mom4him Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Our dishwasher has died, again and as I was washing up the dishes that were in it I got to thinking, do any of you wash dishes by hand instead of having a dishwasher? If so why? If not why? I have always thought that I needed a dishwasher as we have had one since shortly after we were married but I had a lot of dishes to do and really, it didn't take that long to do them by hand. If I knew how to do a pole I would but......:001_smile: I really do not want to put money into a new one right now and I also don't want to put money into this one.:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We've had a dishwasher off and on since we've been married. It really doesn't bother me to do the dishes by hand, although I don't mind using the dishwashers if there is one. But it's an appliance I can happily live without. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Ohh no. I do three loads a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We have hard water and the non-phosphate dw soap does not work well at getting the dishes clean. I practically wash them already before I put them in the dw and run it. I wash a lot of things by hand already, large knives, most cookware, and anything that won't fit in the dw. While we were getting our dw issues straightened out, I washed all of the dishes by hand. I thought it was time consuming, but as it is now, I put almost as much time into it with the pre-washing. On the plus side, the dw makes a great drying rack. I'd go crazy if all of those dishes had to dry on my countertop. That's the one advantage of a ds that doesn't work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2myboys Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I wash everything by hand as we have no dishwasher and no room to put one here. We had a dishwasher for a few years before we moved here and I miss it. I hate doing dishes anyway and having to do them by hand makes me dread it more. :tongue_smilie: If you don't mind dishes, it may not be so bad. Dishes are the chore that I least like to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We have a 3 year old dishwasher. We use it for a drying rack. I got tired of having to rewash dishes. We bought a good model but we live in an area that has very hard water. What's a dishwasher to do? So, I do dishes after lunch and again after dinner. It isn't a big deal. They dry in the dishwasher so they aren't cluttering up my counters. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) I have a dishwasher but often do dishes by hand. Reasons why: 1. many pots & pans that don't fit or don't come clean in the dishwasher 2. little plastic dishes that don't fit and will flip over & fill with water in the dishwasher (we have several small kid/baby-size bowls that are very handy for snacks, but there's no compartment that will hold them in the dishwasher. I'm not ready to give them up yet) 3. stoneware pans that can't go in dishwasher anyway 4. I get more done if I just stand there and wash for a few minutes, especially those pesky non-dishwasher items that would pile up otherwise 5. since our water pressure valve was fixed, we get less water pressure to all our appliances/faucets, which is ok, except the dishwasher doesn't clean nearly as well anymore. Edited January 9, 2011 by gardening momma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skirch Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We have a 3 year old dishwasher. We use it for a drying rack. I got tired of having to rewash dishes. We bought a good model but we live in an area that has very hard water. What's a dishwasher to do? So, I do dishes after lunch and again after dinner. It isn't a big deal. They dry in the dishwasher so they aren't cluttering up my counters. HTH This is what happens at my house. We have always had diswashers but for some reason, I always just wash them by hand anyway and set them in the dishwasher to dry. then dh comes along and runs it before he goes to bed - so we have really clean dishes here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secular_mom Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I handwash often, and I've found that our dishwasher makes an excellent dishrack for drying the dishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mejane Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We have a dishwasher, but I will often wash a few dishes quickly by hand. It's actually one of the few household chores I don't hate, but that's probably because I don't have to do it. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I love my dishwasher. :) I rarely have to clean anything off dishes that have been through a dw cycle; I don't know if it's my dishwasher detergent (Amway) or if I'm just lucky. :D I put dishes in the dishwasher all day and run it when it's full, then empty it; makes keeping the kitchen clean a breeze because there are never dirty dishes sitting in the sink, or clean dishes stacked up on the side waiting to be put away. And there have been things that came out much cleaner in the dw (such as my Princess House salad bowl, which I thought was clean until it went through the dw). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 When I first moved into my house 14 years ago, there was a dishwasher, but it didn't clean the dishes good enough so I never used it. I would wash all of the dishes by hand and use the racks in the dishwasher to let them drip dry before putting them away. I did that for years. If I cooked a big meal with lots of pots and pans, I could be in the kitchen washing dishes for hours. My husband finally got me a good dishwasher over summer and it is wonderful. I told him that unless it cleaned the dishes as well or better than I do I know I won't use it. We got a really nice Maytag and it is wonderful. It has really simplified my life and cut my time down in the kitchen. It cleans everything really well and believe me I inspected carefully and it sanitizes the dishes too which I really like. I really love my dishwasher. If I had to be without it, I would miss it, but I always washed dishes by hand before so I could do it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We have hard water and the non-phosphate dw soap does not work well at getting the dishes clean. I practically wash them already before I put them in the dw and run it. I wash a lot of things by hand already, large knives, most cookware, and anything that won't fit in the dw. While we were getting our dw issues straightened out, I washed all of the dishes by hand. I thought it was time consuming, but as it is now, I put almost as much time into it with the pre-washing. On the plus side, the dw makes a great drying rack. I'd go crazy if all of those dishes had to dry on my countertop. That's the one advantage of a ds that doesn't work! This is me/dh. I realized it was stupid to wash them, and then put them in the dw to wash some more. Now we only use the dw when we get behind and have a LOT. I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses the dw as a drying rack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mynyel Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I love a dishwasher. Ours has been on the fritz and I just hate doing them by hand. It is a pain for me. The kids can do them but they don't get clean. The kids don't do a very good job because they hate it too. If I can have a dishwasher I will use it. To be honest, I don't mind doing a few by hand but when every. single. dish. in the cupboards is used I don't want to do them by hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenpatty Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Our dishwasher died a few months ago. I'd rather wash them by hand than spend the $ to buy a new one. And there are a lot of us, so there are always a lot of dishes. We had been running the dishwasher three times a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I vastly prefer having a dishwasher. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love3es Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Our dishwasher died back in August, and we just got around to replacing it this past week (yesterday in fact!). I didn't mind doing dishes by hand when it was just me and my dh. However, now with 3 kiddos, I find myself constantly doing dishes. UGH! I honestly think our dishwasher (old and new) get dishes cleaner than hand washing. We don't pre-rinse unless there are large bits of food left on the dishes. (We just use our napkins to wipe leftover food into the trashcan after meals.) We specifically bought a model with a food grinder for this reason. They aren't as quiet, but I like the convenience of not pre-rinsing everything. After all, if I have to pre-rinse it, why not just hand wash it! I don't mind doing dishes by hand occasionally, but I love my dishwasher! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 My dish washing machine broke two years ago. I've been doing dishes by hand since then. I don't miss the machine. I usually had to pretty much put clean dishes in for them to really get clean anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 On the plus side, the dw makes a great drying rack. I'd go crazy if all of those dishes had to dry on my countertop. That's the one advantage of a ds that doesn't work! I saw you post this before, and it was such a light bulb moment for me. I as going crazy with drying dishes on my counter all the time. Thank you for pointing out an obviously easy solution. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We haven't had a dishwasher since we got married. We've just never lived somewhere that had one. I'd love one, but it's not the end of the world. It's definitely on my list for the next place we move, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I've always done our dishes by hand because, well we've never had a dishwasher. I don't think it's bad and kids help. I don't have many dishes so I'd have to run the stupid machine 3x/day anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We don't have a dishwasher and I hate washing dishes by hand. But part of that is because I use a lot of untensils and pots/pans while preparing meals so I have a lot to wash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Our dishwasher died last spring and we havn't replaced it for various reasons. I don't mind washing by hands. I do them twice a day. I do it by myself once and the kids help me the other time. This is my time to think. Washing dishes is cathartic for me. When the kids help me, we have great discussions. I enjoy that time together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsrevmeg Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We have had a portable dishwasher for the past few years. (living a parsonage, just thank to have a dishwasher at all.) It did not do a good job cleaning dishes, especially with environmentally friendly detergents. Our faucet started leaking a few months back. After replacing it, the dishwasher leaks. So we do dishes by hand. It is aggravating. However, for the present time, it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I hate washing by hand. Having a dishwasher again is in the top 5 reasons for moving once more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I've had a dishwasher most of the time I've been married w/children. I don't have one now. :glare: Washing dishes is just moments of my life I can never get back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 A good dishwasher uses less water / soap / energy than hand-washing the same quantity of dishes. That, and I'd hate, hate, hate having to wash and dry them all by hand. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseball mom Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 All dishes are handwashed and mostly by me. A few years after we married I bought a portable dishwasher from a friend of mine. She had just purchased it a couple months before then moved to a house that had a built in one. She sold it to me really cheap. Several years ago the dishwasher died and we didn't have the money to replace it. I used it as a big drying rack for a while then in a decluttering spree I ditched the dishwasher. I would like one but for now I just keep handwashing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Oh, definitely a dishwasher! No "pre-washing" here; the only thing we have to watch out for is pasta (pasta on plate put into the dishwasher doesn't go anywhere, it just becomes very clean pasta). The only way I would even consider doing dishes by hand is if I had an oversized dual sink, large enough for big pots to be immersed, etc. and three sinks would be preferable (what? it makes sense: one for dirty dishes, one for rinsing, one for using). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I currently don't have a dishwasher. I would like one. I wash dishes and put them in a drying rack on the counter. I don't bother drying dishes. They are dry in a couple hours. I have other stuff to get done. I hope to have a new dish washer within a year. Our dishwasher had a slow leak. By the time we discovered it the dishwasher was irreparable and the leak had caused considerable problems with the surrounding floor and cabinet, plus mold in the walls. We discovered the problem in August. Dh said, we'll get everything fixed by Thanksgiving. .... So here I am. Very little has actually been done. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 also, when you pay for water, a low water dishwasher is a blessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MangoMama Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 A good dishwasher uses less water / soap / energy than hand-washing the same quantity of dishes. That, and I'd hate, hate, hate having to wash and dry them all by hand. ;) This. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildiris Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Dishwasher...what is that???? I've washed dishes by hand forever--never had a dishwasher. I use to not like dish washing, but I learned to use it as time for me since it takes about an hour to wash all the dishes I find a good use of my time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 When we moved to a beach house 5 years ago, I left a house with a dishwasher. So for 4 years, I washed everything by hand and didn't mind it too much. :glare: Except holiday and fancy meals were a pain... Now that I'm going on a year with a dishwasher, we won't go without one again. I LOVE going to bed at night with my dishwasher and washer/dryer working in the background. It makes me giggle to think that my house is cleaning while I'm sleeping. And I do use a lot less water when I load the dishwasher full everytime - which I do 99% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighton Academy Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We've pretty much always had a dishwasher all of our married life. In the past I usually never used it because it didn't work well. Then we got a nice dishwasher with the disposal and all built in. It was wonderful!! We moved and the dishwasher wasn't so great so I was back to handwashing and using the dishwasher as a drying rack. We've moved yet again and I use the dishwasher everyday. Although we only run it once a day. I still handwash the pots and pans, wooden cooking utensils and knives since it's not good for them to put them in the dishwasher. I don't mind this though as I usually do it while I'm cooking so clean-up is a breeze. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We don't have a dishwasher because our kitchen is tiny. I could fit a small one in, but it would mean the items in that space would need a new home, probably the basement. However, this year we might be putting on an addition, and if so, I will probably redo the kitchen and add a dishwasher. I don't mind hand washing, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicCole Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) I love my dishwasher. Saves me alot of time and energy. I have way to much going on to spend all of my time doing dishes and cooking. I always have a load going at bedtime as well as a load of laundry washing and drying. In the morning all I have to do is grab a load of clothes to fold and put another in the dryer. Start another to wash. Unload dishwasher quickly. Fill it as the day progresses. Turn on when full. Usually by lunch time. Which is a great time to change the laundry as well. Edited January 9, 2011 by ClassicCole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Well, there's an easy way to find out how you'd really feel about it. Don't replace your dishwasher right away! Wash dishes by hand for a few weeks/months and see how tedious it gets for you. Then you can make an informed decision based on how you know you feel about handwashing. For the first five years we lived in this house, we had an ancient, ancient clunker of a dishwasher. Then we had a piece of junk new dishwasher. When that started dying after just a year, I decided I really didn't mind handwashing and we'd just wait on the new dishwasher. Turned out that, for me, handwashing didn't seem so bad until I had to do it all day, every day! We had a new dishwasher within a few months. I know I could go without one if I absolutely had to, but I feel like it makes a huge difference in my quality of life. After dinner I can drop in the dishes and go spend time with my family rather than stand there for 45 minutes washing dishes, and I don't have to wake up to a miserable kitchen in the morning because I ran out of steam the night before. If I CAN have a dishwasher, I'll always choose to. If not, well, then I handwash and train my DDs to do the same:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbeee Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 dishwash by hand, air dry. no microwave. the both are unnecessary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gratia271 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We have a dishwasher but wash many things by hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We have a dishwasher and I use it, sort of, but I don't trust it with much - everything is pretty well clean before it even goes into it because of my soak/scrub routine. To me it's just a big rinser. And I'm irritated that it requires a very delicate balance of detergent and citric acid to keep the dishes from coming out of it funky. I am just not a fan of dishwashers. I can wash dishes by hand without using a ton of water. When our detergent runs out, I am not going to replace it - I will just start using the dishwasher for a final rinser and drying rack. If we were redoing the cabinets, I would be just as happy to leave the dishwasher out and have more cabinet space...but DH would never agree as it would affect the saleability of our house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Buckin' Longhorn Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We have a dishwasher, but I don't use it. I think I've used it 3 or 4 times total in all the years we've lived here. I prefer to wash them by hand. They really do seem cleaner to me that way. Also, I love listening to books on my ipod. When I clean the kitchen, which includes washing dishes, sanitizing counter tops, and sweeping and mopping the floor, no one bothers me. ;) It's the hour or so every day that I get all to myself. It may sound silly, but I actually look forward to it some days, LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We have a dishwasher and I use it, sort of, but I don't trust it with much - everything is pretty well clean before it even goes into it because of my soak/scrub routine. To me it's just a big rinser. And I'm irritated that it requires a very delicate balance of detergent and citric acid to keep the dishes from coming out of it funky. I am just not a fan of dishwashers. I can wash dishes by hand without using a ton of water. When our detergent runs out, I am not going to replace it - I will just start using the dishwasher for a final rinser and drying rack. If we were redoing the cabinets, I would be just as happy to leave the dishwasher out and have more cabinet space...but DH would never agree as it would affect the saleability of our house. Have you ever tried using white vinegar in the rinse aid cup? I'd never done this before a month or so ago, but I was getting increasingly frustrated by how my dishes were coming out compared to when the machine was new. I'd never used any kind of rinse aid before ever, but decided to give this a last-ditch attempt, and now my dishes come out better than ever, even when I have big bowls and pans in there that block a lot of the water. In fact, I was started to get annoyed again just a few days ago when it occurred to me to check the level, and sure enough, it was empty. I reloaded, and my dishwasher's happy again :D If you haven't tried it, maybe it will help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 The vinegar wasn't strong enough, so I switched to LemiShine, and now just use a tsp of citric acid. When I wash them by hand, I need only drops of Sal Suds to soak and scrub. Then they get a dunk in some diluted Clorox Cleanup...and they are all perfect, so easily. I'll still use the dishwasher for the quick rinse cycle though. And it does make a great drying rack ! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 The vinegar wasn't strong enough, so I switched to LemiShine, and now just use a tsp of citric acid. When I wash them by hand, I need only drops of Sal Suds to soak and scrub. Then they get a dunk in some diluted Clorox Cleanup...and they are all perfect, so easily. I'll still use the dishwasher for the quick rinse cycle though. And it does make a great drying rack ! ;) Ah, gotcha :D Yes, we had an old clunker that, at the end, was used a nice, roomy drying rack for a few months. It was nice to not have to wash in shifts :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We don't have a dishwasher. I have had one in the past, before we downsized our house, but I don't miss it. It seems that it took me almost as long to rinse dishes to go in the dishwasher as it does to hand wash them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Everyone has a different opinion about this! The time in my life when I didn't have a dishwasher, I was very unorganized about housecleaning and it was a disaster. I could probably live w/o a dishwasher now, but I really wouldn't want to. But my mother, who has a dishwasher, prefers to wash by hand. It's her "alone" time and makes her feel like she's accomplished something at the end of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest khorlith Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 The vinegar wasn't strong enough, so I switched to LemiShine, and now just use a tsp of citric acid. When I wash them by hand, I need only drops of Sal Suds to soak and scrub. Then they get a dunk in some diluted Clorox Cleanup...and they are all perfect, so easily. I'll still use the dishwasher for the quick rinse cycle though. And it does make a great drying rack ! ;) The dishwasher that came with our house is a POS. If we don't rinse by hand (and I'm talking about small stuff like a few grains of rice), it ends up welded to the dish (or cutlery) and you need a chisel to get it off. :tongue_smilie: Even without the chunks, there always seems to be a film of soap on stuff afterwards. I'll check out LemiShine. We already tried using Vinegar and it didn't help too much. Until then, or until I break down and look into getting a new dishwasher, we're doing it by hand. Thanks for posting that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangomoon Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We've lived in this house 5 years without a dishwasher (no place in the kitchen to really put one). While there are days that I really wish that we had one, it's not that bad for now. It does really force me to keep up with them, since there's no nice place to stash them out of sight. And it won't be too many more years until the kids can take over the job sometimes. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2Many4 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I wash everything by hand as we have no dishwasher and no room to put one here. We had a dishwasher for a few years before we moved here and I miss it. I hate doing dishes anyway and having to do them by hand makes me dread it more. :tongue_smilie: If you don't mind dishes, it may not be so bad. Dishes are the chore that I least like to do. :iagree: This exactly for me as well. Couldn't have said it better myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.