# Dishwasher or wash by hand?



## Alain Gomez (Nov 12, 2010)

Which do you do?  State your case!

I've always washed by hand.  My argument being that a dishwasher is a waste of time due to the fact that you have to rinse each dish briefly in water anyway.  A few more seconds on each dish and the dish could be completely clean rather than having to wait an hour for a rinse cycle.


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## loonlover (Jul 4, 2009)

Not currently having a dishwasher, they are done by hand around here.  However, I was known to wash them by hand when I had a dishwasher simply because that meant they were done quickly and efficiently.  The time I miss a dishwasher the most is when we have dirtied a bunch of glasses.


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## Alain Gomez (Nov 12, 2010)

loonlover said:


> Not currently having a dishwasher, they are done by hand around here. However, I was known to wash them by hand when I had a dishwasher simply because that meant they were done quickly and efficiently. The time I miss a dishwasher the most is when we have dirtied a bunch of glasses.


Oh I hate that. My coffee cups tend to pile up quickly.


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## Tripp (May 28, 2009)

Dishwasher whenever I can.  My dishwasher has a disposal feature so I scrape off the big bits and put dishes in unrinsed.  Even dried egg yolk comes clean.  I couldn't imagine washing by hand in our house.


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

Next to the Kindle, the dishwasher is one of mankind's greatest achievements.......hides clutter during the day; press the button at bedtime.....come morning, everything clean. Empty it while the coffee is brewing....


(Yes ladies, I am a bachelor !)


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## Alain Gomez (Nov 12, 2010)

Tripp said:


> Dishwasher whenever I can. My dishwasher has a disposal feature so I scrape off the big bits and put dishes in unrinsed. Even dried egg yolk comes clean. I couldn't imagine washing by hand in our house.


Ooo... that is a nice feature.

By the by, I like your corgi picture. I am a corgi person myself


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

My old boss used to wash dishes - by hand - and then put them in the dishwasher!


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

A dishwasher actually uses less water for an entire load of dishes than you would use to wash them all by hand. I believe mine uses just over six gallons.


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## sherylb (Oct 27, 2008)

Wash by hand always. Grew up doing that with two brothers and never saw the need for a dishwasher.


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## 25803 (Oct 24, 2010)

I have a dishwasher.  His name is John


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

I'm a dishwasher person, DH is a by hand person. we each think the other person is insane.


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

dishwasher, but I like knowing that DD's dishes are sterile


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## JMelzer (Mar 21, 2010)

I was always a wash by hand kind of guy when I was a bachelor, but now that I'm 9 days away from getting married and living with my soon-to-be wife, we have a dishwasher. I'll never go back to hands ever again.


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## Carol Hanrahan (Mar 31, 2009)

Fine china, like my teacups - by hand because they are rimmed in gold.  Most pots and pans by hand.  The rest in the dishwasher.  As usual, I can't make up my mind.....


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

Neither! Paper plates!


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 7, 2010)

By hand. 

Beyond the fact that we don't have a dishwasher, after working at 52nd Street Restaurant Deli in High School, where every plate, fork, glass, pot, pan, etc. was washed by hand--keeping me quite busy 8 hours a day, 5 summer days a week, doing dishes at home is a breeze by comparison.

Splitting of duties. Wife hates doing dishes, so I do. She does laundry. Works for me.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Tripp said:


> Dishwasher whenever I can. My dishwasher has a disposal feature so I scrape off the big bits and put dishes in unrinsed. Even dried egg yolk comes clean. I couldn't imagine washing by hand in our house.


This for me, too. I sometimes wash by hand when I only have a few things. I'd rather be without my washing machine than my dishwasher.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

JMelzer said:


> now that I'm 9 days away from getting married


You're getting married on my birthday!


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## Bonbonlover (Oct 17, 2010)

JMelzer said:


> I was always a wash by hand kind of guy when I was a bachelor, but now that I'm 9 days away from getting married and living with my soon-to-be wife, we have a dishwasher. I'll never go back to hands ever again.


[move]Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!![size=28pt]


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## JoeMitchell (Jun 6, 2010)

Unless there's no powder, always the dishwasher.  We have a dog whose job it is to pre-wash any plates, bowls, pots, or pans as we dirty them, and she loves her job.  Dirty dishes go into the dishwasher looking clean, and come out truly clean.  It works out great.  I highly recommend the dog/dishwasher combo!


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

Dishwasher whenever possible. The good knives, cast iron pans, cutting boards for vegetables, etc. are washed by hand. (These items never sit in the sink.) Anything that has touched raw meat or eggs, and anything that has been eaten from goes in the dishwasher. If anything has been sitting around a while usually goes into the dishwasher as well. I cannot wash with hot enough water by hand to make me happy.


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## CaitLondon (Oct 12, 2010)

If I have a ton of people here, I use the dishwasher for dishes, but generally end up hand-washing pots/pans as there isn't room enough.

My dishwasher is hot enough to bend fork tines if they are put down in the rack, rather than up. Not liking that one bent tine.

With just the couple of us, I hand wash more. I use baking soda, believe in Dawn diswashing, and often bleach my cutting boards. Plus I periodically olive oil wooden handles, etc. Air Dry. They have little mats for that now, which was a surprise. I'm considering getting a bamboo steamer and I'm worried about that, but I guess I'll bleach like everything else. They say to keep your fish etc specifically on one, like you separate cutting boards.

If I'm canning, I always use my dishwasher for jars and inspect thoroughly before filling.


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## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

It depends on the mood and the weather. If it's cold out and I've just come in from work, I like washing dishes by hand to warm myself up. Actually, I enjoy washing dishes in general. Not sure why.


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## gina1230 (Nov 29, 2009)

Dishwasher for me.  DH likes to soak the dirty dishes in the sink.  Then I have to stick my hands in cold, nasty water to put them in the dishwasher.  I just don't understand why he can't put them directly into the dishwasher.  He says it's because I would just go behind him and rearrange the dirty dishes.


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## Sendie (Dec 3, 2009)

I prefer the dishwasher - so easy to just put your dish in it when your done and at night just push a button and have clean dishes in the morning.  In this new place I have no choice since there is no dishwasher, I have to do them by hand


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## Alain Gomez (Nov 12, 2010)

For those who favor the dishwasher:

Don't you find that your glassware gets foggy after repeated washings?  Despite experimentation with various soaps, I find all glasses begin to look less than pristine.  How am I supposed to view my wine properly as I swirl it?


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## Alain Gomez (Nov 12, 2010)

4Katie said:


> My old boss used to wash dishes - by hand - and then put them in the dishwasher!


LOL! This totally sounds like something my mother would do. We have nicknamed them "Martha moments."


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## Pawz4me (Feb 14, 2009)

Both.

I use the dishwasher as much as possible since it uses much less water than hand washing.  Mine also has the disposal feature, so little/no rinsing is necessary.  Plus it usually does a much better job than I do.  But I usually hand wash pots and pans.  I don't mind doing those as much as I do the smaller items.


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## lonestar (Feb 9, 2010)

We haven't had a dishwasher in 27 years so hand washing is it.  I use very hot water but wear heavy duty gloves called bluettes.  I use those for all cleaning.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Alain Gomez said:


> Which do you do? State your case!
> 
> I've always washed by hand. My argument being that a dishwasher is a waste of time due to the fact that you have to rinse each dish briefly in water anyway. A few more seconds on each dish and the dish could be completely clean rather than having to wait an hour for a rinse cycle.


If you have to rinse your dishes for the dishwasher to clean them, maybe you need a new dishwasher. 

That was exactly the situation with the one that came in the house when we bought it. So I really only used it when we had a lot of dishes to do. . .of course, then my son was living at home and a teenage boy can, as many of you will know, use a lot of dishes in a day.  I have a friend, with a very good quality dishwasher, who still routinely washes her dishes -- not just running them under water to get off big pieces, but wiping them with a soapy dish sponge -- and then puts them in the dishwasher and runs it nightly. . . .don't get that at all. . .though I guess they do get 'sanitized' that way.

We now have a newer better dishwasher and it can clean pretty much anything. Now, though, there are only two of us. So if it's just one or two plates or something, I'll sometimes do 'em by hand. But usually, I just put 'em in the dishwasher straighaway. . .though I do give 'em a quick rinse as we only end up running it about once a week, with maybe a rinse cycle in between if I've put in something that has more than the usual amount of gunk on it. (I've tried to explain to my husband that if he rinses it right away it will clean up better in the dishwasher, but he usually leaves it to petrify. If it's a snack he's had after I've gone to bed, it's pretty hardened the next morning.  )

For pans and such that can't go in it. . . .I put those to soak overnight in soapy water and wash 'em in the morning. Takes about 2 minutes that way, rather than 10 minutes each of scrubbing. 

So, re-reading that I appear to be contradicting myself: Here's the situation. If I'm going to be running the dishwasher right away. . . .I don't bother to rinse. If it's going to sit a bit, I do, because otherwise the dishwasher gets smelly.


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## cmg.sweet (Jul 6, 2010)

I favor dishwasher.  We paid for the thing, might as well use it!

My hubby favors by hand, partially because he doesn't understand the need to own more than 4 plates, bowls, etc. (there are 2 of us) and partially because he has a favorite of everything that he'd prefer to use for each meal so they need to be cleaned frequently and can't wait for the dishwasher to run at night cause he needs them for the next meal.

Our compromise, I wash the small number of breakfast dishes and he washes all the other dishes each day.  If we do a big meal or have lots of dishes we run the dishwasher, but that happens maybe once a month.


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## Tracy Falbe (Jul 4, 2010)

For full disclosure, I detest washing dishes. The activity makes me feel like an abused slave, so of course I use my dishwasher for everything I can. I do not rinse before putting dishes in the dishwasher. This is a waste of water and time. All you need to do is scrap food chunks into the trash and put the dishes in the machine. 

As for wine glasses, I do wash those by hand, so they don't get foggy. I have also discovered that the dishwasher wears on the wine glasses and makes them more prone to breaking. I've even removed them broken from the machine. 

You can alleviate some mineral build up on all dishes in the machine by placing a small cup of vinegar upright in a rack while running the washer. This helps reduce mineral build up throughout the machine and on the dishes. 

Hope this helps.


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## Carol Hanrahan (Mar 31, 2009)

JoeMitchell said:


> Unless there's no powder, always the dishwasher. We have a dog whose job it is to pre-wash any plates, bowls, pots, or pans as we dirty them, and she loves her job. Dirty dishes go into the dishwasher looking clean, and come out truly clean. It works out great. I highly recommend the dog/dishwasher combo!


HA! My dog does the same! He's right there as I put them in, doing his best! Man, I'm glad I'm not the only one!


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

There are only two of us here so I run the dishwasher about every third day. I don't rinse {have never needed to} and if anything is left on a plate, which is seldom, I just leave it in the dishwasher and it gets run through again next time I run it.


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## Sporadic (May 1, 2009)

I have never had a dishwasher   My whole life has been wash by hand.


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## Alain Gomez (Nov 12, 2010)

Tracy Falbe said:


> For full disclosure, I detest washing dishes. The activity makes me feel like an abused slave,


I am envious. I wish I felt this passionately about dish washing so as to test and see if a prince comes riding along while I sing.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

When our daughters lived with us we used the dishwasher. Still do when we have company over. But for just the two of us, well, I guess we still do use the dishwasher ... as a drying rack.


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## Martel47 (Jun 14, 2010)

We had a nice dishwasher before we moved and it was about all I used, unless we had company over and there were too many dishes to fit in it all at once!  Then I used both.

Now, we're in an apartment without.  I'm seriously considering a roll away.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

By hand. I've never owned a dishwasher, and neither did my parents, so I didn't grow up with one. Even if we owned one, I'd be hand-washing our wine glasses, hand-painted china that we use for everyday, porcelain for "good", the good knives and the copper pans. That wouldn't leave much to put in there.


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