Dishwasher real world costs

jpaul said:
if you are cooking from scratch, often need soapy hot water to wash utensils up mid process (unless you have massive duplication) eg. wooden chopping board / favourite knife / measuring jugs / sieves / saucepans + hands.
so wash up as you go ? ... giving negligible wasted time.
If you use Pb wine glasses too, these don't go in dishwasher.

How often do you need to clean dishwasher filters to keep them efficient ?
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I think we've manually cleaned the inside of our dishwater once in 4 years, plus run it empty every 2-3 months. Still cleans as well as it did on day one.
 
Uses far less for me, I cant wash with a wash bowl(freaks me out) I have to wash things in running water, also use loads of washing up liquid. :p
 
chroniclard said:
Uses far less for me, I cant wash with a wash bowl(freaks me out) I have to wash things in running water, also use loads of washing up liquid. :p
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I can't stand washing up bowls either, feels really grim after a couple of dishes that you're just spreading dirt across all your other dishes!

We've had a dishwasher since about 2 months after i moved out of my parents 10+ years ago, tried to handwash to start with as there is just 2 of us but for the sake of a few quid i value my time way more than standing by the sink for 20 minutes every evening. If you load as you go after each meal, drink or whatever it takes no extra time and then maybe 2-3 minutes to unload it twice a week.
 
Definitely more than my washing up style (leave the tap running and wash items one by one - the other half is better but she definitely uses more than 2 bowls worth of water for the dishes!
 
jpaul said:
if you are cooking from scratch, often need soapy hot water to wash utensils up mid process (unless you have massive duplication) eg. wooden chopping board / favourite knife / measuring jugs / sieves / saucepans + hands.
so wash up as you go ? ... giving negligible wasted time.
If you use Pb wine glasses too, these don't go in dishwasher.

How often do you need to clean dishwasher filters to keep them efficient ?
Click to expand...

I have duplication of most things so very rarely need to wash something up mid cook and if I own something that isn't dishwasher safe I wash it in the dishwasher until it dies and then replace it with something that is!
 
Dishwasher is an essential for me, I'll admit to being a bit funny about washing up but after living with a housemate who's idea of washing up was rinsing under the tap and leaving to dry with food still visibly on it I've hated the idea of hand washing. Puts you right off your meal when you pull out a plate and you can see food remains from the previous day.

Plus no one seems to rinse so glasses taste like soap.

Dishwasher sorts it all no problem, some things need a quick rinse before but very rarely does anything come out dirty.
 
Rotty said:
never understood dishwashers, surely in the time you spend loading and unloading you could hand wash them anyway
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**** no.

Saves me about 20 to 30 minutes a day for family of four. It's horrible if we go on holiday somewhere that doesn't have a dishwasher.
 
We have had ours since we bought our house 2 years ago. Ours goes on normally i would say every other day. We are on a water and leccy meter and they are really low so i never hesitate to put it on. We always use full wash as eco can sometimes leave residue. Wife always gets the tablets when they are reduced.
 
Mine runs almost everyday unless we've gone out to eat.

It easily gets filled to point where it's worth running. I mainly work from home, and the wife only works part-time, so there's plenty of opportunity to dirty things.
 
Rotty said:
people use them about twice a week? so you leave dirty dishes sat in there for 3 or 4 days? :eek:
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One of the most underrated qualities of a dishwasher, is somewhere to put the mucky dishes on a busy evening or after having friends round. Close the door. Out of sight.
Why waste the evening washing and drying, or worse, leave a mountain of washing up to wake up to in the morning.
At our first home, we went for 5 years without one. washing up is a pain, and wastes far more water IMO.
I think a dishwasher is one of those items that once you have had one, you would never want to be without it.
Ours is on approximately every other day. Loading it take minutes. My 4 year old excels at it. :p
I will be honest, the amount of water it uses has never crossed my mind.
 
ttaskmaster said:
Whatever the wife cooks, it seems to require far more pots, pans, oven dishes, spoons, blenders, mixers and other weird kitchen thingies than anything I rustle up. As a consequence you can lose most of the evening to hand-washing... and sinks are seemingly built for short-arses, so add crippling backache to the mix.

I'm not exactly the poster-boy for any technology built after the 1700s, but a dishwasher is pretty high on even my ranking.... just below the belt-fed machine-gun, in fact!! :D
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At least I’m not the only one that this happens to. That pain as you have to force yourself upright again. :(

jpaul said:
if you are cooking from scratch, often need soapy hot water to wash utensils up mid process (unless you have massive duplication) eg. wooden chopping board / favourite knife / measuring jugs / sieves / saucepans + hands.
so wash up as you go ? ... giving negligible wasted time.
If you use Pb wine glasses too, these don't go in dishwasher.

How often do you need to clean dishwasher filters to keep them efficient ?
Click to expand...

why do you need to wash so much and so thoroughly?:confused: a quick wipe with a wet cloth is usually good if you actually need to wash it at all.

But then I’m one of those sickos that uses the same spoon to stir both the spaghetti and bolognese sauce!
 
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Filters is 90% how good you are at scraping the plates of anything before you put them in
My other half is terrible, but then she put the same into a washing up bowl, used to look like a scotch broth when you tipped it out, nearly made me vomit thinking food utensils etc were "washed" in that

Assuming you scrape the majority off empty the filter every so often, it just reduces spray performance if you dont
If like me you have someone who thinks its a dishwasher / come food disposal unit I empty every couple of weeks. Its easy though, reach in, twist, run under the tap for a min or so.

She also fails to get the simple principle, water is thrown around so everything needs to be open, yet she always loads scissors closed as "they are safer"
99% of the time they go back in when I unload.

We have eg 4 chopping boards, 3 sets of scissors so nearly always a clean load

Biggest win is xmas day, washin up by had was an hour chore. Now its 5 mins, load and press start, a couple of hours later empty, re load, press start. All done.
 
washing up is now a lost skill - they commented yesterday @R4 that most millenials/Xfactors cannot wire a plug / bleed a radiator / turn off house stop-****. (too GD'ish)

..not sure the average washer can handle a french style 32cm diameter dinner plate for xmas day
 
Reasons not to have a dishwasher.

Original cost.
Loss of a cupboard space in a kitchen.
More plumbing.

Less seriously, ;)
Man needs to do something while soaps are on TV.
There is also a zen aspect to doing the work and doing it well, stacking dishes expertly on the drainer and tidying away afterwards.
Rewarding your partner by recognising his/her skill in providing the meal.
Washing up during meal preparation minimises it at the end.

However if it suits your life, get one.
 
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