those knives are out to get me
Twelve days ago, I was helping out in someone's kitchen, doing some dishwashing, not wearing rubber gloves.
Foolish I know, but I can't properly feel what I'm doing with thick rubber gloves on. Besides, I've worn the gloves for twenty or more years and it hasn't made a bit of difference to my dry skin, nor has it prevented my nails from breaking, splitting, tearing....
Anyway, there I was, fishing around in the suds and a steak knife slipped through my fingers. And sliced in. Quite deeply.
I raced into the bathroom, held my fingers under cold running water and called out for paper towel and bandaids.
Got dried and bandaided, pulled on the rubber gloves (to keep the bandaids dry) and finished washing up. And drying up. And put away all those dishes.
One week later, the cut was completely healed and I could hardly see where it was.
One day later, another knife incident. This time just the tip of a cooks knife nicked another finger.
Not a real cut, so no bleeding, but again I decided I should probably put the gloves on.
Yesterday?
My own sink. My own steak knife. My thumb.
Cold water rinse, paper towel dry, apply bandaids.
Pull on the rubber gloves and finish washing up.
I hate the rubber gloves, but my choice is clear.
Wear the gloves or never wash dishes again.
Or....maybe I should just not wash the sharp knives.
I do like to wash dishes......
Foolish I know, but I can't properly feel what I'm doing with thick rubber gloves on. Besides, I've worn the gloves for twenty or more years and it hasn't made a bit of difference to my dry skin, nor has it prevented my nails from breaking, splitting, tearing....
Anyway, there I was, fishing around in the suds and a steak knife slipped through my fingers. And sliced in. Quite deeply.
I raced into the bathroom, held my fingers under cold running water and called out for paper towel and bandaids.
Got dried and bandaided, pulled on the rubber gloves (to keep the bandaids dry) and finished washing up. And drying up. And put away all those dishes.
One week later, the cut was completely healed and I could hardly see where it was.
One day later, another knife incident. This time just the tip of a cooks knife nicked another finger.
Not a real cut, so no bleeding, but again I decided I should probably put the gloves on.
Yesterday?
My own sink. My own steak knife. My thumb.
Cold water rinse, paper towel dry, apply bandaids.
Pull on the rubber gloves and finish washing up.
I hate the rubber gloves, but my choice is clear.
Wear the gloves or never wash dishes again.
Or....maybe I should just not wash the sharp knives.
I do like to wash dishes......
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The only thing that confuses me is your last sentence, "I do like to wash dishes......"!!
ReplyDeleteOh I could feel that. had a knife incident in the dishwasher at New years and scraped the side of my knuckle on a serrated bread knife. I hate wearing the gloves. I feel strangled in them.
ReplyDeleteOuch.
ReplyDeletePerhaps because you have had three injuries in rapid succession you are safe for a while.
I cannot wear gloves in the garden, so wear the scratches, gouges, nicks and move on.
I once cut a finger badly enough for stitches. I watched how they went in. Pretty simple. I had my brother take them out, during the course of which he remarked he once sewed up his own finger and it was not easy, him being a righty having to use his left hand.
ReplyDeleteI do not like rubber gloves and do not wear them when washing up, maybe I adjusted as I don't have many accidents but I do have a few.
ReplyDeleteThe garden is another thing, I have gardening gloves and always were them as the moment I don't I cut them scratch or somehow drop a brick on them.
Merle.................
Poor River,
ReplyDeleteGood job you don't own a psychotic cat as well.
I'd rather take my chances with a steak knife than my hellcat.
:-)
Cheers
PM
When I stack dishes in the sink, I put the knives behind the faucet on the sink. This way, all knives are out of the sink when I reach in. It doesn't look pretty at all, but I am teaching the children NEVER to put a knife in the sink. :)
ReplyDeleteWhile they don't offer as much protection, latex gloves allow you to still 'feel'. Maybe it is better to keep the sharp knives separate.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the above 2 posts - don't put knives in the sink until everything else has been washed!!
ReplyDeleteIn someone's kitchen, I will fish out all the knives before turning on the taps.
I always make sure the knives face in one direction so I know where the handles are to grab them safely.
ReplyDeleteIt was cause for a write up at Whole Foods, we had to stay at the sink until the knives were washed, preferably by dipping them one at a time in the water, cleaning them and rinsing them without letting go of the handles. I am sorry, please be careful!
ReplyDeleteWise advice others gave to not put the knives in the water but held separately for later washing. Ouch those with the cuts!
ReplyDeletebetty
fishducky; that confuses a lot of people. Colour me strange.
ReplyDeleteDelores; I wore the gloves for years in the belief they would protect my weak fingernails, but it didn't make any difference. I hate them, but I'll go back to wearing them when I have sharp knives to wash.
Elephant's Child, maybe not safe so much as careful. I can't manage with garden gloves either, but I do wear them when trimming roses and those prickly Lomandras.
Joanne; I've never cut myself that badly thank goodness. Imagine me streaming blood while waiting for a bus to the emergency room? Ha Ha, what a sight that would be. Your brother is very brave, I certainly couldn't do that.
Merlesworld; I can't manage with garden gloves, so put up with scratches etc, but if I'm pruning roses I wear them.
Plasman; I hope to get a cat this year, if he turns out psychotic I'll teach him to wash dishes. He can take out his rage on the knives.
Happy Elf Christine; I have all the cutlery stacked on the side and don't put it in the water until the plates etc are done. Usually I'm okay but I must have had too much detergent in or something, because the cutlery seemed to slip through my fingers a lot, maybe I was just being careless. I'm certainly going to be a lot more careful now.
Andrew; latex gloves don't come in the longer length I prefer, so water gets in and soaks my hands to the point where I might as well not be wearing gloves. I always have the sharp knives separate from the regular cutlery, I've just been unlucky lately. Or careless. Or maybe the knives really are out to get me.....
mm; everything is stacked on the side, nothing goes in the water until I'm washing it.
Jayne; me too!! handles to the left so I pick them up left handed and wash the blades with my right hand. Same with all the cutlery, handles to the left so the fork prongs don't pierce the gloves.
Gillie; that's a good method, apart from rinsing. I never rinse anything, just dry the dishes as soon as they're washed, not individually of course. Wash a load, dry a load. I've cut myself before, but never while washing dishes.
betty; it is good advice and I do follow that method. Nothing goes in the water until I'm ready to wash it. The cuts don't hurt, they're just an inconvenience. One was on the middle finger knuckle where I rest my pen, spoon, mug handle...very annoying.
This can't happen to me because I haven't yet managed to get the new knives out of the atomic bomb proof plastic wrapping.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same - I don't like wearing gloves either. Prefer to be tactile, and gloves are such a barrier to feel.
ReplyDeleteHere's a valuable tip - if you get a cut or nick, immediately sprinkle it with pepper - cayenne is best.
It'll staunch the bleeding, it disinfects with its anti-bacterial properties and rallies the white blood cells to begin the healing process very quickly. With excellent results.
Cayenne is in my medicine kit. A great healer, and it has quite a few other benefits.
Reading about your knife problems made my legs go all funny!!! I never put knives of any kind in the sink but stand them point down right in the corner of the sink so I can then take them out and wash and rinse them separately before washing anything else. It works for me so perhaps try it. Just a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteI can't abide wearing gloves except sometimes if I happen to do anything in the garden which is not often these days. My nails never break and my skin will always be dry anyway, gloves or no gloves. I think my dermatologist suggested QV cream of lotion for dry skin.
JahTeh; that's what sharp scissors are for. Welcome back!!
ReplyDeleteVicki; I usually stop bleeding fairly quickly and rarely get infected. I can't remember the last time I got a cut infected. I don't have any cayenne pepper on hand.
Mimsie; I never put knives in the sink until I'm washing them, this was just three occasions where I picked up a knife to wash it and the blade slipped against my fingers and thumb. I have sorbolene lotion for my skin, it's cheaper than QV. I've had dry skin all my life, like my mum.
lol, I hate washing dishes...wash sharp knives separately, one at a time, under the tap, with a sponge and mind those fingers :)
ReplyDeleteOuch, ouch and ouch. I came over all faint and had to lie down just reading about the first incident. As you can tell, I'm not good with blood. Or pain.
ReplyDeleteI invariably cut myself after L-G sharpens the knives without telling me. Boy they bleed like hell and hurt for ages afterwards. I've never cut myself while washing up, though. But like others have suggested, I leave those knives until after I've washed everything. The OCD part of me makes me wash the dishes in a particular, strict order, beginning with glasses, then bread and butter plates and moving on to progressively dirtier items, with cutlery way down on the list. It drove the family nuts as I'd get anxious if they "did it wrong". So they bought me a dishwasher.
Every time I wear rubber gloves, I notice two things. One, the large gloves I buy are way too small. Two, the rubber gloves have that aggravating hole in them within an hour or so.
ReplyDeleteMind those sharp knives.
Gary
The Wicked Writer; we don't wash anything under running water here, we're a dry country and that is a wasteful method.
ReplyDeleteMarie; I'm sorry I made you feel faint. I wash dishes in a regular pattern too, glasses first, then cups and plates, then cutlery and pots last. Now and again I'll do cutlery before plates, just for the heck of it and to prove I'm not totally OCD...I don't mind blood, and my cuts only hurt for a minute or so, then heal completely within a week.
klahanie; gloves are at the mercy of fork prongs and knife tips. I buy the small size and they're always too long in the fingers.
after a few self stabbings I no longer put sharp knives in the tub with the rest of the washing up, they sit on the side waiting to be done individually...
ReplyDelete