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ellyssianI griped about lighting and vented about venting in the kitchen in the last episode; many, many moons ago I laid waste to the makers and installers of bathroom sinks.
Those twogreat tastes poor grasps of basic ergonomics and lack of understanding of use paths and just plain bad design (sigh. I suppose "great tastes" is a bit catchier, and far more succinct. So it goes...) come together to form this particular rant.
I have three and a half dishwashers, you see.
There's one under the counter that does the bulk of the work when it gets filled, and the other two dishwashers take care of the care and feeding of it and the rest of the dishes not suitable for mass cleaning. The half dishwasher just likes to splash in the sink and play with the bubbles.
The glass lids of the two pans used for the bain-marie didn't get all that clean, despite the fact that the senior dishwasher was on the job. I wound up stepping in to provide a demonstration, and I realized the deplorable conditions which could easily lead to the problems at hand and several other related complaints.
You see, unlike the sensible two-basin full sized kitchen sink the builders had, well over a century ago, put into the house I grew up in, this house has a single basin, a bit bigger, but not much. In fact, if you drop a dish pan in, you have exactly four inches in which to stack and rinse soap off what you just washed.
Four inches. You can do the silverware, although some slides under the dishpan and hides. You can do two glasses, although if you put a third down there, you can't maneuver enough to rinse any of them without smashing them.
Now, the sink itself would make a fine utility sink for a basement, garage, mudroom, laundry room, or utility sink room. It's a nice enough sink. Okay, maybe not really deep enough, and a bit too prettified to be a really utilitarian utility sink, but I'm trying to cut it some slack.
What a kitchen needs, if it can't have a gigundo commercial basin with commercial faucets and sprays and so forth, is a double basin sink. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. You can't have something that tries to combine the wash and rinse steps in one sink, it makes for trouble, skips the use of the dishpan, and substitutes perpetually running water, an over-soaped-under-soaked scrubbie, and a lack of thorough cleaning for a proper job.
Two sinks can also help in preparation of foods, providing more room, and they only take up a little bit more counter (and under-counter) real estate. The plumbing is only slightly more complicated ~ I know, I absoflogginglutely hate plumbing, and I've successfully re-plumbificated a ninety year old double basin sink single-handedly. They use a single faucet to swing between the two basins, and a single spray, so the supply-side is identical to that of a single basin sink.
Now, if you want to go a step beyond the double basin, throw in a small sink with a spray on a counter or island, and you've provided a veggie prep station and some additional utility. That's a nice feature, but a distant second to the importance of the double basin.
But there you have it ~ why make the working conditions miserable for the poor dishwashers who don't live under the counter? Put in a double sink... why, think of how much easier and far less cruel it would then be to make a punishment like "You'll do it, or I'll have you wash every dish in this house, young man!" stick?
Those two
I have three and a half dishwashers, you see.
There's one under the counter that does the bulk of the work when it gets filled, and the other two dishwashers take care of the care and feeding of it and the rest of the dishes not suitable for mass cleaning. The half dishwasher just likes to splash in the sink and play with the bubbles.
The glass lids of the two pans used for the bain-marie didn't get all that clean, despite the fact that the senior dishwasher was on the job. I wound up stepping in to provide a demonstration, and I realized the deplorable conditions which could easily lead to the problems at hand and several other related complaints.
You see, unlike the sensible two-basin full sized kitchen sink the builders had, well over a century ago, put into the house I grew up in, this house has a single basin, a bit bigger, but not much. In fact, if you drop a dish pan in, you have exactly four inches in which to stack and rinse soap off what you just washed.
Four inches. You can do the silverware, although some slides under the dishpan and hides. You can do two glasses, although if you put a third down there, you can't maneuver enough to rinse any of them without smashing them.
Now, the sink itself would make a fine utility sink for a basement, garage, mudroom, laundry room, or utility sink room. It's a nice enough sink. Okay, maybe not really deep enough, and a bit too prettified to be a really utilitarian utility sink, but I'm trying to cut it some slack.
What a kitchen needs, if it can't have a gigundo commercial basin with commercial faucets and sprays and so forth, is a double basin sink. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. You can't have something that tries to combine the wash and rinse steps in one sink, it makes for trouble, skips the use of the dishpan, and substitutes perpetually running water, an over-soaped-under-soaked scrubbie, and a lack of thorough cleaning for a proper job.
Two sinks can also help in preparation of foods, providing more room, and they only take up a little bit more counter (and under-counter) real estate. The plumbing is only slightly more complicated ~ I know, I absoflogginglutely hate plumbing, and I've successfully re-plumbificated a ninety year old double basin sink single-handedly. They use a single faucet to swing between the two basins, and a single spray, so the supply-side is identical to that of a single basin sink.
Now, if you want to go a step beyond the double basin, throw in a small sink with a spray on a counter or island, and you've provided a veggie prep station and some additional utility. That's a nice feature, but a distant second to the importance of the double basin.
But there you have it ~ why make the working conditions miserable for the poor dishwashers who don't live under the counter? Put in a double sink... why, think of how much easier and far less cruel it would then be to make a punishment like "You'll do it, or I'll have you wash every dish in this house, young man!" stick?
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-17 07:59 pm (UTC)What to do.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-17 08:05 pm (UTC)Lose a bit more real estate on the counter top and put in a larger double basin sink!
You, sir, would be even more well served with a commercial sink!
There have been a few items that I came across in my long and
illustrious, that is to say, lackluster career as a dishwasher that would not fit in the double basin sink, and I remember cursing the size differentials involved, but, having been experienced with such conditions and those I outlined above, I'd still choose the double basin.(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-18 03:51 am (UTC)I grew up with a double-sink, and NO big roasting pan could sit in it and soak.
So in my kitchen, I went with a single sink; I can soak my pans, and I don't do dishes by hand anyway, mostly.
I do not have room for a double sink in which one side is big enough to soak my pans... if i could find such a chimera, which i could not when I was designing the thing.
Thus, I am very happy indeed with my one-basin sink, because it fits our needs quite well. I agree it's not a universal solution, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-17 11:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-17 11:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-18 12:10 am (UTC)I agree with you about the double basin, though; I wouldn't have it any other way!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-18 12:37 am (UTC)If I'm ever in the position of designing my own house, though, it's now going to get a commercial sink. Big monster of a thing. I took a look at some really quick, hoping to find one to link to, but they all seem smaller than the one I'm picturing... when Deb worked at the 'Rail, they had one that was bigger than some small tubs... probably the 24" x 24" dimensions I'm seeing everywhere were the same ~ I don't think the basins were much bigger than that ~ but instead of being 12" deep they were more like 24" deep, too...
Funny thing is I can't remember if that had a low wall separating two basins, or if it was a single 24" x 48" basin...
But when I went to pick her up there, Deb would make me a pizza and I'd help her with the dishes... I'd swear there are fireman working with less pressure than that sprayer had! =)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-18 11:51 pm (UTC)Of course, in my ideal kitchen I would have a six burner/two oven gas stove, too, but I will "make do" with my stove from 1949 with a tiny oven.
(In an ideal world, I'd have a backyard bread oven, but we won't go into that.)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-19 02:00 am (UTC)I'm thinking of designing one in when I build the outdoor kitchen. =)