Post Punk Kitchen Forum

My roommate just drained a can of tunafish over the kitchen sink, which was full of my cake baking supplies and my favorite mug. The drain is not visible, so homie didn't do it around the stuff but straight over. Please help me decide whether to bleach them or wash them 5 times and then once more to remove that persistent foulness.

Please. Please.

I am known to bring out the garbage heaps of times, clean up messes, but I don't think I have it in me this week to suck it up and just um wash the dishes.

Your dishes probably aren't porous, I don't think extreme measures are necessary. I would just wash them like normal. I guess if you can't bring yourself to wash them then throw them out?

You roommate should wash them.

I would throw away unlacquered wood (and bamboo) and unglazed earthenware (and charge my roommate for them). Glas should be OK. Glazed materials should be OK. Metal should be OK (don't bleach metal, bleach could damage it).

Silicone can take the smell of what was baked in it. And I don't know if you can bleach silicone. Once I soaked my silicone baking mat in water and dish-washing liquid with lemony scent, and washed it of course. The next 5 batches of baked potatoes had a lemony flavour. :/

You're asking if you should wash your dishes 5 times or not wash them at all? Just wash them or make your roommate wash them don't bleach them or wash them 5 times. That's just silly.

I don't know, if my roommate had a bunch of dirty dishes in the sink and I drained something into the sink and then they asked me to do their dishes I think I'd probably throw my head back in laughter. Maybe your roommate is kinder than me, though.

Yeah, I'm a little confused as to what the question is here. I mean, it's gross (tuna! yuck!), but just... wash them? And... don't leave dishes in the sink next time?

They could have drained it into the trash or into the toilet. This is inconsiderate. Dishes often do need some time to soak.

But, if the only sink (I have 2, so it's no problem if dishes are soaking in one) was full of dirty dishes for 5 hours or so, I guess they could be making a point. :/

If they were in the sink they were dirty anyway, right? I would just carry on washing them as usual. Tuna juice is gross, sure, but it's not dish-eating toxic waste. Does my apathy lose me vegan points?

I would forking hate it if someone drained tuna into the trash to stink up the kitchen until the trash went out, and I make it a personal point to never take my food into the bathroom, but of course that is just me. I guess I'm like Erinnerung - feel free to deduct vegan points for my apathy as well.

Yep, I'm also not getting the problem here. Just wash them with normal dish soap. If you ever eat at restaurants or cafes or other people's homes which aren't completely vegan (and I'm assuming you do), you can bet your arse that they don't wash dishes for vegans separately or more than other dishes.

Yeah, if you don't like it don't leave your shiitake in the sink. Sharehouses are war zones, no time to get sentimental.

I would give them a real good rinse in hot water, and then wash them like normal.

I would make my roommate do it. Not even because of the vegan thing, just because I forking hate tuna.

Yeah! So disrespectful!

I used to have fish 100% banned in my previous places

ewwwwwwww that story reminds me of stinky ugly worst flatmate on Earth! She was making me sick all the time with stinky stuff!

Yeah, this. When I eat at my omni bf house, it's a good bet I'm eating off of plates and using flatware that has touched fish/meat/dairy. The dishes get washed in between uses and I'm pretty sure washed dishes don't retain "meat cooties". I have no qualms washing his meat/fish/dairy dishes either, but maybe I'm weird that way. My tolerance for dishes sitting about unwashed is lower than his, and in my work (and volunteer work) I've handled grosser things than water from a tuna can. I know that everyone's bar is set differently (I seriously don't expect everyone else to have as high a tolerance of ick as I do) but if it grosses you out, just put on gloves, wash it with dishsoap and hot water, and make sure not to leave your dishes in the sink while living with an omni any more.

It would gross me out as well, but I would probably just wear gloves and wash the dishes. And grumble a lot.

i would just wash them yourself with regular soap and water.
if you try and get your roomate to do it they might be peeved about it and do a shitty job

My dishes regularly get splattered with meaty dog food when I rinse out the cans for recycling. I feel like that might be even grosser than tuna, but once they're washed, I don't worry about it.

Once, when I first started living with my ex, he used my can opener to open a can of tuna and didn't wash it, because seriously, who washes can openers (nobody) and the tuna smell was driving me crazy and I couldn't identify the source until I used my can opener again. I mean, I washed it first, and for a minute I was super pissed, but then I remembered that nobody washes can openers and omnis aren't as sensitive to meat smells as us, probably, so whatever.

I give tuna to my cat occasionally and so I guess this isn't as horrifying to me as it might be if it was some other kind of meat. Even so, I think I'd just wash it thoroughly and call it good.

This reminds me: I fed the cats turkey and giblet food last night. GIBLETS. I don't even. I said to them last night, "I think it's love when you can get your vegan parents to feed you giblets." But I do use a fork to mash up their food and rinse the can in the sink.

:-) I should have added that my cat has been known to use the same bowls we do to eat from. Usually he has dry food though which is less gross.

Yeah, uh, tuna or not, nobody should have to take their food into the bathroom. And if they'd drained it into the garbage, that would be even a worse mess, since then the garbage would stink, and if you have a paper bag lining the trash can, it would soak through, or if you have a plastic liner, it would puddle in the bottom and putresce, or if you have NO liner, it would stank up your garbage can for good.

And speaking of soaking things, if you're soaking unlaquered wood or bamboo, you shouldn't do that. It just soaks up water and gets icky. (Personally I think you shouldn't use unlaquered wood for cooking stuff anyway, since it's porous and will soak up foodstuffs and grow bacteria like crazy in the pores and grains of the wood. Foodborne illness ahoy!)

I don't think the OP suggested there was anything unlaquered or bamboo?

All right, I admit it, I have eaten sitting on the toilet a few times. I'm gross :(

I avoid unlacquered wood, but I still have some spatulas and thongs made of it. It's the most common material for spatulas here.

I agree that a good rinse and then hot soapy wash would do the trick. If you're really worried about the smell lingering, use some baking soda too.