Is washing up water ok to water plants with? — BBC Gardeners ...

Is washing up water ok to water plants with?
Hi there. I've read and heard a couple of times now that using spent washing-up water is ok to use in the garden to water plants with (as long as there's no bleach in it) and as I'm keen to re-use waste where possible, I'm interested to know your thoughts on this please? I would imagine it's perhaps best to let the suds evaporate first? Many thanks in advance.
I would not want to use washing up water on my plants as its the residues of food - fat, salts etc. that would be the things I would be concerned about. I would also be unhappy about washing up liquids - unless organic - leaching their chemical content into the water table as these chemicals are highly toxic to aquatic life.
This is what I used on my garden during the mid 1970s drought and I have never had such fabulous plants, but that might have had something to do with the fact that I was religiously watering the things instead of neglecting them slightly. I also used the bathwater which meant walking downstairs with buckets of sudsy water.....I'm sure it was a great exercise regime. Its not something I would like to do long term as I think the plants deserve something clean occasionally and I have no idea how much detergent formulae have changed since those far off days but I'd say, give it a go. We should use more grey water......it would be great if loos could be plumbed into the system to reuse washing up and bath/shower water for flushing.
Prolonged dry spells were always called 'teaspoons in the heather' weather in my Mum's garden. None of the plants came to any harm from the dishwater. The odd dinted flower from being clattered by the teaspoon that lingers at the bottom of the washing up bowl though
“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first”
I can't see how it would harm anything. You could tip it on soil rather than leaves then it definitely wouldn't. I wash up in the sink, no bowl, but then it goes to the septic tank so it's still available to plants in that area
Hi everyone, I must firstly apologise for the fact I'm only replying now; it's been a mad few days but I don't think the details are applicable to this forum!
Secondly, a big THANK YOU for all your responses. On balance I think I'll give it a go. We use very little liquid in our bowl and unless there was excess oils/salt residue in there, it should be ok. I shall ask my husband to decant the bowl into our watering cans and use once thoroughly cooled down.