How do you wash your dishes

[freeze]

one dirty pot plus hot water and bio-soap cleans all the other dishes. One clean pot with clean water does the rinsing and a good wipe down. Dirty water gets tossed into the edges of the fire pit. Making sure we're at least 100' away from any nature water source.

 

[evldave]

Hmmm... Seems like you're making it too complicated:
-Used paper plates make good kindling.
-Scrape excess food from cookware into trash or give to dog(s).
-Use a wet cloth or paper towel and some Dr. Bronner's to wipe cookware.
-Rinse with minimal water.

We love to cook and never have problems with "wasting" water on dirty dishes.

x2, we keep regular plates around for really wet food, but rarely use them (just double-up the paper plates).

 

[overlander]

Ironically, I came to the same solution. Just got that same folding sink setup from REI in the mail today, for the Land Rover rally this weekend. Looking forward to test it out. I will say this, when I opened it up, it was much bigger than it appeared in the picture, which is great. I can wash my pots in that thing.

Follow up on the Byer Trilite sink. Overall, I was quite pleased with the sink and recommend it as a buy for car camping. it was sturdy and stable, and held the water well. The one thing I did forget to pack this weekend was a scrubbing pad, which handicapped me in washing up. The sink comes with pouch to put that stuff in, which I need to do for next time. The only drawbacks on the sink is the stuff bag it stores in, which is rather tight. You really have to roll it up tight to get it in there. Find another bag better suited and you're set. It's also kind of tall, so you would want to set it on the ground up to maybe a foot off the ground for use. If it was on a normal sized table, it would be uncomfortably high to use. It's also not stable enough to put on anything kind of wobbly, like a box on uneven ground.

 

[BigDaveZJ]

Looks pretty sweet, but how easy is it to clean it up after nastifying it cleaning the dishes?

 

[SWbySWesty]

Thank you for that review! I do believe my REI divident will get me that...

 

[SWbySWesty]

One more questions for the Byer of Maine product:

How much water does it use? Would it be more practical in situations where you are base camping and leave the water each night or do you refill it with every use? Do you use your drinking water for the soapy water?

I'll have to look into this Dr. Bronner's stuff even though the wash station would only cost me $5 from my dividend...

 

[jsmoriss]

Water on demand with a spray gun is the only way to go.

Note that the second "sink" is not needed. I spray the sponge a bit, wash, spray a bit more to rinse, etc. Total water is about 1-2" in a single sink, depending on the number of dishes and what was cooked.

js.

 

[Corey]

http://www.rei.com/product/783009

Just placed my order with my dividend.
Should have it by Tuesday or Wednesday since the warehouse they ship from is a few towns over from me.

 

[Lynn]

My Baja buddies and I came up with a shower/dish washer combo. I bought a 2-gallon garden sprayer at Home Depot...

I do what Regcabguy dose for showers and dishes. 12 people's dishes and pots and pans for less then a gallon of water.

Hey guys, If I understand FrenchieXJ right, you can do pots, pans, and dishes for up to 12 people with less than one gallon of water. Am I understanding you right?

I discovered that the local Ace Hardware has a metal garden sprayer that is really small. Maybe a one gallon tank. I know it's too small for showers, but I'm thinking about incorporating one into my chuck box design for washing dishes. Being so small, it would sit on top of a cook stove real nice...

 

[SWbySWesty]

Just got back from Mohave last night. Used the Byer station and it's a great little piece of equipment. No need to fill it fully with water, just about two inches of water and it's ready to go!

 

[Lynn]

Hey guys, If I understand FrenchieXJ right, you can do pots, pans, and dishes for up to 12 people with less than one gallon of water. Am I understanding you right?

I discovered that the local Ace Hardware has a metal garden sprayer that is really small. Maybe a one gallon tank. I know it's too small for showers, but I'm thinking about incorporating one into my chuck box design for washing dishes. Being so small, it would sit on top of a cook stove real nice...

Follow up: I got my regular weed sprayer out the other day and realized it is one gallon, so the ACE Hardware one I saw couldn't be more than a half gallon.

If used for JUST DISHES, do you guys think a half-gallon sprayer would be sufficient for our family of four and possibly small groups (6-10)?

 

[Lynn]

Yes; it should work fine.

This is how I do the dishes;

Thanks for the insight.

I have a lot of experience with the water-conserving shower you describe, and do dishes just as you do. I just never paid attention to the water consumption.

 

[cico7]

Can I see a pic of this?

My Baja buddies and I came up with a shower/dish washer combo. I bought a 2-gallon garden sprayer at Home Depot and replaced and lengthened the supplied line with vacuum hose from NAPA. I then took a pipe cutter and shortened the wand to about 5" using an appropriately sized rubber hose and two hose clamps as the connector. Using biodegradable soap and a scrub pad it makes washing dishes a breeze. Shower time is complimented by adding some boiling water from the coffee pot to the sprayer. The extreme atomization of the sprayer really rations the water. We used to use the H20 bags but in that Baja was our usual destination,it sucked way too much water.

 

[HenryJ]

Follow up: I got my regular weed sprayer out the other day and realized it is one gallon, so the ACE Hardware one I saw couldn't be more than a half gallon.

If used for JUST DISHES, do you guys think a half-gallon sprayer would be sufficient for our family of four and possibly small groups (6-10)?

I do. Mine it 1.5 gallon if I recall correctly. But it lasts a very long time.

You can see mine mounted to the tire carrier on the back of my truck in this picture:

I use it primarily for washing hands, but it does the dishes too. The "wand" sits along the right side. The nozzle screws directly on to the handle and fits in a hole drilled in the corner. Flip the lever to lock the handle and it sprays downward. I keep a bar of soap in the tire cover and a wash cloth.
Mine is a deck sprayer so it is black instead of white or clear. This warms the water a little while exposed to sunlight.
I have never needed to refill on a trip yet. It really does a great job of conserving water. I have even used it to wash my hair while camped on the WRT.
One of the best things I have added. It stays on the truck all during the warm season.
One day I came across an over heating school bus. The sprayer went into to service cooling the engine. I sprayed the radiator with the engine idling until it cooled. It helped quite a bit to cool it down quickly.

Everyone should have one

 

[shahram]

For plates, there's no substitute for paper. With that said, there will always be cooking pots, silverware, etc. For big jobs, I just dump the contents of my camp kitchen bin out, throw some warm water in there, and scrub with a sponge. Dump the soapy water out, replace with fresh water, rinse dishes, and dump that out too. No need to bring an extra bin, and it keeps the inside of the camp kitchen clean as well.

For showers, I take one of these:

Usually there's one laying around the camp by the end of the day. Re-fill it from the jerry can, poke a couple of holes in the top with a knife, and voila. Regulated, disposable shower, cheapo surfer style.