we have always had our washes and washed our pots in site facilities but this year we are thinking about getting one of the washing up bowls and stands, does anyone else use them and do you prefer them to using the site sinks???
If you want to wash up by the tent,after heating the water on your stove or collecting it from the sinks, think where the dirty water is going to go afterwards? .........another trip to the sink to empty it , and wash out the greasy washing up bowl ?
An expensive and useless piece of extra clutter in my opinion .
We've got a couple of these that we use on no facility sites. They also double up as a BBQ stand just general extra space when needed. They fold pretty well flat so take up little space.
I'm pretty sure we didn't pay that much for ours but this was the first link I found.
edited to add...I wouldn't buy one of the stands with a cut out for a bowl - it's too much of a one trick pony as it only does one thing.
I always take a bowl & use it on our kitchen stand. My hubby drinks so many cups of tea that I would be wearing out the grass on the way to the washing up sinks, so it's much easier to just boil the kettle & wash a couple of mugs up in the bowl.
We've got two Wilko bins with lids, one fits inside the other, and crockery gets carried in them on the journey, but on site one of the bins is our waste bin, and the other is the waste water bin (for washing up water & cold tea when I empty the teapot).
The only problem with the washing up stands with fitted bowl, is that they can't really be used for anything else. Our kitchen unit is multi-tasking, the cooker sits on the top, and the two solid metal shelves hold all our crockery, caddies, dry food etc.
I have one, and have used them on a couple of sites that didn't have washing up facilites. I use the bowl for transporting the dishes to the sink, and if need be for washing up in. I also find them a great way of storing the dishes after I have washed up. Just let them air dry.
Quote: Originally posted by Former Scout on 23/3/2009
Why take more clutter in the car when the facility exists on site? Also it can be a good way to get to meet and know other campers.
Two very good points
Different situation if you're going to a no-facilities site of course but providing sinks on site is God's way of telling us not to waste money and space on things we don't need. LOL.
The second point about the sociability of communal washing up bears repeating too. I've always appreciated that aspect of things when I've been camping either as a single parent or solo.
------------- Tackling life the Western District way
Quote: Originally posted by Former Scout on 23/3/2009 Why take more clutter in the car when the facility exists on site? Also it can be a good way to get to meet and know other campers.
Although we have a sink in our FC, as we did in our trailer tent, I rarely used them for washing up. Far easier to toddle of to the sinks. Handy for the odd cup etc, and for cleaning our teeth at night after our hot choc - but beyond that it is easier to go to the sinks. I did use it at first - but after a couple of days got fed up with boiling the kettle several times just to do a load of dishes. I then reverted to using the washing up sinks. Apart from anything else it often gives you a chance to chat to other campers. As I inadvertently left the small folding dish drainer in the trailer tent when it was sold, I resurected the one I had with the bowl, and realised how handy it was as a dish drier/storage.
You'll be paying for the gas to heat the water. You'll have to lug the water & then the waste water to the service point. Might as well use theirs. I like the Dunkirk spirit that seems to flourish in the evenings around the campsite washing up area too. Am I odd?
We fill a washing up bowl with all the dirty crockery etc. Then go to the facilities to wash up. We bring the clean stuff back and stick it on the bottom of our cooker stand and it dries nicely.
------------- If you see a family struggling to put up the tent then it must be us!
Washing up still done at the main sinks, but very useful to have a washing up bowl on a stand in the tent. With running water. And drainage. Maybe I've taken these creature comforts a little bit over the top.
WOW!! I've scheming to have electrically pumped water to my tent kitchen sink for years! How did you do that??
My third gallery picture shows our ktchen setup - two sets of plastic drawer which are permanently packed with our camping kit and fit nicely into the back of our Previa. An old cupboard door placed across the lot to give me my workbech, and a hole cut in to take my washing up bowl which is 'plumbed' into a folding water carrier behind that can be accessed from outside the tent.
I must add that we do have a favourite pitch on a favourite campsite where we are deliberately away from the main facilities but right next door to a tap and drain so the issue of lugging fresh and waste water around is not an issue.
We always take a washing up bowl and stand! I got fed up of taking my dishes over to wash only to find the sinks and draining boards filthy! Yes it more work but i can't stand other peoples dirt lol.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: washing up bowl/stand
