A way to rinse dishes with little water.

I looked for a forum for "Those that Tote Water" to post this in.   I guess most do not tote water - even in the permies world.   But for those of us that do, every drop saved means less work.

Rinsing dishes was the biggest use of water for me in the kitchen.   I needed the water to be clear enough to get 100% of the soap off.  I am a chemical-phobic, so I wanted 100% of the soap and wash-water off even if my soap was organic.  I created far more grey water than I needed for washing dishes later.  I was sort of jealous of the "water-wasters" who could have fresh drinking water rinse their dishes.   No longer, I have figured out a way to have fresh drinking water rinse my dishes and actually use far less rinse water than before.   In fact, a 1-liter coke bottle or less rinses about 3 loads of my dishes, pots and pans, etc.

I bought a sprayer that uses a coke bottle to spray water on my bread.   It is a pump sprayer.   I got it off Amazon for about $11.   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ONVADOK/   I had a light-bulb moment when I went to empty the bottle and decided to use the fresh water in the bottle to spray dishes.

Now I just pump up the bottle and spray the soapy water off my dishes.   The fact that it has a push button trigger makes it fairly easy to do.  The dishes end up 100% rinsed with potable water and I produce almost no grey water rinsing now.  

That is so cool!  Thanks for posting.  I've been looking for ideas to cut down water use.

Thanks! I'm a water-toter too, but my greywater goes to my kitchen garden so generally I don't mind using a little extra water for rinsing. In summer my greywater alone isn't enough and I have to tote additional fresh water for the kitchen garden. In winter when the kitchen garden is under the attached solar greenhouse, the greywater is too much and then I'm more conservative with the water. Soap a teacup? Nah!

I have a similar sprayer for misting plants. It was about $6 @ home depot

Using a sprayer is a pretty good idea.  For now, we are toting water also, so I try to be very conservative.  I had been reusing the rinse water from dishes to soak underwear and then after a day of soaking I then use it to soak dirty socks. I soak with dawn and baking soda in a large coffee can with lid so I can shake it during soak time.  When I am ready to wash clothes the undies and socks are pretty much already clean.

Margo Apel wrote:Using a sprayer is a pretty good idea.  For now, we are toting water also, so I try to be very conservative.  I had been reusing the rinse water from dishes to soak underwear and then after a day of soaking I then use it to soak dirty socks. I soak with dawn and baking soda in a large coffee can with lid so I can shake it during soak time.  When I am ready to wash clothes the undies and socks are pretty much already clean.

I cheat with laundry.   Rain is a fairly common occurrence where I live.  At least once a week on average.   I do laundry with soap, then hang the clothes on an outside clothesline to "rinse".   After the rain, I bring the clothes in and hang it on interior clothes lines.   Either over a bathtub or on a long enclosed porch.  This won't work with most people, but it means I have rain-rinsed clothes and use no rinse water.   And the clothes come out smelling so much nicer than the perfume stuff on the market.