Washing up in cold water to save money

RHemmings

twopenny said:

Glassware should be washed first and rinsed in clear water to avoid soap marks.
Also to prevent fizzy drinks going flat.

I always rinse everything, including glasses. Sometimes they dry looking spotless, and sometimes not. I'm not sure why. 

For my cold water experiment today, everything was rinsed. Not dry yet. EDIT: Perfectly clean/shiny. 

_Jem_

I typically save by using less water so it's just about warm but I don't have anything greasy to wash up.

RHemmings

I'm continuing this as an experiment. It's working out fine. I'm slowly starting to wash a bigger variety of dirty dishes and cooking implements, and the dishes come out easily as clean as before. Perhaps I am using a bit more washing-up liquid and scrubbing a bit harder than I was before. I'm not sure that I will continue this indefinitely, but I think I'm more likely to do mini-batches of dishes in cold water in the future. 

ProseccoGirl

If you really can't afford to heat your water via your main boiler system, then a kettle should be cheaper.    I think the cheapest way is via a whistle kettle on a gas hob (if you have one)

I'd hate washing up in cold water, especially this time of year.  I'd have to be really desperate.   Are you?  

As others have said, if you really need to use cold, fill the bowl early so the water at least has a chance to get up to room temperature, rather than fresh mains cold.    

But that does mean that the standing water will "suck" a little bit of heat from the room too!!   

SadieO

RHemmings said:

I'm continuing this as an experiment. It's working out fine. I'm slowly starting to wash a bigger variety of dirty dishes and cooking implements, and the dishes come out easily as clean as before. Perhaps I am using a bit more washing-up liquid and scrubbing a bit harder than I was before. I'm not sure that I will continue this indefinitely, but I think I'm more likely to do mini-batches of dishes in cold water in the future. 

Why though?? Genuine question. Surely the money saved over boiling a kettle is absolutely minimal - pennies? - and maybe not even saving if you are using more washing up liquid. And with more scrubbing, plus having your hands in cold water, making the job more difficult and unpleasant. For what end?

[Deleted User]

This may not be a popular comment but at times the money saving ideas suggested can be a little over the top! 

I fully appreciate that some people need to economise and pay off debt but there has to be limits. The only life we are guaranteed is the present, so don’t make it too miserable!

Grenage

Surely a kettle is much more expensive than a gas boiler?

RHemmings

ProseccoGirl said:

If you really can't afford to heat your water via your main boiler system, then a kettle should be cheaper.    I think the cheapest way is via a whistle kettle on a gas hob (if you have one)

I'd hate washing up in cold water, especially this time of year.  I'd have to be really desperate.   Are you?  

As others have said, if you really need to use cold, fill the bowl early so the water at least has a chance to get up to room temperature, rather than fresh mains cold.    

But that does mean that the standing water will "suck" a little bit of heat from the room too!!   

If the 'you' in this refers to me, then I can afford to use hot water from the main boiler system and am not desperate. I was curious to see what washing in cold water is like and how well it works. I am not yet finding it uncomfortable. But, in my life I have done things like swimming in the winter where I had to bring my arms down hard to smash a path in the surface ice to swim through. Dishwashing in cold water is mild by comparison. 

chris_n

Grenage said:

Surely a kettle is much more expensive than a gas boiler?

That depends on how much water you have to heat to get hot water out of your tap. If the boiler is at the other end of the house it could be a considerable amount. It is possible that the heat left in the pipe afterwards is useful valuable heat but that depends on where the pipes run, if in the loft or under the ground floor then it's probably wasted.

starving_artist

SadieO said:

RHemmings said:

I'm continuing this as an experiment. It's working out fine. I'm slowly starting to wash a bigger variety of dirty dishes and cooking implements, and the dishes come out easily as clean as before. Perhaps I am using a bit more washing-up liquid and scrubbing a bit harder than I was before. I'm not sure that I will continue this indefinitely, but I think I'm more likely to do mini-batches of dishes in cold water in the future. 

Why though?? Genuine question. Surely the money saved over boiling a kettle is absolutely minimal - pennies? - and maybe not even saving if you are using more washing up liquid. And with more scrubbing, plus having your hands in cold water, making the job more difficult and unpleasant. For what end?

There are plenty of other threads on this board discussing very marginal ways of saving money - I don't see why this is any less valid.  It seems to me that the clearly deeply ingrained aversion of some to the idea of washing up in cold water has more to do with it being unpleasant for the hands in which case a pair of 99p rubber gloves sorts it.