The trick is that you don't fill a large single sink to wash the few odd items that need hand washing. Some people keep a plastic wash pan under the sink for the job, but I don't even do that. If I have a pot or bowl among the items in need of washing, I fill that with soapy water. If we're just talking a few odds and ends, I put the dish soap directly on the sponge and wash those few things directly. I learned that one from my husband's aunt and thought, "Well, that's obvious. Why didn't I ever think of it?" Aunt Nancy actually used a bar of Ivory Soap on her sponge, but I use actual dish soap. Besides, Ivory Soap makes me sneeze. If, like my DD, you think sponges are yukky germ spreaders and you prefer a scrub brush, it also works with the brush - I've done it at her house.

I changed from a double to a single bowl sink in my 60's and love using one huge bowl. The washing technique described by suzannesl is the one I use in my Franke ss Orca sink. As a single person, I usually don't generate many dishes so wash most by hand. The Orca grids are so thick that my dishes are braced against them and drain in the sink rather than in a dish rack on the counter.
Franke also makes an Orca fireclay sink in 5 different colors. I suggest you go to Kitchen & Bath Authority (kbauthority.com), click on fireclay sinks, and underneath they also describe how not all SS sinks are created alike. I hated my old builder's grade ss sink but love the Franke ss and quality of their polishing technique on the ss. Also, the sales people at K & B Authority are very professional and well informed regarding Franke products and were very helpful in addressing my questions. If you're still pondering, give them a call. Finally, there's nothing like seeing a Franke sink (especially an Orca) in a showroom. You will immediately see the difference in quality.

I was pondering the same thing and finally decided on the double sink. If I had another sink (prep) in my kitchen, I would have gotten the single bowl. I got 60/40 not only is the 40 side smaller it is shallower 8" h whereas the 60 is 10"h. I like the concept - though it is not installed yet so I haven't actually used it.

I am a soaker. I soak all my hand wash pots & pans, plastics, etc so I don't have to scrub. So for me, this was an easy choice. We have a 2 bowl with a 60/40 split and I love it!

I guess I'm a hybrid! I have a 60/40 split but I use the small bowl only for the disposer and rarely at that. I wash using Suzannesl's method. My large side can fit all large casserole dishes and pots and pans so I can soak and wash - whatever the need may be. In our new build I am leaning heavily toward a single bowl - and I won't have a prep sink.

I hope that's helpful.

You will find lots of threads on here about this issue. To find them use google. Such as search for "gardenweb single bowl vs double bowl" or something like that.

I use the DW for most things. The few things I do hand wash (certain knives, pots, extra large items) can easily be handled in a single bowl sink.

Like suzannesl said I wash most things directly. Nothing has to soak unless it got very burned.

Edited for spelling

This post was edited by debrak2008 on Fri, Jul 26, 13 at 8:57

DH does all the cooking in our house, and he is NOT a "clean up as you go" kind of guy. So by the time we sit down to eat, the sink is full of dirty dishes. After dinner, we clean off plates into the disposal and/or trash, so I ordered a 60/40 for our new kitchen. DH can pile his mess up in the big side, with the disposal on the small side.

Ironically, I'm the one planning the new kitchen. As someone else here stated - it's his kitchen, but my project!

Also consider a low divide double bowl. Those of us who have them think of them as "best of both worlds." They do come in 60/40, for even more functionality.

There are several threads about low divide sinks. I've linked one below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Smart divide sinks

I had a hard time deciding too. I took a hard look at how I use my sink (currently a double). We have a garden and belong to a CSA, so I soak a lot of veges on the right side while cleanup is on the left. I also like to wash on the left and drain the clean items on the right. I wanted to be able to lay cookie sheets and long pans flat too. I found a sink that satisfied both needs.

I'm getting the Franke PRX120. I love this particular sink because it only needs a 39" base cabinet, whereas similarly sized sinks require a 42" base cabinet. Plus it has an integral shelf (optional) that you can rest a grid on that raises up the bottom so you don't have to reach in as far when you don't need to. I can lay flat my biggest cookie sheets and baking pans. It is stainless steel.

In the end though go with what you like best, most people have definite preferences one way or the other. Do you know someone with a single bowl that you can try out the way that you'd be using it?

Another option for soap is to pre-dilute 10/1 in a soap container or pump bottle. This goes on a knife or the brush we use with a little water and then a rinse. Microfiber cloth to dry and it's back ready for the next usage without waiting to run a load in the DW. All single or doubles of things are washed like this so there is no looking in the DW to find the one potato peeler. Only one sink bowl is needed.

We chose a Blanco Silgranit Performa 1 3/4 with a low divide. It's been great for washing both large items (especially for baking sheets and our large skillet) or when we only need a small amount of water to soak, we can use the smaller basin. We love it. Although we us a similar approach to suzannesl. We use dish cloths that can go in the washer and replace them daily. Many times, we are only washing pots and knives, because the rest of the dishes are in the DW.

We chose a Blanco Silgranit Performa 1 3/4 with a low divide. We went to a kitchen showroom today and saw all of the sinks that have been discussed here. That was the best advice . The saleswoman was very informative and as the store was not very busy , we spent about 2 hours there. She helped us select a bathtub with features that should help my back and neck.

Thanks to all of you.

I have a Silgranit super single with offset drain and love how big it is. We can pile stuff to the side and still have access to the drain and garbage disposal. It also creates a lot of usable space in the cabinet below with just one drain. One thing I stumbled upon which has been great is a collapsible dish pan. When it's just a couple things I do the 'soap on the sponge' routine, but when there's more I pop this out from under the sink. DH hated my old dish pan and did not want to see anything out on the new sink, so this has worked perfectly and it doesn't take up much space under the sink once it's collapsed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Example of dish pan