I suspect it was space. If you have all the plates, cups, saucers, pots, pans etc for a typical meal for a family of five or six, in a kitchen of the size that was typical for most of the twentieth century, you have to dry the washing-up as you go; there simply isn’t a draining-board large enough to stack it all. And whatever about the merits of simply leaving it to stand, if you are towelling your plates dry there is certainly no need to rinse off the soap-and-water mixture in fresh water; the towelling will remove it.
It could also be about not adding extra tasks to a process that already gets the job done. No need to wonder about water conservation or space issues when rinsing isn’t necessary to get clean dishes with no noticeable soap residue.
I’m damned if I can find a cite but I have a memory of one of the big manufacturers explaining that they had different formulation of their products for Britain and the States as Americans rinsed and Brits didn’t. So, if my memory is right, yes, the manufacturers don’t consider it necessary - as long as you are in the UK (or presumably Australia or New Zealand!).
In many places, the dishes are first rinsed with hot water to get most of the dirt off. Then washed with a bit of dish washer liquid, and set to dry. It’s not like the soapy water has leftovers in it.
Colour me confused by this entire thread. I didn’t realise washing up technique was a regional thing at all. I’ve known people to wash their dishes in many different ways all over the world, can’t say I’ve ever noticed trends. I personally use a dishwasher, but when I wash dishes, I sometimes rinse, sometimes don’t, sometimes just let leave them to dry, sometimes use a towel. I know people can be picky about this kind of thing, but I didn’t know entire nations started behaving exactly the same regarding such habits.
Could it possibly be that Americans wash their dishes in much sudsier water - i.e. with a stronger concentration of surfactants - than is actually necessary to remove food residues, and that they are encouraged to do this by the manufacturer’s advertising? (In much the same way - and for much the same reason - that toothpaste ads encourage you to put a great big swoosh of paste all along the bristles when in fact an amout the size of a pea will have all the abrasive qualities needed.)
If that is the case, then it could well be that Americans need to do more to remove the water-and-surfactant mixture from their plates.
I’m in aus and we got a double sink, i usually rinse off the worst of lumpy stuff under the tap before it goes in the soapy water, where a dish cloth is applied, then straight to the rack for wiping dry. If stuff on the rack is soapy your using too much dishwashig liquid
It’s certainly not an Evil Plot by Dishwashing Liquid manufacturers to brainwash Americans into using too much soap. My Boy Scout Handbook from the 1960s instructed you to was the camp dishes in soapy water, then to rinse in clear water.
Also, logically, is there anything else washed with soap that is not rinsed afterwards? Clothes in washing machines, hand washing, cars, etc. etc. etc. I can’t think of a single example of anything that is not cleaned or rinsed after soaping. Even when I used to scrub floors with a deck brush, we would mop it after scrubbing and wiping the excess water off. The only example I can think of is some spray-and-wipe cleaners like Windex, Easy Off or bathroom cleaners, but they don’t clean through lather action, however we do rinse after using scouring powders like Comet.
Any restaurant workers (former or present) from Australia want to chime in? I worked in Dominoes pizza that used the 3 sink (wash, rinse, disinfect) system.
My soapy dishes have my friends convinced I’m a gourmet cook. They love the taste of cilantro. Who am I to correct them. Why spoil the mystique? Now you know my Palmolive secret. It’s a lot cheaper than cilantro.
And how do those dishwashers work? Do they just go straight from layering soap on to drying? Heck no. They rinse them off.
And, as pointed out, so does every other thing that uses soap.
I find it odd that the people making fun of people in this thread are making fun of us for doing what they do for everything else.
And, seeing as usually I have to scrub to get anything off of plates, I don’t think I’m using too much soap. I often don’t even see bubbles. But I sure as heck can see soap stains on stuff when I let it dry.
Of course, my water is quite hard-- 9 on some scale that says 4 is normal.
Australian here. Always rinsed after washing. Everyone I know has always rinsed after washing. Rinsing after washing always seemed then norm to me
Well I did. Until I read studies indicating that dishwashers used less water than hand washing - then I could indulge my laziness by rationalising it as being eco-friendly
Just want to thank the aussies. I have friends that I thought were really bad at rinsing off their dishes. They usually leave soap on at least some part of the dishes while drying. I have always rinsed my dishes until every speck of sud was gone and i found their way a little weird. Now that I know a large percentage of the world does this my mind is free. I probably won’t change how I do things but it gives me a little pleasure to know it’s not gross.
Australian here, yo! How do you people in the US wash dishes? Also, whats a sud? Whenever I wash the dishes I never find these “suds”, what are they and what do they look like??
