Recently, the household works have been remarkably rationalized by the development of many utensils, fixtures, appliances and machines. But the work of family meal cleanup is one of household works which many housewives do not like.
In order to make the work comfortable, it is very important to consider better work conditions such as the suitable height, the layout and the arrangement of base cabinet counters in the kitchen and etc. Now, it is significant to discuss the merits and the demerits of each type of sink which forms a part of the base cabinet counter in the kitchen from the viewpoint of housing design and home management.
The purpose of our studies is to measure the human energy expenditure of the meal cleanup work for each type of sink. At first, we have observed the actual methods of the meal cleanup work. Next, we have experimented which type of the sink is the most rational by measuring human energy expenditure and the characteristics of each type of sink (single bowl sink, double bowl sink I, II) have been compared.
The results are as follows :
1) The type of sink which is predominant in Japanese houses at present, is the single bowl sink type (67%), but the double bowl sink type has been gradually increased.
2) There are various types of the meal cleanup methods. Many housewives perform the meal cleanup work in their own way and habit. Consequently, an appropriate method has not yet been established as the way of living in Japan.
3) As the results of our studies, we have tried to make the model of meal cleanup method, that will be the most general and rational method (See Table 10, 11, 12).
4) The convenient type of the sink varies with each subjects, but the Western type of double bowl sink II which consists of 2 deep sinks is the most effective in saving human energy expenditure for dishwashing.