I hate Cleaning. I have said it before and I will likely say it again...and again. If I can figure out
any methods of making cleaning less tiresome, I will always be happier. Dishes are a special torture for me. I looked into portable dishwashers for the RV. All of them were too big to store (for me) and used too much water and power. Now what?
Behold!
The simple spray bottle.
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| The Spray Bottle |
Spray bottles. We use them all the time. Almost every cleaning product comes in a spray version. Some even have spray and stream selections on the nozzle. After my semi annual cleaning of the RV (this one was pre-storage, a very sad day indeed!) I realized that I could use a spray bottle to clean lots of things with simple soap and water.
The next time I was in a liquidation store, I found a quart spray bottle for 50 cents. I thought, why not! For the price, even if it worked for one or two jobs it would be a win. Again, if it's going to speed up or make my cleaning tasks easier I am all for it!
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| Check Your Tire Valves For Leaks! |
Plain old soap and water is a miraculous thing. The real trick is figuring out just how much soap to put in the water. I use a regular dish soap (Dawn) and use about one teaspoon per quart of water. Just shake the spray bottle to make some bubbles. Of course, you can clean all sorts of things gently, but you can also use the bubbles to find leaks in just about any pressurized system. (Well except Water!) Simply flip over and pump out a stream of them. (Remember, you have to flip it back over once the pump lever doesn't pump!) I've used it to troubleshoot my propane system, my suspension airbag lines, valves and gauges, and of course tires and tire valves.
As a tool, this is fantastic, but what's that got to do with washing dishes? Ahhh...that's the next trick. If you have the spray bottle and soap mixture by your kitchen/galley sink, you can use it to spray down your (pre-scraped) dishes with soapy water. Scrub lightly to remove any food residue then rinse with pressurized water from your faucet. It sure beats filling up the sink with soapy water! Obviously you can conserve water this way AND get your dishes clean. Sounds a bit crazy, but it works. Sort of like me!
Be Seeing You...Down The Road,
Rich "
The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com
You could also use another spray bottle with clear water to spray the dishes to rinse. Especially if you don't carry a lot of water or are boon docking. Then again you could use paper plates and not wash any dishes except pans if you used any to cook with.
ReplyDeleteAnon,
DeleteI sometimes use paper, but you still have to carry them AND dispose of them after use. Lots of garbage and boondocking don't mix! As for rinsing....the short use of the faucet doesn't make too much of a dent in the water supply and the little bit of dish soap keeps the tank smelling fresh.
Thanks,
Rich "The Wanderman"