, or even none at all.  So bathing it is for many.  

I didn't realize so many people thought baths were gross!

I know! I mean its water, soap, drying off afterwards. I don't get it.    

Oh and wasn't there an article a few months back about all the bacteria one gets all over them from the shower head? 

I guess everyone should just stop cleaning themselves in general 

I know! I mean its water, soap, drying off afterwards. I don't get it.    

Oh and wasn't there an article a few months back about all the bacteria one gets all over them from the shower head? 

I guess everyone should just stop cleaning themselves in general 

For real.  Not to mention that stuff like loofahs (or shower puffs or whatever you call them) are full of all the stuff people find so nasty about baths, with the added benefit of whatever grows in there when you're not using it.

But, again, to each their own.  I just think, what a waste of water to take a bath and then shower afterward.  Just don't bother with the bath then!

Apparently, when my mom was getting married, she was getting changed at her future in-laws house and was offered a glass of champagne.  When it was poured, there were soap bubbles mixed in with the champagne bubbles and it definitely tasted of soapy water! 

But that's down to using too much soap.....it's never happened in my house that there's a taste of soap, but I used to get it a lot when I was living with parents and my dad had washed up, then would make a cup of tea that tasted of soap. I think it was because, somehow, he'd left neat soap on the cup.

 I didn't know that anyone over age 6 actually took baths to get clean!

What if you don't have a shower? Anyway, occasionally I have a bath (such as if I've been walking so need to soothe my limbs) but I'll wash as well, wouldn't shower after or before a bath though.

I love reading this board - makes me pleased I'm married to DW!

I have a weird reply to this.

People who rinse the dishes in my extended family: MIL, Husband, me
People who do not: SIL, FIL
Uncertain: BIL

MIL thinks it is really gross that FIL does not rinse the dishes. I find this rather funny.