# How does a dishwasher help you anyways?



## Mamaluu (Dec 12, 2009)

I was wondering how your dishwasher help you or not help you, and either way, how do you get all your dishes for the day (including all the stuff you use for cooking) done with minimal time & effort and most efficiency?

For me the dish washer really doesn't help me - I never know what's washer safe and what's not since it doesn't say on the containers/dishes like it says on clothing cleaning instructions, so many things I wash it myself; things I put in seems to never get cleaned and I have to wash it again by hand; in order to for the washer to wash it clean I almost have to pre-wash the dishes myself to get rid of everything on it, and i might as well just finish the dishes myself instead of taking the time to load and unload the washer; the pots & pans I wash them myself because there isn't enough room to fit everything into the washer and again, it almost never comes out clean unless I wash it by hand first. Is it just me? How do you use your washer? I'd like some tips on the quickest way to get the dishes all done. Since I cook everything from scratch and I do many things myself, I just don't have the time to deal with the dishes and kitchen mess produced from eating & cooking or preparing each meal...


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## Sarah W (Feb 9, 2008)

We used to only use the dishwasher. I would load the dishwasher as we used dishes and start it once it was full.

However, for the last several months I've really tried to make a point of washing dishes by hand. We probably use it once a week or less now. I use it when dishes have started to pile up. I'll go around the house and pick up everything that's been left around and load it up. (water glasses are a big one, as well as DD's cups) With DD's cups, I'll even throw clean ones in and run it on a hot cycle.


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## treegardner (May 28, 2009)

We live in an apartment with a tiny kitchen and we have a small dishwasher that connects to our kitchen faucet. It helps us because our sink and countertops are so small that we'd have to wash all out dishes in shifts or several times throughout the day.


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## Jane (May 15, 2002)

I wash everything in the dishwasher. I unload it while cooking dinner, and reload it with dirty dishes. The only hand-wash item is my sharp knives. I eliminated every non-safe item in the kitchen b/c I know me. We bought a used dishwasher on craigslist as an upgrade, and then upgraded to a mid level new dishwasher ($400). It's easy to fit all the pots and pans in. My plates fit on top rack. Top rack is half glasses and cups/ half plates and bowls. Bottom rack is silverware and pots and cutting boards. I use a high quality detergent (Cascade complete powder from costco) to make it work well. I don't even pre-scrape most dishes.
Taxes and touching gross dishes make me stabby so I try to make it pass as fast as possibly.


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## zensven42 (Oct 26, 2006)

1


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## Bug-a-Boo's Mama (Jan 15, 2008)

I use the dishwasher all the time. I almost never hand wash anything. I wouldn't buy anything that wasn't dishwasher safe, because as you mentioned, it would be too much trouble to wonder if this is okay to put in or not. In a seven day period, I probably run ours 3 times. Sometimes more, but definitely not daily. Eating at home creates a lot of dishes.

Our house didn't have a dishwasher when we bought it. While I was pregnant I insisted that we buy one. Even though we ended up loosing cabinet space. I am the only one to wash dishes, it would take DH FOREVER to wash dishes. And since I am a SAHM, it would be my job 100% to hand wash the dishes. No thank you.


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## annethcz (Apr 1, 2004)

I don't hand wash anything either. EVERYTHING that gets washed goes into the dishwasher. To me, hand washing seems so tedious.


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## hillymum (May 15, 2003)

After 3 years of handwashing everything I will move heaven and earth to never be without a dishwasher again! As soon as something is used it goes into the dishwasher. When it is packed full it's set off and an hour later everything is cleaned using so much less water and detergent (I use powder, not the tabs) than I would use if doing it by hand. My two older sons take turns to empty it and put everything away.

I hand wash wooden spoons and plastic food containers at the end of the day. Five minutes at the sink. thats enough for me! I really should start delegating that to the boys as well.


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## Mamaluu (Dec 12, 2009)

Here is what I don't get - you do need to scrub/pre-wash or at least rinse off the dishes & stuff on them before they go into the washer in order for them to come out clean (especially if the dishes are going to be sitting in the washer waiting for a while before they are run). It's not like you can literally dump all your dirty dishes straight into the washer from the dinning table. Now, that rinsing (sometimes even scrubbing), to me, is like enough manual labor I might as well put some soap on it and be done with it. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Anyways, my point is that because of the work involved in running the washer (such as what I just described, or having to wash things that can't go into the washer, for example), dish washer really doesn't save me much time and effort. How do I make it actually work for me?


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

I would probably start buying paper plates and cups if I didn't have a dishwasher. I hate dishes as is, and the thought of having to handwash everything makes me want to run away.


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## zensven42 (Oct 26, 2006)

1


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## Shellie (Dec 29, 2003)

I'm fairly certain I use more water and soap hand washing than using the DW. I do hand wash my anodized or stainless cookware, cast iron (of course) and anything that won't fit in the DW (if I don't want to leave it waiting for the next load).

We scrape food into the garbage disposal and give everything a quick rinse. Only occasionally does something come out of the DW with food still on it and if it does it's usually because someone didn't rinse well.


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## kittywitty (Jul 5, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Bug-a-Boo's Mama* 
I use the dishwasher all the time. I almost never hand wash anything. I wouldn't buy anything that wasn't dishwasher safe, because as you mentioned, it would be too much trouble to wonder if this is okay to put in or not. In a seven day period, I probably run ours 3 times. Sometimes more, but definitely not daily. Eating at home creates a lot of dishes.

Our house didn't have a dishwasher when we bought it. While I was pregnant I insisted that we buy one. Even though we ended up loosing cabinet space. I am the only one to wash dishes, it would take DH FOREVER to wash dishes. And since I am a SAHM, it would be my job 100% to hand wash the dishes. No thank you.

Amen! After years of not having a dishwasher...no thank you! I hate washing dishes with a passion. I passed on the unloading dishes part to dh and sometimes he loads them which is immensely helpful.


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mamaluu* 
Here is what I don't get - you do need to scrub/pre-wash or at least rinse off the dishes & stuff on them before they go into the washer in order for them to come out clean (especially if the dishes are going to be sitting in the washer waiting for a while before they are run). It's not like you can literally dump all your dirty dishes straight into the washer from the dinning table.

Sounds like you need a new washer. A decent, properly working washer will eliminate the need to get the dishes clean before putting them in.

That being said, I have an older machine too, and I can't put anything in the machine that still has food on it. So everything gets a quick rinse (a soak if necessary), a quick pass-over with a scrub brush and into the machine. I don't care if it's greasy (it usually is). Doing it this way I don't have to use super hot water, I don't have to use soap (which doesn't work worth crap in our hard water), I don't have to submerge my hands in greasy water (which grosses me out). I also have zero counter space, so hand-washing doesn't work well for us, I have nowhere to put the dishes to dry.

I load (and run) the dishwasher every other day. I try to be in the habit of loading it daily, but it rarely happens - compounded by the fact that DH often "forgets" to empty the dishwasher.

I make just about everything from scratch, and running the dishwasher 3-4 times/week I manage to get everything washed, and that includes cutting boards and sheet pans. The only thing I have to handwash is the dehydrator trays, which just don't fit.

We have one of those portable machines that we roll across the room to hook up to the sink. Before we got it, we had a HUGE problem with the dishes because we both HATE doing them. It's used and close to 10 yo now, but until we can remodel the kitchen, there's no point in buying a new one.


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## nola79 (Jun 21, 2009)

I love my dishwasher. I, too, would start buying paper products if I did not have one. I don't rinse very well, either, just really quickly as they get loaded, and almost evrything goes into the dishwasher, and fits.
As far as when it gets done, ds unloads after school and loads after dinner. I kept the same schedule when I did it myself. The dishwasher gets run overnight.


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## zensven42 (Oct 26, 2006)

1


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## LZP (May 28, 2009)

I think maybe you need a different DW detergent, or a new DW all together! We have an ANCIENT dishwasher (like it was top of the line in 1975 or so), and *we still dont need to pre-rinse or pre-wash anything*. we load straight from the table (or right after a dish is used) into the DW _all the time_. The only things that dont go in the DW are plastic lids, good knives, and pots/pans but everything else goes in. Those 3 things mentioned take about 5 minutes at the end of the day just like another PP mentioned. we only pre-rise if it's a big gob of ketchup or something that would congeal or get stinky over time.
we run the DW every 2-3 days, usually right before bed so everything is clean in the morning.

ceramic bakeware comes out spotless, since it's virtually non-stick anyway. glasses, plates, silverware all come out great.

We use method smarty dish tablets, and vinegar in the rinse-aid dispenser. easy peasy. even our old dino of a DW uses less water than we'd use hand washing all that stuff. not to mention, we dont have to dry anything before putting it away since it dries in the DW overnight.

Give your DW a second chance- they generally save water and detergent!

ETA: zensven- i was wondering why you'd wait to load till the sink was full! makes sense now!


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## Jane (May 15, 2002)

Everything goes in my dishwasher dirty. Peas, carrots, mashed 'tato scraps and all. I do scrape off meat scraps into the garbage. But the dishwasher has a grinder, a type of garbage disposal, that takes care of everything else. Nothing gets rinsed at all. I have had a dishwasher that wouldn't wash anything but clean dishes. I didn't use it. But I LOVE my dishwasher.


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## sanguine_speed (May 25, 2005)




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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *annethcz* 
I don't hand wash anything either. EVERYTHING that gets washed goes into the dishwasher. To me, hand washing seems so tedious.

Same here.


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## ShwarmaQueen (Mar 28, 2008)

I cook everything from scratch too. I hardly ever pre-wash and barely have dirty dishes come out. I could do without it, but I like knowing yucky things are really 'clean' (knife used to cut chicken, moldy cup found 3 wks later, etc).


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

A good dishwasher with an attached garbage disposal* is really helpful. Just as a washing machine lets you start your clothes washing and do other things while it works, a dishwasher does the same thing with dishes.

Personally, my rule for both clothes and dishes is "if it's ruined by the washer, I didn't want it" I do have a few items in each that I hand wash every time, but they are special and given dispensation because they are special.

If you wash wood or bamboo, oil them. Put crappy thin plastic in the top. Use a rinse agent. Once a month or so, run the dishwasher empty with a cupful of white vinegar.

*Now that we've got a dishwasher without a disposal, I've given up and switched to using it to rinse and drain hand washed dishes. It's just too freaking annoying and wasteful of water to thoroughly rinse each dish before putting it in there.


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cristeen* 
I also have zero counter space, so hand-washing doesn't work well for us, I have nowhere to put the dishes to dry.

You have a dishwasher.


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## TEAK's Mom (Apr 25, 2003)

Man, there are days I'd give a kidney for an efficient dishwasher. I am so tired of hand-washing everything in a sink set in a counter that was built for a short person in the 19 century.


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## AniellasMommy (Aug 4, 2006)

My husband's official household job is dishes.We run the dishwasher at least two times a day. It's his job because 1-He was always complaining that I didn't "do it right" 2- I refuse to rinse and 3- It helps SOOOO much knowing I don't have to do the dishes...it gives me so much more ambition to cook. Plus he told me once it's "easy, quick, bonus points"







Works for us!


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

DH loves the dishwasher and puts pretty much everything in it. I'm not that crazy about it. It's nice that it "stores" the dirty dishes until they're washed, but that's also one of the weaknesses. It seems like the kitchen knife, grater or whatever that I need is _always_ sitting in the dishwasher, dirty. I've noticed that my good pans - about 19 years old - are starting to come loose at the handles and need re-tightening all the time. That didn't happen until after dh started putting them in the dishwasher.

I don't know. There are pros and cons. I've been without a dishwasher most of my adult life, and I don't care if we have one in our next place or not. I do think we save some water over handwashing, which is good. I still do quite a lot of handwashing. (I seem to be in the minority, but I also find the smell of the dishwasher, while it's running, makes me feel ill. It's gross.)


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## WeasleyMum (Feb 27, 2007)

I don't have a dishwasher. It works OK for us, I guess. I don't hate washing dishes-- don't love it but who does? I do some here and there throughout the day as they accumulate (I cook from scratch and like to bake, so yeah), or if that doesn't happen, do a big wash before starting dinner. I try to avoid that b/c who wants to do the dishes for 20 minutes before cooking?

My parents do the wash-the-dishes-before-loading-them-into-the-dishwasher thing so I thought that was normal! Seriously when my dad does the dishes he might as well just put them back in the cabinets as in the dishwasher.

I think what makes it a moot point is that-- it just doesn't take very long. Even when there seems to be a lot, it only takes a few minutes to wash enough to fill both of my drain racks.


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## major_mama11 (Apr 13, 2008)

We joke that our dishwasher is more for sterilizing than for washing. We have to THOROUGHLY pre-rinse everything before it goes in.

I remember how excited I was to have a dishwasher when we moved here, but at this point the dishwasher is so minimally functional, it maybe cuts down on five minutes a day. I intend to do a lot more hand washing as soon as I'm done working FT hours next month.

Also my DH prefers the "spread the dirty dishes over all the counters method", rather than loading dishes in as soon as they are dirty. One more reason to do more hand washing, cause I hate cluttered counters.


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## buckeye_bebe (May 16, 2006)

Our dishwasher serves as an under the counter two tier drying rack. Terriffic space saver. We don't run it, just dry dishes in it.


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## Rico'sAlice (Mar 19, 2006)

I am a bigtime lover of DW that actually work. If we moved into a house with a not wonderful dishwasher replacing it would be extremely high on the financial priority list.

We put most stuff into it. Not wood, cast iron, or heirloom quality chopping knives though. [Chef friend said the heat does bad things to the blades over time.]

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sapphire_chan* 
A good dishwasher with an attached garbage disposal* is really helpful. Just as a washing machine lets you start your clothes washing and do other things while it works, a dishwasher does the same thing with dishes.....
*Now that we've got a dishwasher without a disposal, I've given up and switched to using it to rinse and drain hand washed dishes. It's just too freaking annoying and wasteful of water to thoroughly rinse each dish before putting it in there.

We don't have a disposal but I still never rinse anything. Just scrape everything into the compost with a spatula.


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Rico'sAlice* 
We don't have a disposal but I still never rinse anything. Just scrape everything into the compost with a spatula.

Still too much work with a toddler screeching resentment that I'm taking 5 seconds to clear away a dish instead of getting "MORE X". But a great idea to save on water.


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## Abraisme (Mar 8, 2009)

We have a high end Bosch dishwasher. I rarely, if ever, pre-rinse things and I put just about EVERYTHING in the dishwasher (except the soup pot and wooden cutting boards). All my dishes come out clean 99% of the time. It saves me SO much time. When I had to do my dishes by hand I must have spent an hour a day at the sink. Now I spend maybe 15 minutes per day. It's worth it to get a good dishwasher. Luckily ours came with our house.


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## fresh_veggie (Jan 27, 2009)

Dishwashers use less water, less soap, and get your dishes MUCH cleaner as they are steamed with VERY hot steam. I'd give a lung to have one again. Doing dishes for an hour or more makes my back very sore, and I just don't have the time it seems, and I'm paranoid they aren't clean.

I would only buy items that I know are dishwasher safe, and just go for it. So convenient. You shouldn't have to pre-rinse anything, I'd just scrape meat and bones off plates into the trash if you eat meat. Everything else just magically disappears. So much nicer on the environment (less soap, lots less water).


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

They're not that convenient for everybody. I'd rather do hand dishes any day.


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## Mama2Xander (Jul 3, 2004)

I actually find dishwashers quite inconvenient. We don't currently have one, but I have had them sometimes in the past. I suppose they make more sense if you like to have a lot of dishes & utensils though. I am pretty minimalist, so a dishwasher just never worked out well for me. eg. all of the bowls would be dirty, and in the dishwasher, but you need a bowl for something you want to eat, but the dishwasher is only half full and isn't going to be run for awhile, so you take a dirty bowl out of the dishwasher and hand wash it... or you need the spatula, but it's in the dishwasher waiting for a full load so you can run it, so you take the spatula out and hand wash it... why not just hand wash everything in the first place?


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## Mamaluu (Dec 12, 2009)

Question for those of you who don't pre-rinse/pre-wash, who only dump the large chuncks (or not), load it straight into the washer and wait till it's full to run it - Can your washer get rid of all the stuff on the plates that are by then all dried up, hard, and sticking to the plates?

That is my reason for having to pre-rinse - my washer can't get rid of the stuff if they are all dried up and sticking to the plates/pots/silverware...

I agree that my I my washer is old, but can the new and top of the line washers allow me to dump the dishes straight in with all the crap on them (without pre-wash or pre-rinse), let the dirty dishes sit in the washer for a day or so (without being soaked) until it's full to run it, and have everything come out clean? If so, that would then really be helpful to me...


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## Baby_Cakes (Jan 14, 2008)

I love my dishwasher! I think I would be lost w/o it. I dishwash everything except for our large nonstick skillet. I loathe handwashing, but secretly I love to just take all the slimy dirty dishes from the sink and put them in and let them do their thing. It's much quicker to get in and out of the kitchen (load, push the button, and I'm done) than to stand there and wash, stack, dry. Unloading is a cinch if you load it right, too - it only takes a few min.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mama2Xander* 
I actually find dishwashers quite inconvenient. We don't currently have one, but I have had them sometimes in the past. I suppose they make more sense if you like to have a lot of dishes & utensils though. I am pretty minimalist, so a dishwasher just never worked out well for me. eg. all of the bowls would be dirty, and in the dishwasher, but you need a bowl for something you want to eat, but the dishwasher is only half full and isn't going to be run for awhile, so you take a dirty bowl out of the dishwasher and hand wash it... or you need the spatula, but it's in the dishwasher waiting for a full load so you can run it, so you take the spatula out and hand wash it... why not just hand wash everything in the first place?









We do have a fair number of dishes, but I find this happens all the time, too. I have "favourites" with utensils and dishes, so I use those ones a lot...which means they get dirty, and dh puts them in the dishwasher, and then I pull them out the next morning and wash them. It happens several times a week.


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## beanma (Jan 6, 2002)

I miss my crappy old dishwasher so much. We're right in the middle of a kitchen remodel and we're washing dishes in the basement bathroom sink. Ugh. Makes my back hurt just thinking about it. Our old dishwasher was a huge time-saver for us. Can't wait until our new one is in. We did do a very quick rinse with the old one, but it was hardly any more effort than taking the dishes to the sink. We never scrubbed. Just got the big chunks off. Composted what could be composted and then loaded up the dihwasher. If you don't leave the dishwasher open all day the rinsed dishes don't dry all hard and crunchy and even the crappy old dishwasher could get it all clean. We'd load throughout the day and run it after supper. Then we'd wake up to a dishwasher full of clean dishes. I'd put 'em away after the kids went to school. I miss it so much







.


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mamaluu* 
Question for those of you who don't pre-rinse/pre-wash, who only dump the large chuncks (or not), load it straight into the washer and wait till it's full to run it - Can your washer get rid of all the stuff on the plates that are by then all dried up, hard, and sticking to the plates?

Yes. A good dishwasher can handle that without any problem.


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## beanma (Jan 6, 2002)

Our old dishwasher was a lullaby for our kids. Knocked 'em right out to snooze land. The new ones are so quiet I don't think they have the same effect, but there were many many nights I was grateful for the white noise swooshing of our old dishwasher.


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## FtMPapa (Nov 13, 2006)

The dishwasher helps me because I put everything in it dirty, and 99% of it comes out clean an hour later. And it takes very little effort on my part. The End.

The longer version is that rinse aid makes a huge difference. Having a newer dishwasher makes a huge difference. The soap you use makes a huge difference. I use some sort of non-petrochemical rinse aid, and Mrs. Meyer's lemon verbena dishwasher soap.

You do need to rinse dishes, unless you're running it right away, like you can't leave crusted on nasty food on your plates and expect them to come out clean.

I do use it for pots and pans if I have room.

The only things I use on a regular basis that don't go in the dishwasher:
- Anything made of wood or with a wooden handle, so my cutting boards, except the one plastic one I use for raw meat
- My kitchen knives (It's terrible for them)

I don't use the heated dry, both to save energy and to not melt stuff. If you do, you don't want to put many plastic things in the dishwasher.

I mostly don't use tupperware or plastic storage containers, I use Mason jars for most food storage, and the glass comes a lot cleaner in the dishwasher than plastic does. Plastic doesn't really get clean anymore after it's been scratched up a bit, those little scratches are great places for stains and bacteria to live. And that's true whether you wash it by hand on in the dishwasher, but I do think the dishwasher is harder on most plastics.

My dishwasher is an EnergyStar, and according to the propaganda that came with it, it actually uses less water than washing a similar quantity of dishes by hand. I haven't actually measured it to see if that's true, because it would really depend on how much water you use when you wash by hand. I think for me it is true.

One place where you may not save energy is that you might have to turn your hot water tank's temperature up - mine was as low as it could go, and it turns out that's fine for the dishwasher. I haven't noticed any significant upward or downward change in my electric bill since I got the dishwasher a few months ago.

I do know that I run the dishwasher two/three times a week, I used to wash dishes every time I ate, or if they piled up, I could easily spend an hour every two or three days doing dishes. And I still pre-rinsed because stuck on food is nasty either way.


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## samy23 (Jul 23, 2008)

*I wish I had a dishwasher!* all you have to do is load it up and switch it on! Instead of standing there forever at the sink washing everything, rinsing it all, changing water when it gets dirty and starting allover again with the second half of dishes etc. ahhhh


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## Vaske (Jan 29, 2009)

I quit using our dishwasher because it really was only good for half of our dishwashing...mostly the easy half. I decided that if I had to wash the pots and pans anyway, then I wanted to consolidate the workflows and wash the pretty plates myself too.


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## Ola_ (Sep 5, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mamaluu* 
Question for those of you who don't pre-rinse/pre-wash, who only dump the large chunks (or not), load it straight into the washer and wait till it's full to run it - Can your washer get rid of all the stuff on the plates that are by then all dried up, hard, and sticking to the plates?

Yup. DH and I run the dishwasher probably every 3 days on average (we just don't make enough dishes to run it each day). What I do with dirty dishes is scrape any leftovers with the fork/spoon that we ate with into the compost bin and then plate/utensils go right into the dishwasher. If there's just crumbs of stuff sometimes I toss it in the compost, other times it just goes straight in like that.

I do handwash some stuff though - my good knives, wooden spoons/spatulas, and any handwash-only stuff (we have a few tea cups like that). I also usually wash pots/pans but that's just personal preference. Maybe that's why it takes us so long to fill the dishwasher.


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## NaturallyKait (Sep 22, 2006)

Oh I love dishwashers. Washing dishes has always been a major gross out thing for me. Put my hands into dirty water full of floating food my family refuses to rinse off before putting in the water? No thanks. I've also noticed that 95% of dish soap now makes my hands very dry and scaly, bad enough that DBF does the dishes because my hands look that bad, and he feels bad. At my parent's house we have one of the dishwashers a pp talked about that you wheel over to the sink and hook up, and it's not top of the line, but better than hand washing. We just quickly rinse dishes under hot water right after eating and the stuff of the plates comes right off, and load them into the dishwasher. If my brother and father are lazy and leave their dishes on the counter without rinsing (which happens a lot) then yes, they get crusty and need to be scrubbed, but as long as we do it right after we eat it's no problem.


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## mkksmom (Mar 24, 2008)

My dishwasher is like your dishwasher, OP. The main thing I found to make it really quick even having to pre-rinse is right after dinner, I load all of the dirty dishes into a dishpan and fill it with really hot water. I take a scouring pad and scrub/rinse dishes over the dishpan, and when it's full, I tun off the water. The dishes that sit in the hot water, usually just need a quick wipe before I stick them in the dishwasher. But yeah, I was surprised to learn that most dishwashers work so much better than mine. We are replacing our dishwasher this year. I just need to figure out which one to buy.


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## lucyem (Apr 30, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mamaluu* 
Here is what I don't get - you do need to scrub/pre-wash or at least rinse off the dishes & stuff on them before they go into the washer in order for them to come out clean (especially if the dishes are going to be sitting in the washer waiting for a while before they are run). It's not like you can literally dump all your dirty dishes straight into the washer from the dinning table. Now, that rinsing (sometimes even scrubbing), to me, is like enough manual labor I might as well put some soap on it and be done with it. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Anyways, my point is that because of the work involved in running the washer (such as what I just described, or having to wash things that can't go into the washer, for example), dish washer really doesn't save me much time and effort. How do I make it actually work for me?

A properly working dishwasher does not need dishes rinsed or scrubbed clean (And thats according to a Consumer Reports article I read once). Yes we scrape food into the trash or compost but then dishes go right into the dishwasher. (or they sit out a day or two and then into the dishwasher







) My motto is that if it does not get clean the first time it goes through a second







Though it is a rare item that does not get clean in the dishwasher the first time around.


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## mkksmom (Mar 24, 2008)

So I got a new dishwasher last weekend, and I'm in LOVE!! Life is so much easier!


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## Om Girl (May 10, 2006)

The dishwasher gets unloaded every morning and as the day progresses all dishes/cups/plates/utensils gets placed in and we run a full cycle every evening.

All heavy pots/pans get handwashed because they're cast iron, and they're done as soon as they're dirty!

Keeps my counters clean and my sink empty


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## ParisApril (Apr 2, 2006)

I bought a brand new dishwasher 2 years ago. I used it for a while and then stopped for a bit because I was having to wash all the bigger items by hand anyway. (I cook and bake a lot.) I figured if I had the sink half full of soapy water I might as well just wash the plates and glasses too.

Okay so a dishwasher might use less water (I use a small amount myself.) but they use way more energy/electricity than me hand washing them. When I stopped using my dishwasher my electricity bill went down $50 a month!









Quote:


Originally Posted by *cristeen* 
That being said, I have an older machine too, and I can't put anything in the machine that still has food on it. So everything gets a quick rinse (a soak if necessary), a quick pass-over with a scrub brush and into the machine.

See this I don't understand at all. If you were to add soap to that equation the dish would be clean and you wouldn't need the dishwasher at all.









I always wanted a dishwasher and then when I got one I realized I actually like to hand wash dishes. I don't understand the love of dishwashers they aren't as easy as they seem, I can wash a whole load by hand in less than 10 min. And they will certainly never be as cheap as my two hands.


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## *bejeweled* (Jul 16, 2003)

I







my dishwasher. We run it every other day. Only pots get hand washed.


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## Sharlla (Jul 14, 2005)

we have used our dishwasher,in fact its still full of dishes from the previous owner lol. dh does all the dishes.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Beauchamp (Jan 12, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Om Girl* 
The dishwasher gets unloaded every morning and as the day progresses all dishes/cups/plates/utensils gets placed in and we run a full cycle every evening.

All heavy pots/pans get handwashed because they're cast iron, and they're done as soon as they're dirty!

Keeps my counters clean and my sink empty









I want to do this. It sounds so nice.









We hand wash wood, pots and pans, sheet pans, Silpats, knives, water bottles, plastic stuff and baby stuff (Nuby sippy cup, Tiny Diner mat). DH loves to let this stuff pile up.







I usually end up washing it with DD on my back. We don't do heated dry either. Maybe I should ditch all the plastic I usually hand wash, or just put it in the dishwasher.

What's the best rinse aid?? We use Calgon for our hard water, plus a hanging Jet Dry basket thingy. Cascade dish soap, or Palmolive Eco. The 7th Gen didn't work for us.


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## Golden (Mar 15, 2002)

It sounds like you need a new dishwasher. When my old one was dying, it couldn't handle a full load. We got a new one recently. All I do is scrape off the dishes. No rinsing. Everything gets put in the dishwasher except pans and cutting boards. I top rack all the plastic.


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## sunnysandiegan (Mar 5, 2008)

We used to love our dishwasher! It is 8-9 years old now and probably could use a service call or replacing at this point, which irritates me beyond belief. Why aren't things made to last anymore???

(FWIW, we had annual service done for the first five years of its life and it ran beautifully for the first 7-8 years of its life. It has only been misbehaving the last year.)

We use it for everything, except:
~ good knives
~ wood items
~ thin plastic lids (which we hardly own anymore)

We have nice china and use it 4-5 times a year. I put it in the dishwasher 3-4 times a year and handwash it once or twice. It has a platinum edge and I was told it could go in the dishwasher, but not too often. No heat dry, which we never use anyway.

We have nice stainless steel cookware. I put it in the dishwasher when there is room, but that is only a few times a year. The cookware is fine, but the plastic handles don't do so well. (The skillets have stainless steel handles and I run those through more often. They are a more efficient design and fit better anyway.) I remove the plastic handles and thoroughly scrub the cookware once a year and run them through the dishwasher (no handles) to get the bottoms and handle/crevices fully clean. Otherwise, I handwash nightly inside and out.

Plain white vinegar works wonders as a rinse aid! It is slowly cleaning out our dishwasher. We've been using about a cup or more every time we run it (2-3 times a week) since the beginning of the year and the dishwasher is slowly returning to its previous standard of clean. Using LESS detergent also works better. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but it really does work.


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## iowaorganic (May 19, 2007)

We are moving in 2 weeks and the house has a portable dishwasher. I am beyond excited! I cook everything from scratch 3 meals/day. I have been hand washing only for over 5 years. That is a couple of hours/day standing at the sink. Rinsing immediately after you eat is so not a big deal!


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## proudmomof4 (Aug 29, 2006)

I'm so glad I have a dishwasher - and that's been a while now. But I think I can relate to what you're saying. When we moved to the U. S. (lived there from 1999 to 2004) I found that the dishwasher there didn't clean as well as the one I had had in Germany before. It basically felt like you had to wash the dishes before you put them in the dishwasher.

We replaced it with a German model back then (another family had it in their oversea container) and didn't have problems anymore. So maybe it would be worth it to take a closer look at your dishwasher to determine the problem or to replace it with something else.

Our dishwasher runs nearly once a day (see family size). I basically wash everything in there apart from our pots (mainly because of size) and the good kitchen knives. I also do plastic lids, usually on the top rack. As we have a model with a cutlery tray, I sort the cutlery when I load it as this makes for quick and easy unloading for the children.


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## gagin37 (May 25, 2008)

I have a dishwasher, I LOVE it! I have a tiny kitchen, with almost no counter space, so dirty dished piled up really quickly. I also had to battle my toddler during dish washing time. It was really hard to keep him occupied and not hanging on my clothes crying at me. So dh got me a portable dw for Christmas. Now the dirties go straight into the dishwasher and I can spend that time doing something else. It also gives me an extra counter top space. AND since it's only plugged in when it's on, ds can't mess with the buttons and turn it on himself.


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## limette (Feb 25, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Drummer's Wife* 
I would probably start buying paper plates and cups if I didn't have a dishwasher. I hate dishes as is, and the thought of having to handwash everything makes me want to run away.









I used to do that when dh went out of town for work. Because I don't wash dishes ever. It makes me gaggy.

After 6 years we finally bought a dishwasher and although it's a crappy one it's worth it's weight in gold for me.


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## SquishyKitty (Jun 10, 2005)

I pre-rinse/scrape at the same time I'm handwashing the big pots/pans/knives. It takes almost no extra time, just a quick rinse to get the chunks off, and the water is already running anyways.

I love my dishwasher.


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## proudmomof4 (Aug 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *gagin37* 
I have a dishwasher, I LOVE it! I have a tiny kitchen, with almost no counter space, so *dirty dished piled up really quickly.* (...)

That's the really important part for me. I don't even mind washing dishes so much (even though it can be time-consuming when you do it for 6 people) but with a dishwasher you have a safe place to put away the dirty dishes.

NB: My last post might've sounded a bit funny to American readers. We aren't / weren't "biased" against American dishwashers - but the model we had back then downright sucked. And as we were of course more familiar with German brands we picked one on our first trip home. (That dishwasher "moved back to Germany" with us when we repatriated 4 years later.)


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ParisApril* 
Okay so a dishwasher might use less water (I use a small amount myself.) but they use way more energy/electricity than me hand washing them. When I stopped using my dishwasher my electricity bill went down $50 a month!

















Is electricity really expensive where you are or did you turn up your AC to compensate for the heat from the DW or was it really THAT inefficient. Using my dishwasher daily my electric bills during the summer are all under $50.


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## Smidge (Aug 29, 2007)

My MIL bought me my first DWer in Nov 09. I love that thing and I hate doing the dishes. I had a bunch of cast iron before then and donated it all b/c I couldn't put it in the DWer. I have all stainless steel now and love it.

As for our tiny galley kitchen, I have about 5' of counter space, so it's priceless and I don't want to clutter it up with dirty dishes


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## MJB (Nov 28, 2009)

We're moving in a week to a house with a dishwasher, and man, am I excited! I'm also having a baby in July and do not want to be spending half an hour or more doing dishes every day. I don't mind doing them now, but I don't currently have an infant or toddler which obviously makes a huge difference to how much free time I have! Although the more pregnant I get the more irritating it is to stand on my feet with my belly squashed into the counter, getting sweaty and gross from the hot water.


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## ParisApril (Apr 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sapphire_chan* 







Is electricity really expensive where you are or did you turn up your AC to compensate for the heat from the DW or was it really THAT inefficient. Using my dishwasher daily my electric bills during the summer are all under $50.

I've never really thought our electricity was that expensive.







And no it wasn't AC. Because although I have an air conditioner but haven't turned it on in over 5 years.


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## marrymeflyfree (Jan 5, 2008)

We skip the sink and put our dirty dishes right into the dishwasher throughout the day, and start the cycle as we're locking up the house to go to bed...and empty it again first thing in the morning while making breakfast. I scrap the big chunks off and give the plates a quick rinse if there is a lot of gunk, but that's probably not necessary since we have a very new/heavy duty DW. Hand-washed things are usually washed right after use; wooden cutting boards, the good knives, wine glasses, cast iron, that sort of thing. Everything else goes in the DW, and on the top rack if I'm nervous about that. To save energy, I always turn off the 'heat dry' feature since the things have several hours to dry overnight.


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## proudmomof4 (Aug 29, 2006)

I just came across this on Yuhoo - thought it might be helpful for "dishwasher newbies":

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/a...r-loading.html


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## proudmomof4 (Aug 29, 2006)

Here's another helpful article:
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/s...asher-1677291/


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