How do you do things?

marmitepotato

I used to live in Hong Kong, all washing machines were 'cold water wash' only. I can happily report that we are all still alive!! When my present machine dies I shall buy one does the the lowest temp wash possible.

Not really money saving but I don't have a dish cloth or sponge. I use the strongest kitchen towel possible, then throw it away after use. I don't wash up that much tho as I have a dishwasher.

I only buy maple syrup when it's on offer, then I stock up if I can afford it. Like other posters, golden syrup is just as good.

MummyBobble

I'm another Fairy user but will give the Aldi one a try next.

Many moons ago when I was at school (when "Food Technology" was "Domestic Science", shows you how long ago it was!) we were taught how to wash pots. Glasses first, then everything in order of how clean/non-greasy it is (keeps the washing up water cleaner for longer so saves having to refill) anything minging is then left to soak. I don't have a dishwasher and still do it in that order then leave to dry on the drainer. With a bit of luck the pots get used again before I have to put them away so that's one job avoided, I'm such a lazy moo :rotfl:

Justamum

OriolaW wrote: »

My 1l bio concentrated liquid seems to be okay I bought it in Oxfam strangely for £2.50 and I've only used it twice so far.

I use Bio-D. I buy the 5l bottles from my local health food store so it works out much cheaper per litre, and it lasts me about 10 months (less than a pound a month for washing up liquid isn't bad). It's not harsh on my hands, which I find lots of others are, and it's animal and environmentally friendly too

GreyQueen

meritaten wrote: »

eeewwww!!!!!!! disgusting!

Too bliddy right. I had to let the water out (which trapped the rice and veggies in the plug hole thingy), and then clean that out. Pair of silly inconsiderate moos.

I also have certain things which pretty much live on the dishdrainer, like my favourite mug and plate. They're in constant use and I figure putting them away is creating extra wear and tear on the cupboard hinges, therefore it's virtuous to keep them out............:rotfl:

Savannah02K

I put squirt of own brand WUL into a bowl (I don't do a lot of fat based cooking so I find the own brand WUL fine), then I fill the kettle with the water coming out of the hot tap until the water is hot enough for me to wash up with. I only rinse from the cold tap the inside of items, e.g. glasses, bowls etc, all goes onto a drainer and then the kettle of water gets gently tipped over that to rinse off the outside of things. I use those cheapo sponges from supermarkets, replace every week, at 15p for 5, I don't think that's extravagant! I use a dishcloth to wipe the sides with, change every day.

My washing, I do clothes at 40, bedding and towels at 60 but in this weather to cut down on using my tumble drier, once washing cycle has finished I put the wash through a further spin cycle and then leave it in the machine till all the residual heat has gone away. Then, if I can get any outside drying time, I'll peg out, or alternatively it goes in the tumbler, but using the extra spin and leave, I've found that even thick things need a lot less time. Again, with drying outside, the spin and leave means I only need a couple of hours good blowy weather to get stuff dry as opposed to all day. As a full time working lass, that's great for me on a weekend.

System

once washing cycle has finished I put the wash through a further spin cycle

Oh I might try this myself. Anything to cut down the time the clothes are spent in the tumble dryer.

Justamum

Judi wrote: »

Oh I might try this myself. Anything to cut down the time the clothes are spent in the tumble dryer.

I bought a spin dryer last year and it's amazing how much extra water comes out, especially with things like towels. However we've moved house recently and I've had to buy my own WM. We bought an LG and even though the fastest spin is only 1600 (as opposed to the spin dryer which is about 2300 if I remember correctly) it still gets far more water out than the old WM so I haven't bothered using the spin dryer recently. I'm just waiting for DH to put up the rotary dryer and I can hang stuff up outside (when it stops bl**dy raining :rotfl:)

emmad5689

I use a dishmatic brush where you fill the brush up with washing up liquid and then there is a sponge on the end for washing with. The water from the sponge gets through to the washing liquid so it gets diluted and still works fine and a brush full lasts ages, a bottle of WUL lasts me about 2 months. I run clean water giving the animal bowls a fill while it's warming and then running slowly wash the dishes and rinse under the running water. The water collects in a washing up bowl as I wash and then I use this to step anything dirty and wipe down benches xx

thriftyglam

When washing up I follow a specific order. Everything that needs to be scraped off before washing up is scraped off. Then, when washing up, I do glasses & mugs first, then cutlery, then plates and lastly pots and pans. This has really worked for me as the 'dirtiest' items are left until the end.
I've also started using a pretreatment. I've mixed water and washing up liquid in a spray bottle and spray it on whatever is hardened on plates and pots and pans and let it work its magic until it is that item's turn. It saves a lot of time and energy when washing up.

Spendless

Hobsons_Choice wrote: »

Sorry, but I think Fairy Liquid lost its mojo ages ago. I now use Aldi w/up liquid and find it's much better than FL.
It won the "Which" best award as well if I remember rightly.

It did because DH bought it for that reason and reckons it's as good (I disagree). To 'test' his theory, I went out and bought Tesco own brand w-u-liq- and poured it into the aldi bottle once empty, telling him I'd bought some more. He still reckoned it was as good as Fairy, so either tesco own brand is equally as good or DH had just convinced himself of something. I told him recently what I'd done, he said 'why play games like that?' To prove you wrong dear why else?:rotfl:

I'm another who leaves pans etc to soak first before washing and also wash in same order as thriftymum though I have plastic sandwich plates inbetween cutlery and crockery. This also fetched to light that we were getting a new glass or spoon out far too often instead of rinsing the one we'd used before.