# Why would I want a double sink? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753 "2011-02-17T22:37:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/41 "2011-02-18T18:31:25Z")
Your dishwasher ought to be hooked up to flexible plastic hoses, iirc from our own remodeling experience. Moving it a few inches shouldn’t be a problem. I want a double sink because I wash in one side and let dishes drain in the other. You’ve already said this isn’t a concern for you. We got Staron countertops, which came with FREEFREEFREE! integral double sink. It’s neither top-mounted or bottom-mounted, there’s just a seamless transition between counter and sink. It’s awesome so far, love it. The nice lady at Lowes promised us that Staron is exactly the same stuff as Corian… just costs less. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/42 "2011-02-18T18:38:34Z")
> [@kath94](#): > > I agree with those who say that some things HAVE to be hand washed. Wine glasses, the occasional pot or pan, knives, etc. Nah. I get nice sturdy wine glasses and put them in the dishwasher. My good knives are the Cooks Illustrated approved Victorinoxes, which I throw in the dishwasher because they’re, like, 20 bucks. I put them in the top rack (my dishwasher actually has a third rack for big utensils and knives and such) and sharpen them when they need it. Very rarely I have to, say, wash out a pot because I need it again, but that’s no thing. I HATE having to pull out the champagne glasses, because they won’t fit in the dishwasher and I have to wash them by hand. Ew. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/43 "2011-02-18T18:42:32Z")
…seamless transition between counter and sink? Oh my. I think I know what I want for my next kitchen remodel. Well, “next” would be my “only.” I don’t like the looks of those farmhouse style sinks - they look like they’d be very stylish but kind of useless for your kitchen sink (too deep, too much bending over using them, too much water to fill it, too hard to clean with all the corners, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/44 "2011-02-18T19:05:57Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Nah. I get nice sturdy wine glasses and put them in the dishwasher. Pro Tip — get glasswear at a restaurant supply store! I have the most awesome martini glasses, parfait glasses (and pasta plates) that I paid a buck a piece for and they’re like IRON. I wish they’d had some wine glasses too although since mine are pretty cheap, I put them in the dishwasher anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/45 "2011-02-18T19:25:44Z")
Yeah, the only thing that doesn’t go in my dishwasher is cast iron. I just wash that out with a scrubby and use the sprayer to rinse it. Why should you not (theoretically) put knives in the dishwasher? ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/46 "2011-02-18T19:29:24Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > . . . All the double sink does is causes my boyfriend to put stuff in the side WITHOUT the garbage disposal so I get to scrape it on out again. . . . I’ve been married 23 years and I still can’t get my husband to scrape or rinse the dishes off into the side with the garbage disposal and then put the plates into the other sink. The best he can come up with is to stack the food-covered plates in the garbage disposal side. But at least if he does it this way I don’t have to dig cold greasy rancid food chunks out of the sink strainer from the non-garbage disposal side. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/47 "2011-02-18T19:34:13Z")
I’ve had both, and I vastly prefer the double sink. I can stack the dirty pots and pans in one side, clean the other and fill with soapy water, then I have a nice production line from right to left - rinse, wash, rinse, put on the towel to dry. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/48 "2011-02-18T19:50:56Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Me too, from the age of 11 until we moved when I was 18. If you ever have to hand wash dishes, a single sink sucks much worse than a double one. You need a basin for rinse water, a place to put it…sucks. This- basically one side is filled with hot soapy water & dishes, one side is used for rinsing, and then you either have a drying rack/tray that drains into the sink, or you have someone with a towel dry the dishes. Doing this with one sink is very difficult- I always ended up just diluting my hot soapy water by rinsing dishes off into it. Then I’d either have to add more soap or let water out, depending on whether it was too diluted, or too full. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/49 "2011-02-18T19:57:09Z")
I want a giant single stainless farmhouse sink. I have a dishwasher, but I still wash pots and pans by hand. Right now I have a double porcelain sink, one side of which is asymettrical, and big enough to put a skillet in. (It has a weird little bumpout for the handle.) Unfortunately, that side doesn’t have the garbage disposal! And my husband puts gunky dirty pots on that side, too. Men! ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/50 "2011-02-18T20:06:40Z")
I grew up with a double sink, but as mentioned above, one of them was used as the “rack sink”. Seriously, the drying rack fits perfectly there. Every other year or so, they change which side is the “rack sink”. Now I live alone and I have a double sink. It just lets me accumulate junk if I forget. But it may let me soak some dishes while the other side only has the stuff I can quickly clean and put on the rack. In my house, the rack is on the counter, but drains to the sink. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/51 "2011-02-18T20:16:43Z")
I prefer a double sink - I put my dish drainer in the left side. I put some dishes in the dishwasher and wash some stuff by hand (knives, cast iron, wooden salad bowls, most glasses - because my dishwasher sucks). I have never done the “sink of soapy water” “rinse station” set-up for handwashing. I just wash everything under running water in the right sink and put it in the dish drainer to dry. I have a mild phobia about icky water and floating soggy bits of food. I wouldn’t be a fan of continually reaching into a big sink of soapy ick to wash dishes. I prefer washing with hot clean running water. If I didn’t have a double sink, I’d have to put the dish drainer on the counter which seems like a waste of counter space (I hate drying dishes and there is no way I’d wash/dry immediately everytime). ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/52 "2011-02-18T21:01:10Z")
I have a double sink, and I dislike it because the two basins are too small to put much of anything in. A 9-quart pot barely fits into one side for filling with water, and I have several saucepans I’d love to let soak before washing but they’re too big to fit. If I had room to put a double sink where each basin was about about 2/3rds or 3/4s the size of a regular single sink, I’d go for it, but I don’t. Give me a single sink, preferably undermounted or integral! ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753/53 "2011-02-18T21:04:22Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > cold greasy rancid food chunks. Band name! 😃 The reason you don’t put good knives in the dishwasher is that the abrasive dishwasher detergent knocks pieces out of the delicate blades. The sharp edge can also damage the coating on your dishwasher racks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-i-want-a-double-sink/571753.md?page=2)