how quickly/thoroughly do you clean up after yourself?

2/3/2010 12:21:33 AM

I try to do it pretty soon after I'm finished eating, as it's easier to rinse most dishes off before food dries on. Now, I'm especially thorough since I just went OCD on my kitchen last weekend and I want it to stay clean.

2/3/2010 12:25:42 AM

Usually by the end of the next day... I don't like cleaning up after I'm done cooking, but I also don't like cooking in a dirty kitchen

2/3/2010 12:28:10 AM

If I use a lot of dishes/silverware I'll clean up after the meal....otherwise hide it in the sink and hope one of the roommates gets motivated and takes care of it

2/3/2010 12:28:23 AM

Usually clean right when I'm done

2/3/2010 12:32:48 AM

Usually clean right when I'm done

2/3/2010 12:34:44 AM

a week or two.

2/3/2010 12:35:09 AM

2/3/2010 12:36:01 AM

He cooks, I clean, and vice versa.

2/3/2010 12:36:26 AM

Depends on the amount of mess and the levels of exhaustion and hunger.
If I'm motivated, I'll clean as I cook or shortly after eating.
If I'm feeling lazy, the pots/pans end up in the "cat-proof" areas... aka, the microwave or oven. And sometimes they're left for days.

2/3/2010 12:37:37 AM

I clean up right when I'm done. I don't leave anything in the sink unless I want something to soak, which gets put away by the next meal. My adult roommate does the same. The worst he'll do is sometimes use a metal fork on one of my teflon pans.

2/3/2010 12:49:09 AM

clearly qntmpunchmonk is not cleaning the kitchen quick enough


girl come see me, i have a maid named juanitez to take care of that shit

2/3/2010 1:20:27 AM

Depends on what it is... but usually I at least rinse everything off as soon as I'm done eating. Some things need to soak a little bit, so I do that too. There are also times when the food is just too hot to eat, so I'll start washing things off while I wait for my food to cool.

2/3/2010 1:43:19 AM

I'm trying to be better about this; usually I can clean up the next day before my wife cooks the next night. But I've been working at night after dinner a lot lately, so I don't always have time to do it before going to bed.

2/3/2010 3:10:39 AM

Clean as you go is the key...

2/3/2010 3:28:27 AM

I put anything perishable in containers and into the fridge/freezer. Dishes go in sink. But I don't wipe anything down until the end of the week.

2/3/2010 8:33:02 AM

If i'm cooking, i clean as I go. by the time the meal is finished, all the cookware is either washed or in the dishwasher and all the counters are clean.

If my wife is cooking, there will be a pile of dirty pots, pans, and way more equipment than anyone should need to cook whatever it was that got made strewn all over the kitchen with stuff spilling onto the floor and puddles of oil or piles of flour on the counters. And then I clean it all up right after we eat.

2/3/2010 8:36:30 AM

after supper, pretty much everything that will fit goes from the table straight to the dishwasher and if there are large pots or pans that won't fit, they get washed right then.

2/3/2010 8:40:00 AM

I feel like it should be whoever cooks the other cleans, but that doesn't really happen around here...especially now that I'm unemployed. He's been working all day so I feel like I should clean after cooking. Regardless, I try to have it cleaned right after or I'll clean it the next morning while my coffee is brewing. Getting hubs to clean is another story entirely.

Like a few weeks ago, hubs made a huge pot of chili. When he cooks, the kitchen turns in to a Federal Emergency, so I told him that if he cooked it he would have to clean it. He cleaned EVERYTHING but the huge pot. I left it there b/c it was his job to clean it. About 3 days later I say, "you ever gonna clean that pot?" and he gives me a smirk, "I hoped if it would sit there long enough you'd do it "

4 more days, I caved in and cleaned the fucking pot.

2/3/2010 8:41:50 AM

I make sure the dishwasher is empty before I start cooking, and I rinse the dishes as I cook and put them in the dishwasher.

Most of the time.

2/3/2010 8:48:18 AM

i usually do the dishes before going to bed or in the morning after i send him off to work, but sometimes i get lazy and dont do i til the afternoon. i cook and clean up every day, but our counter top is mini-tile with 1/3" grout that wasnt sealed properly, so it is so, so hard to clean. i have to take a little brush to it for the crumbs or spilled flour, then spray it all down and scrub like hell for any little spills. i only do that about once a week because it is so time consuming.

2/3/2010 8:53:19 AM

after I'm done eating

2/3/2010 8:54:41 AM

at the most i'll wait an hour. That's usually after dinner when i like to relax and watch the office or something. If it's breakfast or lunch, those are usually quicker meals with less cleanup so i usually clean up immediately afterwards. But dinner, after cooking and eating i'll relax for a few minutes and finish watching what i was watching and then cleanup.

2/3/2010 9:03:52 AM

Since I do all of the grocery shopping and cooking, my husband puts away left overs and does the dishes. He usually takes care of putting away left overs that night and then gets the dishes done either before he goes to bed or leaves for work the next day. His idea and my idea of clean are completely different, so I end up wiping counter tops and putting up odds and ends the next morning while I fix breakfast.

2/3/2010 9:11:16 AM

I try to do as much cleanup as I can while I'm cooking, which normally means throwing whatever I'm done with in the dishwasher. Things that don't go in the dishwasher (plastic tupperware, wooden spoons, etc.) get rinsed thoroughly and go in one side of the sink, and I wash those every few days. After I finish eating I put all the plates and stuff in the dishwasher as soon as I'm done. Sometimes if there's something big like a mixing bowl or a soup pot that doesn't go in the dishwasher that I don't feel like cleaning right then I'll let it soak for a while.

2/3/2010 9:16:49 AM

He cooks, I clean and vise versa.

Used to be...I'd cook, he'd plays video games/on the internet/or he watches tv.......And then I'd be all and I'd clean anyhow.

So I stopped cooking.
and he started having to cook more. So now I'm .

2/3/2010 9:28:23 AM

am i not supposed to be putting wooden spoons and plastic bowls in the dishwasher?

2/3/2010 9:29:26 AM

You can if you want. I just prefer to hand wash them.

2/3/2010 9:30:48 AM

i try to clean it up after i cook - but sometimes it's the morning after to get them in the dishwasher.

don't have roommates to make clean up

2/3/2010 9:32:09 AM

I have pampered chef wooden spoons and they will dry out and crack if used under harsh conditions - ie, the dishwasher...

But if I'm feeling lazy, I use the dishwasher for my wooden spoons and then rub them down with EVOO and that brings them right back.

Some are ultra picky, like bamboo - never dishwash them or they might crack.

2/3/2010 9:36:21 AM

was this thread inspired by a disagreement between qntmfred and punchmonk

2/3/2010 9:42:22 AM

im pretty good about cleaning as a cook

not the best at taking care of dishes after i eat tho...sometimes they just make their way to the sink

2/3/2010 9:42:31 AM

use as few dishes as possible and clean as you cook. it's the only way.

2/3/2010 9:43:40 AM

clean as i cook, then wash the last few things before i sit down to eat


then stick the plates in the dishwasher when i finish eating

2/3/2010 9:52:11 AM

I try to clean as I am cooking. Otherwise, I clean as soon as I am done eating.

2/3/2010 9:56:06 AM

Quote :

"If i'm cooking, i clean as I go. by the time the meal is finished, all the cookware is either washed or in the dishwasher and all the counters are clean."

2/3/2010 9:56:59 AM

Quote :

"If i'm cooking, i clean as I go. by the time the meal is finished, all the cookware is either washed or in the dishwasher and all the counters are clean. "

2/3/2010 10:10:48 AM

clean as i go, unless I'm intoxicated

2/3/2010 10:14:23 AM

I cannot express how jealous I am of all you with dishwashers.

I usually clean as I go but may rinse dishes and leave on counter to wash the next day. My shit will be sparkling whenever I finally live somewhere with a dishwasher.

2/3/2010 10:17:21 AM

depends on the level of mess and what it is that was cooked, example: baking, clean up while it's in the oven usually, but if it's something like scrambled eggs that go cold pretty fast after cooking then i'll clean up after eating usually.

2/3/2010 10:24:16 AM

I just play tetris with the dishes in the sink and dishwasher till the maid comes on tuesday

2/3/2010 10:52:01 AM

I clean as I go or when I'm immediately done cooking...SOMETIMES I'll wait til after the meal is done, but that's usually when my girlfriend is cooking and she's made something ridiculous that I don't want to risk it getting cold.

If my roommate wasn't lazy, our dishwasher would never get used. The only time I ever use the dishwasher is if I have a big party and there are a ton of dishes to wash. Even then, I usually use paper products, so it's not necessary.

Ya'll some lazy mother fuckers who wait a day or more to clean your dishes/pots and pans.

2/3/2010 10:53:04 AM

i always clean as i go

i have a hard time sitting down to eat if there are dirty dishes lying around. esp if they can easily be tossed in the dishwasher

2/3/2010 10:54:44 AM

i, too, try to clean as i go.

2/3/2010 11:21:00 AM

Whenever I get around to it. I'm a total failure as a housekeeper.

2/3/2010 12:36:34 PM

a couple of weeks


at first its immediately after, but once i get to not unloadin the dishwasher shit goes downhill and it takes a couple of weeks to get fed up with dishes in and around the sink area and then ill clean it again and start being on top of my dishes


keepin it real

and i dont clean my pans when i prepare meat on them for a few uses, i like that old layered meat flavor when im stove top grillin

[Edited on February 3, 2010 at 12:38 PM. Reason : g]

2/3/2010 12:38:07 PM

What is stopping you from getting to it when you are finished eating?

2/3/2010 12:38:11 PM

no counter space to do any cleaning

2/3/2010 12:43:28 PM

I almost never do dishes right after I eat -- what a fucking buzz kill!

However, I consider myself a pro at doing the dishes as I cook, so that only one or two remain to clean later.



(...Side note to people who use disposable plates, cups, or cutlery at home or more than a few times a year: "Fuck you.")

2/3/2010 1:13:48 PM

Smath74, one of my fav memories of you was when you broke that huge bottle of Franks Red Hot sauce in the middle of the kitchen floor and mopped it up with a dirty t-shirt.

2/3/2010 2:52:32 PM