Why do Irish people use Plastic basins in Sinks?

sheesh

it's quiet simple: so we can run the tap before we put water into the kettle when we make tea.
think about it.
we have the dinner.
take the plates etc off the table put it in the basin.
if we didn't have a basin we would have to run the cold water into the hot wash up water.

FTGFOP

Grew up in a sink-within-a-sink household but have done well enough without since leaving home. I don't put the dishes in the sink until I'm ready to wash them so the above doesn't really come up. I can see how it would be handy though.

Hate bending to reach down into the sink, I might get a basin and wash the dishes on the counter! Then rinse in sink. Then drain on draining board.

Iwannahurl

sheesh wrote: »

it's quiet simple: so we can run the tap before we put water into the kettle when we make tea.
think about it.
we have the dinner.
take the plates etc off the table put it in the basin.
if we didn't have a basin we would have to run the cold water into the hot wash up water.

I have.

These ought to be standard. Why the fiddliest messiest option is standard is beyond me.

TaraFoxglove

Iwannahurl wrote: »

I have.

These ought to be standard. Why the fiddliest messiest option is standard is beyond me.

My mammy is a sink-in-a-sink person but she's getting the kitchen replaced soon and the new one will have a double sink so hopefully that'll put paid to the basin, except for spud washing (which is understandable, you don't want to chuck soil down the sink).

Dutch_Druid

I was just going to say am I of the only people who was brought up with two sinks side by side. Have only ever seen the 'sink within a sink' phenomenon in the Netherlands

Johro

Dutch_Druid wrote: »

I was just going to say am I of the only people who was brought up with two sinks side by side. Have only ever seen the 'sink within a sink' phenomenon in the Netherlands

Pics or gtfo.

Johro

I grew up in Holland and we had the ancient polished granite one-piece sink and draining board until the house got a makeover and we were catapulted into the 21st century with a new stainless steel yoke with two sinks side by side and the small one for washing veg in the middle, complete with pull out tap that looks like a shower attachment.:p
Then the parents sold the house and we moved to Ireland..

Dutch_Druid

Johro wrote: »

Pics or gtfo.

Not in the habit of taking pictures of plastic basins inside sinks mate

Azureus

http://www.iqcontent.com/blog/files/Irish_kitchen_sink.JPG

Sorted.

Never got this...had one i every rental place ive been in, and theyre still there... but I use the dishwasher!!

Cú Giobach

I have one of those big Belfast sinks and with a small basin in it it's like one of those la de da double sinks, oh the luxury.

The Saint

Its beacuse people don't want to scratch or dirty their nice clean sink. Its like how some people leave the plastic on the furnature in case it gets a stain, or the nice crockery and cuttlery that only comes out once a year for Christmas.

Basically, we're cheap.

Iwannahurl

Or inefficient and habit-dependent at the very least.

tina2006

It is because we live in a limestone area so we have hard water. So if we were to leave water in a sink we get like a scum around the side, I learnt that in science today - I am 13!!!!

southcentralts

Washing feet, you cannot stand in the sink.

Battered Mars Bar

I feel really sophisticated, I don't do this.

phasers

I hate this, I think it's really common for some reason and the basins always seem dirty to me.

fatfacee

its just lazy i say..

Archeron

The only thing I've seen basins used for is puking into when someone is too sick to get out of bed.

Missmiddleton

When we were younger my mam took all the stoppers away so me and the brother couldn't flood the place. A basin would overflow into the sink and the water would drain away, well thats why we did it in our house anyway.

libnation

Plastic basins can end up stinking

44leto

To save hot water, the sink basins are to big in most kitchen units.

Born to Die

in 2014 it will be so we can use the water again and again and again and again and again.

Do you hear me Phil Hogan, raise vat and import duty on plastic basins immediately as everyone will have one in every sink in the country.

froglet

Missmiddleton wrote: »

When we were younger my mam took all the stoppers away so me and the brother couldn't flood the place. A basin would overflow into the sink and the water would drain away, well thats why we did it in our house anyway.

ive seen someone else give the same answer.....BUT all sinks have an over-flow hole up underneath the tap area to stop the sink from filling and overflowing so u point makes no sense?
Also having a basin overflowing like you said so the water will drain away..but wouldnt the basin be covering or partially covering the sink drain hole meaning it is MORE likely to cause a flood then without a basin?

codrulz

jimthemental wrote: »

I was trying the same and failed miserably.

yes, yes you did. :rolleyes::P

Ghost Buster

finnegan2010 wrote: »

A friend of mine was over on holidays and asked me what i thought was a good question.......

Why exactly do Irish people put horrible plastic basins in perfectly good sinks?

So i thought about and came up with "People use basins in sinks to hold water when washing etc, Using a basin also helps in saving water. He ascerted "sure when you put a plug in the sink it holds water just as well and as for your point of saving water you're bound to be more likely to pour water down the sink inadvertently if you use a basin".

Is this an Irish Phenomenon ? I have never seen it done in other countries ? Why do we do it? I just do it cos my mum did it lol ! I know its not done in Asia and he was from the states and he never heard of it.

Its for a very simple and practical reason. You can throw slops, tea leaves, rinse off plates etc down the side of the basin so the dish water doesnt get manky.

smash

To keep the sink clean. See it all makes sense in an Irish way...

WoollyRedHat

tina2006 wrote: »

It is because we live in a limestone area so we have hard water. So if we were to leave water in a sink we get like a scum around the side, I learnt that in science today - I am 13!!!!

Praise be the Lord, I can finally sleep at night! I only wish you learnt it sooner!

codrulz

most people have "Belfast" sinks which are porcelain so if a glass drops in the sink it'll smash to pieces!

smash

codrulz wrote: »

most people have "Belfast" sinks which are porcelain so if a glass drops in the sink it'll smash to pieces!

posh b@stard. Most people have metal sinks!

billybudd

Because we cant afford stoppers/

frozenfrozen

I always see my south african's sink full of water, and when you want to pour something out there's nothing to do. I couldn't put my finger on why this only happens at his house and now I know! My kitchen sink has two parts for this very reason according to my mom! What an ingenious woman.

Solair

Well, most places have a dishwasher nowadays from what I can see. Even tony bedsits often have them.

I wouldn't live in a place with no dishwasher. I absolutely hate washing dishes. They never look clean properly and its a waste of time. Modern dishwashers also use LESS water and energy than doing it by hand! Old ones used to be major energy hogs.

If you've a single sink, a basin means you create a situation where you can wash the dishes in the basin and rinse them down the side into the sink.

It's commonly done in France too, even more so as dishwashers are far less common than in Ireland.

I had a flatmate in England (English lass) who used to wash dishes in Fairy liquid, not rinse them and dry them off with a manky tea towel!
We all got food poisoning and I'm convinced it was her dishwashing habits even though she blamed a takeaway!

Lando Griffin

I for one doesn’t have a dish washer, never had, never will.
I find in my mother’s house one never has clean cutlery, dishes cups and saucers because they all get put into the dish washer and left for someone else to turn on. This is so frustrating, especially at breakfast time when you have to take out a stained breakfast bowl, then get a stained spoon and wash both.
In my house (not bought during the boom) we don’t have a dishwasher. After dinner I will wash and dry (clean towel) the dishes all in 10 minutes while holding conversation with my OH or two darling children.
My mother also uses a plastic basin in the sink and it’s a ghastly smelly thing. I hate it when after breakfast one goes to wash ones bowl and spoon only to find the basin full to the extreme with cold water and other delph ready to make the journey from being rinsed to dishwasher.
In my house we don’t use a plastic basin like in my mother’s house, although there is one under the sink that’s full of detergents and the like that herself got as a moving in present.

Solair

If you have a dishwasher, you just need more dishes and cutlery than if you're washing your dishes constantly all day.

Ours also does a 38 min cycle which is perfectly adequate for most things.

Also, I've noticed some people have OCD about pre-rinsing dishes. There's absolutely no need to do that, you just vaguely scrape them off i.e. don't put in an entire carrot.

Dishwashers, unless they're utterly cheap crap, have a filter that is primarily self cleaning.

The machine does a short cold pre-wash which dislodges any loose bits of food. During the wash the water's sucked horizontally through the fine mesh filters, catching any fine dirt, when the machine empties, the water's sucked vertically (downwards) through the filter which has large openings. The drain pump will happily flush any small items away and pump them down the drain. Really large items, if you've forgotten to scrape, just sit on top of the filter tray in the end.

Personally, I just hate the idea of washing dishes. It's a pain in the ass. It takes ages. It's really messy. It doesn't do a good job and your hands get all dry and stuff.

It's totally pointless drudgery in my opinion. Dishwashers aren't expensive, they're easy to install and I wouldn't consider them any more a 'luxury item' than a washing machine.

The modern ones aren't environmentally unfriendly (using tiny amounts of water, and no more power than it would take to heat water to wash dishes by hand).

I also use ecological dishwasher detergent, Ecover, which does a perfect job. So, I'm having no major environmental impact.

You used to get the odd mad housewife back in the 1960s/70s claiming that washing machines were a tool of the devil too.

For some reason some people in Ireland and Britain sometimes just seem to like self-flagellating house work and doing things in the most awkward way possible!

Another example of this is non-mixer taps! Why the hell would anyone in their right mind install a separate hot and cold tap? It's not cheaper and it either freezes your hands or scalds them!
Or you've got those wonderful British-made specials where there are two openings at the top nozzle on the tap that don't actually mix the water - so it simultaneously scalds and freezes you!

Stiffler2

Because us Irish are rich & lazy.

It's either clean the sink, or throw away the basin and buy another one


simples

codrulz

smash wrote: »

posh b@stard. Most people have metal sinks!

I myself have 1 metal sink so I'm not that far off you, my little peasant friend! :rolleyes:

codrulz

disregard

I use one because I now live with two drunks who think it's acceptable to vomit into the kitchen sink when they stumble in at night. Doesn't matter if the sink is full of dishes or not, they lean in and let it all out.

clappyhappy

Deleted User wrote: »

I use one because I now live with two drunks who think it's acceptable to vomit into the kitchen sink when they stumble in at night. Doesn't matter if the sink is full of dishes or not, they lean in and let it all out.

Yuck, the thoughts alone are turning my stomach, can I use your sink???? ;-)

codrulz

Deleted User wrote: »

I use one because I now live with two drunks who think it's acceptable to vomit into the kitchen sink when they stumble in at night. Doesn't matter if the sink is full of dishes or not, they lean in and let it all out.

sorry about last night!

BizzyC

I use one, purely because i lost the plug to the sink and it's an odd shaped one I cant find a replacement for...

Solair

Deleted User wrote: »

I use one because I now live with two drunks who think it's acceptable to vomit into the kitchen sink when they stumble in at night. Doesn't matter if the sink is full of dishes or not, they lean in and let it all out.

That's where the basin comes in handy - you simply empty it on their bed the following morning!