Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Meal cleaners

[S. Kashdan (s_kashdan]

Jackson Place Cohousing is a community where getting cleaners to commit to
meals and follow through is generally working  well.

Two cleaners sign up for each meal. Cleanup after meals basically involves
washing and putting away dishes and silverware, pots, silverware trays,
napkin baskets, salt & pepper shakers and water
pitchers, washing kitchen counters, sinks, wiping down dining room tables,
basic dining room floor sweeping and spot cleaning, placing trash and
recyclables in appropriate receptacles, etc.

Cleanup can take at least one hour and sometimes two hours, depending on the
size of the crowd of eaters and the variety of the dishes provided.

Dishwasher: We have an American dishwasher which looks a lot like a
Hobart or other standard unit. It's a pass-through, professional/restaurant
corner unit. We got it used/reconditioned. It works great--it's fast and it
is worth the space, we think.
Because our project is in an older neighborhood where the voltage provided 
in the electrical power lines is not high enough for some modern equipment, 
and because of the city requirements around that, we  have the
kind of dishwasher that can't provide extremely hot water and so has to use 
chemicals to sterilize the dishes, etc. If you
can get a higher voltage in the kitchen than we were able to get, and not 
have
to be licensed as a restaurant to have one, it is good to get a dishwasher 
that
sterilizes from the high temperature of the water.

Cohousingly,
Sylvie

Sylvie Kashdan
Community Outreach Liaison
Jackson Place Cohousing
800 Hiawatha Place South
Seattle, WA 98144
www.seattlecohousing.org