"I'm Not Visiting The UK Ever": The Rest Of The World Is Just Now Learning About This Dishwashing Method In The UK, And It's Starting A Reallyyy Heated Debate

BuzzFeed
·5 min read

There's something weird happening on the internet (redundant, I know).

It's yet another discovery about how things are done over in the UK, and this time it's about doing the dishes (or, as it's called there, "washing up").

Hands washing a bowl under running water using a sponge
Picture Alliance / dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

The origins of the current wave of outrage are hard to pin down, but the debate has gone on for years. Let me explain: It seems that some (but not all) in the UK don't rinse the leftover soap off their dishes once they're done scrubbing.

The method is as follows:

1. Put a bowl in the sink.

2. Fill your "washing up bowl" in the sink with water and washing up liquid — dish soap for you Americans, but we'll get to that.

3. Wash your dishes with a sponge or cloth.

4. Place them to dry on the drying rack, or dry them with a "tea towel."

A kitchen sink area with a dish rack containing various dishes. A bin for washing dishes is under a running tap, filling with water

That's right...no rinse included. Brits assert that the remaining dish soap just falls off the dish if you let it air dry on the rack, or that, if you choose to dry the dishes by hand, it comes off on the tea towel.

Paul Johnston-Naylor, aka @gooniedad, made a video last month that detailed his washing up process. It's amassed over 4M views, and has worked the internet into some serious suds:

A user comments, "You don’t rinse the soap off?" GoonieDad replies, "No" with a wide-eyed emoji
TikTok / Bekky Bekks/Unsplash / Siena Giljum / Via tiktok.com

"I don't understand what it is about our washing up that we do so wrong," Paul says in the video. He's a born Brit and lives in Guildford, England.

A man with grey hair and glasses in a collared shirt stands in a kitchen, looking at the camera with a surprised expression
A man with grey hair and glasses in a collared shirt stands in a kitchen, looking at the camera with a surprised expression
A man in glasses stands in a kitchen next to a sink with dishes on the drying rack
A man in glasses stands in a kitchen next to a sink with dishes on the drying rack

Paul Johnston-Naylor / Via tiktok.com

"Basically, I put the water in the washing up bowl with the washing up liquid, and then I wash up: a plate, a saucepan, nice forks. And then I just pop it on there to dry," Paul says, gesturing to his draining board. "What's wrong with that?"

A bottle of Magnum Antibacterial Washing Up Liquid with eucalyptus scent is placed on a granite countertop
A bottle of Magnum Antibacterial Washing Up Liquid with eucalyptus scent is placed on a granite countertop
A man gestures toward a kitchen sink with a basin for doing dishes inside, full of water
A man gestures toward a kitchen sink with a basin for doing dishes inside, full of water

Paul Johnston-Naylor / Via tiktok.com

Commenters on the video were seriously heated, incredulous about how someone could not rinse their dishes as the final step in the washing process.

Multiple social media comments questioning why someone does not rinse their dishes as the last step in washing them
TikTok / Bekky Bekks/Unsplash / Siena Giljum / Via tiktok.com

Paul told BuzzFeed that a friend of his, Atlanta-based creator Anthony Jenette (@ajslambino), messaged him that he was going to make a video about what's different in a UK kitchen versus in the US — and that "Americans are freaking out about how we wash up." Paul stitched AJ's video to make his, and it took off.

The two often make videos about the differences between living in the US and UK, calling themselves the "Pond Bros."

At first, Paul didn't even know what Americans were thinking was off about how Brits washed dishes: "I made a reaction post explaining how [we do it] and I was convinced it was that we use washing up bowls; never did I think it was that I don't rinse."

The soap in question is something called "washing up liquid," which, as far as I can tell, is the same as what we would call dishwashing liquid or dish soap here in the US.

Aldi listing for Original Washing Up Liquid 500ml Magnum. Contains specifications, ingredients, weight, warnings, and storage instructions for the product. Ingredients and directions for use are circled with arrows

Generally, ingesting a small amount of dish soap is pretty safe, so in theory, it's not dangerous to leave out the rinse step. People mostly just think it's kinda gross, citing a lingering soap taste and germs.

Definitely don't ingest it on purpose, though.

Content creator Jason Riley, @jaseinamerica on TikTok and one half of @joshandjase, is from Nottingham, England — he also made a video about how he washes up and sparked similar debate for leaving out the same step. He starts the same way:

A man stands at a kitchen sink with a dish rack in front of him. Text above reads,
A man stands at a kitchen sink with a dish rack in front of him. Text above reads,
A man holding a bottle of Fairy dishwashing liquid, standing in front of a kitchen sink
A man holding a bottle of Fairy dishwashing liquid, standing in front of a kitchen sink

Jason Riley / Via tiktok.com

He puts the washing up liquid and water in a bowl, scrubs his dishes with a sponge and...

A man washes dishes at a kitchen sink. Text on screen:
A man washes dishes at a kitchen sink. Text on screen:
A man washing dishes with a sponge. Text reads,
A man washing dishes with a sponge. Text reads,

Jason Riley / Via tiktok.com

...straight on the drying rack.

A man places soapy dishes on a drying rack with the caption
A man places soapy dishes on a drying rack with the caption
A man stands in a kitchen and looks at the camera with a confused expression while doing the dishes. Text reads:
A man stands in a kitchen and looks at the camera with a confused expression while doing the dishes. Text reads:

Jason Riley / Via tiktok.com

A social media exchange showing a user asking, "wait, you don't rinse them?" and Jase In America replying "NO"
TikTok / Bekky Bekks/Unsplash / Siena Giljum / Via tiktok.com

Some people in other parts of the world (namely Australia and Canada) don't rinse either, and some in the UK do.

"Most people are just in shock that I don't rinse, but I've found that people from the UK, Australia, and Canada are with me on not rinsing," Paul said.

A LOT of people from around the world are VERY pro rinse:

Comments from people in Finland, Greece, and Sweden saying dishes should be rinsed with the flag from each commenter's country
TikTok / Bekky Bekks/Unsplash / Siena Giljum / Via tiktok.com

As are many in the UK after all:

Three internet comments about dishwashing habits from English, Welsh, and British users with the flags from their countries

Some people, though, definitely DO follow the no-rinse method (so we're not being trolled, as some commenters in this debate have questioned).

Comments from users in Australia, UK, and New Zealand saying they also don't rinse their dishes of soap with the flags from their countries
TikTok / Bekky Bekks/Unsplash / Siena Giljum / Via tiktok.com

Americans have weighed in on this particular method in utter disbelief. Roxan McDonald (@spiritual_af on TikTok), asked someone from the UK to "show the steps that you take to take a dish from dirty to clean." Her video racked up 1.2M likes, 18.4M views, and a whole lot of freaked out comments.

"I truly hope I didn't see what I think I saw," she captioned the video.

The internet is a weird place, yes, but an oh so funny one.

Two TikTok comments: First comment jokes about the British using dishwashing liquid as a spice. Second comment humorously describes cleaning dishes with tea and a crumpet

I can't say I'll be changing my dishwashing methods anytime...this may just be another thing the American mind simply cannot comprehend. What's your take on the "washing up" debacle? Let me know in the comments.

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