How do you wash dishes and pans?

Since the sinks on most boats are too small to put the dishes in, how do you wash your dishes and pans on your boat?

Tuffy said:

Since the sinks on most boats are too small to put the dishes in, how do you wash your dishes and pans on your boat?

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Well, that is an entirely new subject. It just never occurred to me to discuss this. However, because most galley sinks are smaller than home size, we needed to come up with a good way for cleaning the dishes and utensils. It was very inexpensive. A dish sponge with a handle that holds detergent and has a scotch pad for scouring. Cheap, simple, and effective.

Google Image Result for http://img.alibaba.com/photo/629110497/Dish_Sponge_Soap_Dispenser.jpg

They can be found at most any home goods or grocery store. Wal-Mart has them.

On our previous boat I took out the tiny double bowl sink and put in a standard kitchen single bowl stainless steel sink. Cheap at the big box store, cheaper still when you get it free from a junk (with faucet!) pile.

Years later I fabricated a granite countertop and installed an undermount sink.


1. Single bowl sink

2. Dry fit

3. Done

Rob

Just finished the dishes...my double sink fits stuff just fine....one side hot soapy water, the other to hold the dishes till washed and rinsed then to one of those miracle drying mats.

Same here, our double sink is great and really deep...

Size to work counts bit the real hassle is the water supply.

When it counts using a 1 quart SS pitcher to rinse the dishes seems to work beat for us., washing is not the water hog , rinsing is.

On our 90/90 we have a salt water foot pump that in clean areas can rinse with unlimited water .

The size sink in the usual boat is proof positive neither the NA or boat assembler never spent a day cruising, except as a guest..

I chartered a Grand Banks 36 which had a very small double basin sink. The plates would go in part way diagonally but some of the pans wouldn't fit in at all. Washing wasn't too difficult, but rinsing the pans without getting water everywhere was virtually impossible. We took the larger pans into the shower and rinsed them there. Much less mess to clean up.

Tuffy said:

Since the sinks on most boats are too small to put the dishes in, how do you wash your dishes and pans on your boat?

Click to expand...

We just throw them overboard when we're done using them. "Revere Ware" sinks the fastest and has no copper coating to contaminate the water.

We have a large regular domestic double sink, but we do not cook, use pots pans. The dishes/pots/pan should be wiped clean before washing to reduce the food particles, so we use paper/plastic and micro wave/grill. We have not lit the propone stove in over 3 years and in 17 years the oven a couple of times. We usually have one tall kitchen garbage bag and one ½ sink of dishes per week.

Water supply seems to be the limiting factor especially in the winter when the water is shut off for weeks at a time, so you have to conserve water, and using disposable dishes save a lot of water. I buy deli food and prepared food that does not require cooking. Grilling/BBQ is the messiest thing we do, and its only when the grand children come. Anyway, with all the prepared/frozen food why cook?

Since I always anchor out, so have little oppertunity to refil fresh water tanks, I usually wash all my stuff (including myself) w/ the washdown pump & salt water, then rinse only w/ fresh water.

Last year I replaced the traditional faucet with a pull-out sprayer type I had from an old house remodel.

Works like a champ to keep the mess down for oversized pots/pans.

Some of us cook...not because we are health nuts but reading most packaged food ingredients scares even me who is not afraid of my black or diesel tanks leaking a bit and fixing them . Plus the cost alone isn't possible for some peoples budgets.

We. Wouldn't give up the double sink. Filling up one side part way with soapy water and the other side dry. We also use a mat to dry. The trick for us is to not let the dishes pile up. We wash after every meal.

We have a double sink like Rochepoint which can be tight, but gets the job done. We use a long-handle brush and dish soap on left, rinse on right.



Since we seldom use the stove/oven, we added a stove top cutting board that matches the counter tops and use a dish dry mat like this.



It dries quickly and stores neatly, taking up little space. We have a collapsible rack like shown in the top left of the pic, but seldom need to use it for just the two of us.

I saw a cool installation of a dishwasher last week on board a fellow TFer's boat, but I'll let her chime in and show it off.

I think Jennifer on Pineapple Girl II just put in a dishwasher. I'm with Seahorse but I use mainly paper products to avoid domestic chores.

Yep dishwasher. We also replaced the small double basin sink w a single basin. If we're anchored out for awhile we use disposable stuff.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this..........

Just get a bigger boat!

Just kidding. All the suggestions above are worthy.

Does anybody here hang their dishes over the side in a mesh bag to "pre-wash"?

If the dishes came out of the water in the marina at least looking clean, would they be sanitary enough to eat off of with a light freshwater rinse?

SeaHorse II said:

We just throw them overboard when we're done using them. "Revere Ware" sinks the fastest and has no copper coating to contaminate the water.

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Heard about a sailing couple in the Caribbean that had guests on board. They were into conserving water. When the guests offered to wash dishes, they were told to only wash the fronts to save water. That's when they decided they had gone too far in conservation.

Pineapple Girl said:

Yep dishwasher.

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Don't tell my wife that!
OH forget it she has a dishwasher.......ME.

Moonstruck said:

Heard about a sailing couple in the Caribbean that had guests on board. They were into conserving water. When the guests offered to wash dishes, they were told to only wash the fronts to save water. That's when they decided they had gone too far in conservation.

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Wonder if they were the same sailing couple (Brits) who came through here a few year ago. They used fresh water and soap to wash dishes but just wiped them dry without rinsing at all at all. I wonder if they needed/carried a large supply of Loperamide.

Onboard dishwashers and multiple sinks?
At home the (now frail aged) dog licks the plates clean, then straight to the cupboard. Should work boating with dogs.

BruceK said:

Onboard dishwashers and multiple sinks?
At home the (now frail aged) dog licks the plates clean, then straight to the cupboard. Should work boating with dogs.

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I have a feeling that you are not going to be having anyone over for dinner anymore.

BruceK said:

Onboard dishwashers and multiple sinks?
At home the (now frail aged) dog licks the plates clean, then straight to the cupboard. Should work boating with dogs.

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Bruce, we call that our prewash system. Never thought of using it as a guest deterrent.

Greetings,
Dirty dishes? Heh, heh....no problemo...Get a dog or two....

Hunting dogs feeding - YouTube

RTF, that reminds me of when I was a kid and went to summer camps. Nobody could eat until everyone had their plate filled. Then, when the bell rang everyone could chow down. It sure got quiet after that bell rang.

Moonstruck said:

Bruce, we call that our prewash system. Never thought of using it as a guest deterrent.

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Well, there just might be a dishwasher involved, between the dog-cycle and cupboard. But don`t tell anyone.
Nice to see RTF on the thread.

BruceK said:

Onboard dishwashers and multiple sinks?
At home the (now frail aged) dog licks the plates clean, then straight to the cupboard. Should work boating with dogs.

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This is why there are not many live aboard cats, takes ages to do the washing up.

So, no kidding. Does anyone put their dishes in a mesh bag and hang them overboard to let the salt water creatures pre clean them? It seems like all you would have to do is give them a light washing after that.

FlyWright said:

We have a double sink like Rochepoint which can be tight, but gets the job done.

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Al, you have twice our sink "power." Our single sink is about equal to one of your two sinks. It is sufficient, but we often use paper plates/bowls.