Hughie Sink Review
This is a post I wrote for Green Renters.
I got given a Hughie plastic sink about 2 years ago as part of a sustainability course I did when I moved to Melbourne. I was pretty chuffed to receive it as, being from the UK, I was used to using a plastic washing up bowl and found cleaning glasses in a hard metal sink quite nerve-wracking. The Hughie differs from the plastic washing up bowls I’m used to in a number of ways:
1. It is shallower. I thought this would be problematic, as I’m used to some serious immersion for big plates and bowls, but now I’m used to it and there are very few things that don’t fit well enough to be washed (the exception being the grill pan, which gets cleaned at the end of a washing-up session by tipping the sudsy water from the Hughie into the large metal sink below it). Obviously, this means we use a lot less water when washing the dishes.
2. It has little indentations in the four corners. I’m not sure what these are for (perhaps feet for when using as a stand-alone bowl at a camp site), but they are irksome as when water is drained out (see 3), it remains in these corners, so the bowl has to be completely tipped out to empty it.
3. It has a plug. On first glance, this seems like a good idea – you don’t need to tip over the Hughie to drain the water. But this is not the case (see 2). Worse than that, this plug has an annoying habit of being pushed out as you are doing the washing up, only to drain most of the water out before you a. realise it is happening, b. find the dislodged plug amongst the dishes and c. manage to squeeze it back in the hole that it never seems to really fit properly inside. Perhaps it does now, but I still don’t see the point of having a plug for a sink that can be tipped out. I recently fixed this with some sugru (see sugru.com) and it’s so much better without it.
4. There are carry handles. These seem like a good idea, and perhaps if you have to carry your Hughie any kind of distance, they are. In my case, it feels more secure to carry a bowl full of dishwashed water without using movable handles, but I am a klutz and prone to spill things.
5. One corner has a groove for pouring. A small detail, but one that makes a big difference. When I’ve used the Hughie to wash veggies and I’ve carried it outside the flat, I’m able to pour the water into my watering can without wasting a drop.
Perhaps some of my quibbles have been addressed in later versions of the Hughie (though it doesn’t look like it from the web site). Overall I’m very happy with it and it has lasted fantastically well for two years.