# How do Australians wash dishes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-australians-wash-dishes/555963 "2010-10-04T01:33:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-australians-wash-dishes/555963/141 "2010-10-11T09:41:10Z")
Just get a fucking dog fer’ chrissakes. Although, I must say that a cat’s tongue has a better scouring action. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-australians-wash-dishes/555963/142 "2010-10-11T10:26:26Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Edit: > > Seriously. You rinse after washing your: > Clothes. > Car. > Hands. > Body. > Hair. > Floor. > Ass. > Rug. However, you don’t rinse after having a bath. And washing dishes with the one-sink method is a lot more like having a bath than a shower or a car wash. Just sayin’. I’m still a dish-rinser so it’s no skin off my nose! ---
**Author:** ![SpaceDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spacedog/32/9932_2.png) [@SpaceDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpaceDog)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-australians-wash-dishes/555963/143 "2010-10-11T11:26:01Z")
Out of interest, for the rinsers who’re expressing disgust, on a scale of one-to-ten out skeeved out are you by the thought of eating off non-rinsed dishes. I don’t rinse and it’s never occurred to me that that would be an issue. **Superhal** , let’s look at your list. _Clothes, Rug._ Clothes washing water is significantly soapier than dish-washing water. If you’ve ever hand-washed clothes you can feel the difference easily. I’m also assuming clothes have less tendency to let water drip off. _Car._ Fair enough, I’d guess on a car you’d get obvious streaks if you air dried it. Plus, different soap again. _Hands, Body, Hair, Ass._ Different soap. But if I was in a bath and washed all of the above I wouldn’t have a shower afterwards. Occasionally I’d have a shower before. _Floor._ I can’t remember the last time I washed a hard floor. I doubt I rinsed it, I doubt I would next time. > [@](#): > > That you _don’t_ rinse after washing dishes (that you eat off of, which is exceptional among the others mentioned above) is somehow safe and/or different? > > I can understand if it’s a water-saving procedure, but to belittle someone on a BBS is just despicable. Eh, I don’t really think we’re belittling anyone but you’re implying something that a significant portion of the world does is ‘unsafe’ which is a little insulting. Like we’ve been putting ourselves at risk and are too stupid to notice. If it wasn’t safe there’d be massive government funded campaigns to change our ways (there are enough of them for everything else) or some company would invent a product and capitalize on generating fear of unrinsed dishes. As it is I think American dish washing liquid is probably just different, but it doesn’t matter. My dishes are clean. Although, for what it’s worth, my ex-girlfriend believed that almost _everyone_ washed dishes wrong and wouldn’t let other people wash. She’d re-wash stuff that someone else had washed if she was going to use it. Frankly I’m not sure what she did, I don’t think she rinsed – but it took her freaking ages. SD ---
**Author:** ![yola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/48db29/32.png) [@yola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yola)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-australians-wash-dishes/555963/144 "2010-10-12T00:06:34Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Just get a fucking dog fer’ chrissakes. > > Although, I must say that a cat’s tongue has a better scouring action. > > 😃 🙂 I’m having a good laugh at this discussion of a chore I deplore. 😃 How Not To Have To Dry the Dishes By Shel Silverstein If you have to dry the dishes (Such an awful, boring chore) If you have to dry the dishes (‘Stead of going to the store) If you have to dry the dishes And you drop one on the floor— Maybe they won’t let you Dry the dishes anymore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-australians-wash-dishes/555963.md?page=7)