Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Dishwashing

This page is an archive of the discussion surrounding the proposed deletion of the page entitled Dishwashing.

This page is kept as an historic record.

The result of the debate was to keep the article.

Dishwashing[edit]

Lacks encyclopaedic potential. Is a highly culture specific instruction manual (the Dutch ritual involves cramming a plastic tub into the sink, and proceeding to wash up in that tub.) Culture NPOV in terms of naming implements. Can't see a way for this article to escape these limits.129.78.64.100 05:10, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Dishwashing is my life, I am a professional dishwasher, it's fuckin 1337.- Sam Dukore
No vote. This appeared on VFD in May 2004 [[User:Rhymeless|Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss)]] 00:12, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Keep and hope for improvement. Borderline when it passed VfD, borderline now, but potentially encyclopedic and there's been a slow but steady stream of edits since it passed VfD. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 11:44, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

(Duh! slapping self on forehead with heel of palm) Actually, I had no idea that dishwashing was a cultural characteristic and I'll bet other people didn't either. The obvious way to improve this article—and for the article to "escape these limits" is to focus on that aspect. Take the existing text, put it in a section labelled "United States," create a section called "The Netherlands," and describe how it's done there. Wait for people to add sections for other countries and we might get quite a nice interesting little article. By the way, are brushes used as the primary dish-scrubbing implement in the Netherlands? That seemed to be true when I was in Curaçao in the 1970s. Whereas in the U. S. the tendency is to use various forms of sponge with or without mildly abrasive surface... [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 13:30, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Dishwashing with a sponge? How strange! I have indeed always used a brush, until I got a dishwasher. (no vote).Eugene van der Pijll 18:18, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

List on Clean Up, in deference to Dpbsmith's sudden flood of human kindness. I'm more of an article than topic voter, and this article is overly precise (a greenback scouring pad? whatever did we do before 3M created those?) and a Wikibooks article in its current form. He is correct, of course, that the article's topic is worthy. Much could be said, from "eating the plates" in Aeneid to the sorts of industrial cleaning services used in hotels to the cultural joke of washing dishes to pay a bill (originating in the Great Depression, I believe). I vote on articles instead of topics, usually. Geogre 14:40, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)
ARGHH!!! Seriously though - probably more cleanup than delete. Evidently for those who so wish, there is ample content to be written on dishwashing. Keep. zoney ♣ talk 22:20, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)
They really wash in a tub in the sink in the Netherlands? I'll have to share that with the folks I share a kitchen with—we do it that way because the plug doesn't work. Clean up! I want to know more! (Note: I dislike throwing in the POV accusation in cases like this. The way it tends to be used, POV implies that the writer has an agenda. I this case, I think it's more about lack of information than POV.) -[[User:Aranel|Aranel ("Sarah")]] 23:38, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Generally we use a tub (a basin) here in Ireland also. Some friends from abroad have expressed horror at the fact that it is not the norm here to rinse suds from the dishes. One would assume the detergent used is non-toxic though! Seriously though, I think the cultural differences could be somewhat interesting. zoney ♣ talk 00:48, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)

My reaction ("You don't rinse the suds?!") was a tipoff that there's plenty of meat here for an article. Keep. [[User:Meelar|Meelar (talk)]] 01:35, Nov 10, 2004 (UTC)

I suppose my reaction of "You assume the detergent to be non-toxic?!" is a similar indication. Geogre 04:36, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)

This is getting interesting. I once had an Argentinian girl refuse to dry my dishes because I had not rinsed off the suds. We don't use a tub but we do use a brush. My own theory is that the water is to soften the food and the tea towel is to remove it: am I alone in this?

ping 08:28, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC) in NZ.... BTW, that's a keep

Yuck! Ye must have some minging tea-towels! zoney ♣ talk 09:50, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)

My limited knowledge is that in the U. S. decades ago, the normal kitchen had a divided sink with two basins, one of which was used for soaking and sudsing and the other for rinsing. If you only had a single sink then you would use a plastic basin on the counter for sudsing and the sink for rinsing. As dishwashing machines have become common—their cost in comparison to peoples' income has dropped steadily—more and more kitchens include dishwashers and a relatively small sink with a single basin and garbage disposer. To me, the idea of not rinsing off the suds is bizarre, by the way. My belief system is that the suds and soaking soften the food and a lot of it just falls off when agitate the dish in the sudsy water; you sponge off the rest in the sudsy water; you rinse off the suds; and you have a good supply of several clean, dry towels which in fact are assumed to perform some cleansing function in removing any suds or food that remains after the previous operations. It is also acceptable to place the rinsed dishes in a drying rack on a plastic drainboard without towelling them. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 15:50, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)

There is also an article Dish sanitizing which might be incorporated into this one. As for me, I wash dishes in the sink with a cloth and a green scourer or brush if necessary. Not a sponge though. And tea towels are for drying dishes although of course it's a lot easier and more hygenic just to let them air dry. Oh yeah, we call it "washing up" and use "washing up liquid" not "dish detergent"... I think there's enough differences in method to make an article worthwile, although I'm not sure if they're country-specific as much as particular to a certain household or family? Tjwood 14:39, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Rename to better title and cleanup. I guess it's encyclopedic. I guess... --Improv 16:50, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I restored the bit about using a seperate tub together with an appropriate historical explanation. There truly is encyclopedic material everywhere. ping 07:46, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Cleanup We don't delete dishes, we clean them up. Silly wikipedians. :)McKay 19:14, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)
- Arlo Guthrie tells a story of looking for some old junk/treasure of his in the basement and not finding it. His wife said, "Oh, yes, I cleaned that up the other week." Arlo said, "That's not clean, that's gone." His wife said, "Well, you can't get much cleaner than gone." [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 20:37, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Keep and clean up. Verifiable and factually accurate. --[[User:OldakQuill|Oldak Quill]] 13:13, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue or the deletion should be placed on other relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.