‘You’re provoking me’ – Australian cleaning habit baffles French expat
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We all know that different cultures have different preferences when it comes to everything from food to cleanliness – and that's perfectly normal!
But one French expat living in Australia was left gobsmacked when she noticed a 'weird' Aussie cleaning habit that she says everyone in the country seems to be embracing.
A TikTok user, who goes by @psychedelictherapyclub, has sparked a conversation on the internet by labelling an Aussie cleaning habit as ‘completely weird’ and ‘gross’.
‘I have seen this twice before, thinking it's an "isolated" case but I think it's a norm here...Can someone explain to me the logic behind it? Cause he couldn't...’ She captioned.
In the clip, the woman questioned whether leaving soapy suds on dishes and utensils was considered ‘normal’.
While she talks to her viewers, the woman walks through her friend’s kitchen and heads to where her friend's wine glasses are.
Then she showed the glasses and other cooking utensils that were left unrinsed and drying near the kitchen sink.
‘I’m done with Australia,’ she claimed.
‘People in Australia who wash their dishes and leave this stuff here as if it was clean and normal, what the f***?’ she said.
‘Where do you learn this? In school?’ She followed up and zoomed in on the soapy glasses.
In the ensuing conversation with her friend (who remained off-camera), she asked: ‘You see it’s not clean, are you serious?’
Her friend responds with a simple yes.
‘You’re going to rinse this, right?’ She tried again, to which her friend replied with ‘No’.
Again, she tried to convince her friend to rinse his wine glasses. ‘You know this is soap?’
Her friend reassured her that he rinses his kitchenware before using them. Still, the baffled woman had more questions for her friend.
‘But who told you this is normal?’ She asked, the confusion getting more noticeable in her tone of voice.
‘Where do you see this is normal?’ She continued.
‘Everywhere,’ her friend said.
There was a brief moment when the woman paused, before cutting away to another conversation about washing (or rinsing) dishes.
‘You’re wasting water,’ her friend explained.
Water restrictions in Australia are pretty common, as the country experiences drought often – especially during the hotter months. There are only certain times in a day (depending on where you live) when people can access watering systems, such as handheld hoses and sprinklers.
In 2019, NSW imposed water restrictions for the first time in a decade because of a prolonged drought.
‘But you’re not serious, you’re not going to let this dry like this?’ She asked and pointed at the soap-covered pans.
Before her friend could even answer, she told her friend: ‘No, you’re provoking me right now.’
Her friend could only laugh in response.
‘Can I rinse it?’ She asked.
‘No, you can dry it,’ her friend laughed again.
‘No, please I want to rinse it,’ she said before ending the video.
The woman’s comments section was divided, with some saying this was completely normal in Australia, and others (mostly Aussies themselves) said they ‘could not stand’ the thought of not rinsing their dishes.
‘When we [were] growing up, we had droughts and single sinks…I remember drying them with a tea towel with suds on,’ one explained.
Another simply said: ‘Water shortage, love.’
A third wrote: ‘I think most of us grew up in drought and are not allowed to waste water.’
While another said that rinsing isn’t required since the suds are on the bottom of the glass anyway. ‘You don’t eat or drink off the bottom,’ they added.
Someone else joked: ‘That’s why we are so bubbly.’
Others claimed they noticed people in New Zealand have the same habit.
Some Aussies in the comments admitted that they found this cleaning habit ‘weird’ as well.
‘Australian born and bred. I don’t want soap on my dishes. I rinse,’ one woman stated. Another user agreed and called this a ‘pet peeve’ of his.
‘Drink a glass of dishwater then if you don’t rinse,’ he added harshly.
One person wrote that this was ‘not normal,’ and instead was the ‘exception,’ explaining, ‘Aussie peeps rinse their dishes.’
‘I agree! I’m Aussie and I hate it. Soap left on the dishes is not clean,’ one woman commented.
You can watch the woman’s video below:
From a scientific perspective, not rinsing the soap off of dishes can have dangerous and sometimes even life-threatening consequences.
One of the major dangers of not rinsing off soap is the risk of accidental soap poisoning. Some soaps contain various chemicals and fragrances which can be considered toxic. If swallowed, these chemicals could cause harm to the body. Though it would need to be a fair amount.
So, we want to know, how do you clean your dishes? Do you rinse them, or just leave the sudsy residue to drip dry? Do you use a tea towel to dry? Let us know in the comments!
But one French expat living in Australia was left gobsmacked when she noticed a 'weird' Aussie cleaning habit that she says everyone in the country seems to be embracing.
A TikTok user, who goes by @psychedelictherapyclub, has sparked a conversation on the internet by labelling an Aussie cleaning habit as ‘completely weird’ and ‘gross’.
‘I have seen this twice before, thinking it's an "isolated" case but I think it's a norm here...Can someone explain to me the logic behind it? Cause he couldn't...’ She captioned.
In the clip, the woman questioned whether leaving soapy suds on dishes and utensils was considered ‘normal’.
While she talks to her viewers, the woman walks through her friend’s kitchen and heads to where her friend's wine glasses are.
Then she showed the glasses and other cooking utensils that were left unrinsed and drying near the kitchen sink.
‘I’m done with Australia,’ she claimed.
‘People in Australia who wash their dishes and leave this stuff here as if it was clean and normal, what the f***?’ she said.
‘Where do you learn this? In school?’ She followed up and zoomed in on the soapy glasses.
In the ensuing conversation with her friend (who remained off-camera), she asked: ‘You see it’s not clean, are you serious?’
Her friend responds with a simple yes.
‘You’re going to rinse this, right?’ She tried again, to which her friend replied with ‘No’.
Again, she tried to convince her friend to rinse his wine glasses. ‘You know this is soap?’
Her friend reassured her that he rinses his kitchenware before using them. Still, the baffled woman had more questions for her friend.
‘But who told you this is normal?’ She asked, the confusion getting more noticeable in her tone of voice.
‘Where do you see this is normal?’ She continued.
‘Everywhere,’ her friend said.
There was a brief moment when the woman paused, before cutting away to another conversation about washing (or rinsing) dishes.
‘You’re wasting water,’ her friend explained.
Water restrictions in Australia are pretty common, as the country experiences drought often – especially during the hotter months. There are only certain times in a day (depending on where you live) when people can access watering systems, such as handheld hoses and sprinklers.
In 2019, NSW imposed water restrictions for the first time in a decade because of a prolonged drought.
‘But you’re not serious, you’re not going to let this dry like this?’ She asked and pointed at the soap-covered pans.
Before her friend could even answer, she told her friend: ‘No, you’re provoking me right now.’
Her friend could only laugh in response.
‘Can I rinse it?’ She asked.
‘No, you can dry it,’ her friend laughed again.
‘No, please I want to rinse it,’ she said before ending the video.
The woman’s comments section was divided, with some saying this was completely normal in Australia, and others (mostly Aussies themselves) said they ‘could not stand’ the thought of not rinsing their dishes.
‘When we [were] growing up, we had droughts and single sinks…I remember drying them with a tea towel with suds on,’ one explained.
Another simply said: ‘Water shortage, love.’
A third wrote: ‘I think most of us grew up in drought and are not allowed to waste water.’
While another said that rinsing isn’t required since the suds are on the bottom of the glass anyway. ‘You don’t eat or drink off the bottom,’ they added.
Someone else joked: ‘That’s why we are so bubbly.’
Others claimed they noticed people in New Zealand have the same habit.
Some Aussies in the comments admitted that they found this cleaning habit ‘weird’ as well.
‘Australian born and bred. I don’t want soap on my dishes. I rinse,’ one woman stated. Another user agreed and called this a ‘pet peeve’ of his.
‘Drink a glass of dishwater then if you don’t rinse,’ he added harshly.
One person wrote that this was ‘not normal,’ and instead was the ‘exception,’ explaining, ‘Aussie peeps rinse their dishes.’
‘I agree! I’m Aussie and I hate it. Soap left on the dishes is not clean,’ one woman commented.
You can watch the woman’s video below:
From a scientific perspective, not rinsing the soap off of dishes can have dangerous and sometimes even life-threatening consequences.
One of the major dangers of not rinsing off soap is the risk of accidental soap poisoning. Some soaps contain various chemicals and fragrances which can be considered toxic. If swallowed, these chemicals could cause harm to the body. Though it would need to be a fair amount.
Key Takeaways
- A French expat has labelled an Australian cleaning habit as ‘gross’ after seeing her friend leave soap suds on drying dishes.
- The woman questioned the logic behind not rinsing off dishes and asked ‘where do you learn this?’
- The video divided commenters, some claiming it is ‘not normal’ in Australia, while others recognised the importance of preserving water and said they don’t rinse because of water shortage.