Washing Up Without Hot Water

[Jookster]

My apartment does not have hot water at the sink and was wondering how many people wash up without hot water? Its a standard Thai thing but means that utensils are not steralised.

Is it safe? I have sterlised my utensils with hot water from my microwave?

What does everyone do?

Thanks

[Rajah]

... not steralised.

Steralised? You're working in a hospital or something?

Back to topic:

I always have problems with grease. You can use cold water for a hundred times, the dishes aren't clean. If I boil water for a cup of coffee, I make some more and use it for the dishes.

[Mobi]

I couldn't comment on the sterilization aspects of hot water, but I can say that every Thai woman I have lived with (and there's been quite few through the years) has never allowed any farang within 6 feet of a washing up bowl, as they are convinced that farangs don't wash up properly. My present wife, won't even allow Thai men to wash up as she doesn't think they do it properly - the entire male population of Thailand is incapable of washing up!

Have you ever seen them wash the dishes? They put so much soap on them and scrub for hours. Then they rinse and wash again, and again till they are satisfied. Most Thai women won't even use dish washers, because they don't think they do the job properly.

So, rightly or wrongly, that's the way it's been in my washing up life, and I ain't complaining, and I'm still alive.

[Scott]

I can assure you that in the very vast majority of western countries the water is not hot enough to steralize the dishes. Not only would the water have to BE boiling hot. It would have to be KEPT boiling hot for a period of time to steralize the dishes.

I have never found it to be a real problem. The water, after all, isn't really cold. Once in a while if I have things that are greasy, I do boil a cup or bowl of water in the microwave (or on the stove) to use.

I have a dog, though, and he can damned near lick anything out of a pan--no matter how hard it is burned on!

[leisurely]

If you want your dishes sterilised, you'll have to buy an autoclaver

[Mobi]

If you want your dishes sterilised, you'll have to buy an autoclaver

Thank you for adding another useless word to my personal lexicon

I must remember to use it the next time that the subject of dish washing comes up in my social circles.

[PeaceBlondie]

I always assumed that dishes had to be cleaned in hot water. When I got to Mexico, I learned otherwise. If you don't think detergent and scrubbing are good enough, find some disinfectant and add it to the dishwater. You're probably immune to all the common germs in your neighborhood by now. If you only get diarrhea every few months, there are no germs to worry about, perhaps.

[Wolfie]

use plastic plates, cups and utensils then throw them away when finished... there by removing the need for hot water...

[Boo]

Wolfie wins the main prize for laziest man in the world

[lopburi3]

Autoclave to us Americans. I had never seen it spelled with an 'r' before and Google only gets 8xx hits compared with over 5xxxxxx for autoclave. Something you always want to see in a dental office.

[Wolfie]

Wolfie wins the main prize for laziest man in the world

Not in the slightest... i have proper ceramic plates, metal utensils and washing up liquid!

(i think i have washing up liquid, the house keeper hasnt asked me to replace it yet!)

I'm not lazy, i just like to conserve energy for more important tasks (opening that last beer in the fridge, going to get it etc)

[Boo]

going to get it etc)

can't the house keeper do that? Then you would only need to use energy to lift the bottle to your lips, although, a straw would be effective

[dave111223]

Its not that the hot water will 'Steralised' anyways, but it does "make sh*t come over better".

But oh well, its one of those minor inconviences; its a trade off when you in a country where its so warm all the time that heating, and hot water is not needed.

You can get an eletronic hot water machine for like 5,000 baht, they get hot almost instantly and get hot enough to burn you

(not literally burn, but too hot to hold you hand under at full temp)

[Wolfie]

going to get it etc)

can't the house keeper do that? Then you would only need to use energy to lift the bottle to your lips, although, a straw would be effective

Nah, shes only part time not full time. I've been looking for a delivery service (fridge to desk/sofa) but they seem to be quite expensive (something about sick buffalo's, motorbike accidents and a house on a rice paddy somewhere) - so i've not bothered

[Jookster]

Ok spelling mistake for Christ's sake, sterilized!

[phibunmike]

My apartment does not have hot water at the sink and was wondering how many people wash up without hot water? Its a standard Thai thing but means that utensils are not steralised.

Is it safe? I have sterlised my utensils with hot water from my microwave?

What does everyone do?

Thanks

It's not just Thailand, all over S.E. Asia. When I built my house in Thailand it never occurred to me to put hot water in the kitchen, I have just got used to kitchens not having it.

[meadish_sweetball]

I also use the water I boil for tea and coffee to remove greasy stuff. Seems to work out so far, no major stomach ailments.

[Totster]

(opening that last beer in the fridge, going to get it etc)

You you should be ashamed of yourself wolfie.. there should NEVER be just a last beer in the fridge.. poor planing..!

totster

[Wolfie]

You you should be ashamed of yourself wolfie.. there should NEVER be just a last beer in the fridge.. poor planing..!

I blame the house keeper, she doesn't restock... its quite simple really, take 6 empties out, go buy 6 full ones from the shop! Its not until i'm on the last one that i realize and have to go buy more!

Maybe one of these sick motorbike buffalo's thingies could help with this???

[Thaddeus]

going to get it etc)

can't the house keeper do that? Then you would only need to use energy to lift the bottle to your lips, although, a straw would be effective

Nah, shes only part time not full time. I've been looking for a delivery service (fridge to desk/sofa) but they seem to be quite expensive (something about sick buffalo's, motorbike accidents and a house on a rice paddy somewhere) - so i've not bothered

Buy another fridge, put one next to desk and one next to sofa, instruct part-time help to buy beer in cases of twelve, put 6 in each.

[Donz]

Its easy to wash with cold water, just use some muscles

[Totster]

I blame the house keeper, she doesn't restock...

education.. education.. education..

then again, if you want a job done properly.. do it yourself.!

totster

[OneeyedJohn]

Do what everyone in the village does.................eat off banana leaves

use right hand only for food, left hand for beer

[Totster]

use right hand only for food, left hand for beer

Mmmm.. and the glass mysteriously never empties.. let alone get half empty..

totster

[Mobi]

Just to show you how near my kitchen sinks I never get (yes folks I have two kitchens - Thai & western), I have just established that I do indeed have hot running water in both sinks - serviced by my central hot water boiler that sends hot water all over the house.

So not only do they scrub and rinse like mad, using half a litre of washing up liquid at each session, but they also use hot water!

No wonder I never get food poisoning.

[C-sip-degree]

Ok spelling mistake for Christ's sake, sterilized!

Jookster

Taking the Lords name in contempt! or a simlpe spleling mitsake!!!!

C-sip

[robint]

If you want your dishes sterilised, you'll have to buy an autoclaver

Thank you for adding another useless word to my personal lexicon

I must remember to use it the next time that the subject of dish washing comes up in my social circles.

I thought an AUTOCLEVER was a stooopid wisecrack

[ourmanflint]

I couldn't comment on the sterilization aspects of hot water, but I can say that every Thai woman I have lived with (and there's been quite few through the years) has never allowed any farang within 6 feet of a washing up bowl, as they are convinced that farangs don't wash up properly. My present wife, won't even allow Thai men to wash up as she doesn't think they do it properly - the entire male population of Thailand is incapable of washing up!

Have you ever seen them wash the dishes? They put so much soap on them and scrub for hours. Then they rinse and wash again, and again till they are satisfied. Most Thai women won't even use dish washers, because they don't think they do the job properly.

So, rightly or wrongly, that's the way it's been in my washing up life, and I ain't complaining, and I'm still alive.

so very true, and I thought it was just me not being able to do it properly, I'm glad you seem to get stick for it as well.

As an aside, it is the phenolic rings in the detergent that sterilises your utensils and dishes not hot water, that just makes it easier to dissolve the grease.

As long as you use detergent your plates will be clean enough to eat your dinner off... lucky that!

[kayo]

After scrubbing and all,

A few drops of bleach in a tub of rinsing water.

This kills any bacteria, as you rinse. Let it dry properly and the bleach will evaporate.

Voila! Clean, sterilised dishes.

[toptuan]

Face it, we westerners are obsessed with hot water, and its perceived effectiveness in cleaning bodies, clothes and dishes. And as a previous poster pointed out, it really does not sterilize (unless boiling for a minimum of three minutes--how many of you have ever hand-washed your dishes at that temperature?). After traveling 30 countries, I've come to the realization we hot-water people are a minority in the world's overall population.

It began dawning on me about 15 years ago, when cold-water washing of clothes became acceptable in my area of the USA when electric energy costs tripled almost overnight. They seemed just as clean as the old hot-water method.

My education was furthered when I came to Thailand. After my first 100 cold-splashed-water-bucket-over-the-head "showers" (common here in Isaan), I had to begrudgingly admit I felt just as fresh (maybe fresher), as I had in the west after a hot shower. My skin could be just as "squeaky-clean" with the cold as with the hot.

Then, I was amazed that most local Thai dishwashing detergents I've bought really cut all the grease. If yours doesn't, maybe you should stop using the UK imports from Tesco-Lotus! Yes, the lack of hot water for dishwashing has bothered me for the four years I've been here. But, I'm still alive, and now with the explanation in the previous post....

"As an aside, it is the phenolic rings in the detergent that sterilises your utensils and dishes not hot water...As long as you use detergent your plates will be clean enough to eat your dinner off."

...I can rest my case. I have no idea what the heck "phenolic rings" are (are they like the dirt rings in a bathtub?), but somehow I just feel better already!

And lastly, face it, it's an energy saver, and easier on the electric bill (or helps to displace the high cost of air-conditioning!).

Edited November 21, 2006 by toptuan