Cleaning things that don't fit in your sink

[Chris Hennes]

I suspect that most of us own at least one pot, pan, or tool that doesn't fit in our sink. Tonight I made pommes purée, which uses my big sieve:

 

I am currently making a huge mess trying to clean it. What are your strategies for working with stuff that doesn't fit in your sink?

[Anna N]

I am fortunate to have a deep laundry sink. Means hauling stuff into the basement but it does the job. No laundry sink?

[dcarch]

Nothing wrong with using your bathtub and shower, If you don't have a hose in your garden.

 

dcarch

[blue_dolphin]

My laundry sink (and the washer and dryer) are out in the garage but I appreciate that sink for washing big stuff.  In my last place, I had to use the bathtub!

[liuzhou]

That's what the bath is for.

 

I never use it to clean me. That is what the shower is for.

[lesliec]

Yep, the bath is very useful. Our oven is pyrolytic self-cleaning, but that doesn't include the racks (which is a great pity, since they're the hardest bit to clean). They're much too big for the sink,  so I soak them in hot water and detergent in the bath for a while, then attack them with a BBQ brush.

[Okanagancook]

We have a dog bath which is very useful....when there isn't a dog in it 

 

 

!

[cyalexa]

10 hours ago, lesliec said:

Yep, the bath is very useful. Our oven is pyrolytic self-cleaning, but that doesn't include the racks (which is a great pity, since they're the hardest bit to clean). They're much too big for the sink,  so I soak them in hot water and detergent in the bath for a while, then attack them with a BBQ brush.

My self-cleaning oven got a long overdue cleaning a couple days ago. Last time I used a soapy steel wool pad on my racks and it took forever. This time I used a technique that I had seen on another forum some years ago - put the racks in a large plastic bag and spray them with oven cleaner. After a couple hours I rinsed them in my laundry room sink. They are bigger than the sink so I did the bottom half then turned them over. A few places required a brief scrub but most rinsed clean. I was left with some rust in a couple places. I don't know if that is due to the cleaning technique or crappy materials used in the rack.  

[kayb]

You people all obviously pay more attention than I do to cleaning. 

[Panaderia Canadiense]

You don't have a laundry sink?  Or a big laundry-basins complex construction?  I will have to wash my tamalero tonight (once the whole pumpkin I crammed in there is cooked), and there's no way it fits in my sink as it barely fits on my stove, so it's going to my laundry stand which is more than big enough for it.

[Chris Hennes]

No, no laundry sink. I do have a stupidly large bathtub that never gets used, and honestly it's never occurred to me to use it to clean kitchen items.

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, Chris Hennes said:

No, no laundry sink. I do have a stupidly large bathtub that never gets used, and honestly it's never occurred to me to use it to clean kitchen items.

 Keep a couple of ancient bath towels around to line the bathtub so you don't scratch the enamelled surface. 

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

You people all obviously pay more attention than I do to cleaning. 

Come sit next to me, I was thinking the same thing

[Lisa Shock]

My cats think the bathroom with a tub is theirs, and, one of my cats is a Bengal. (The indelicate issue here is that Bengals like to swim, they do this because they like to defecate in water, so, we don't fill the tub often. If I take a bubble bath, I get to hear loud cat wailing outside the locked door...) I have a big plastic tub that I use to clean big things. One day, I hope to install a commercial 3-compartment sink in my kitchen. Until then, I use the plastic tub.

[Susie Q]

The bath tub it's just a giant sink.

 

IIRC wasn't there a Seinfeld episode where Kramer was doing prep work and cleanup as he showered?

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, Susie Q said:

The bath tub it's just a giant sink.

 

IIRC wasn't there a Seinfeld episode where Kramer was doing prep work and cleanup as he showered?

 

In my previous apartment, the shower was above the bath - ie. you stood in the bath under the showerhead.  I do recall once soaking the grilles from the toaster oven in the bath while simultaneously showering.

 

New place has separate bathtub and shower, so my habits are less gross than before!

[andiesenji]

I'm a bit late to this but  I do use the bathtub for washing some large items but I have a bad back and bending over is not possible.

 

I got a folding baby changing table/bath thingy that was on closeout at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $19.95 - originally 89.

It is 100% waterproof and folds when I don't need it but it will hold my large pots, sheet pans, etc., and I have one of the hose-type sprayers with a diverter from the regular shower.  

 

This saves me bending over and the thing is sturdy enough to be stable when I'm scrubbing something.  I use the Dawn degreaser spray, put the stuff on the changing table part (which goes over the bath) and leave the stuff to "work" for hours, and it is not taking up space in my sinks.