To think a dishwasher will change our lives?

But more importantly, I hate the drying rack next to the sink with a passion.

I still have a drying rack and a dishwasher. I wash by hand wood (splits), nice glass (scratches), and non-stick pans (coating wears off). Plastic and silicone doesn't always fully dry.

Love our dishwashers (plural) but if your DCs have plastic crockery/cups then I wouldn’t put them in the, as they can make food have a soapy taste. This makes me wary about the washing up chemicals in the DC’s food. Metal, glass, china etc are all fine.

We didn't have one for two years when we rented. They were hard times. I insisted on buying a house so we could have one. My heart dances with joy every morning when I walk into the kitchen and open the door to a smack in the face of steam.

I actually hate mine! It takes too long and is noisy. There's always a few things that didn't get cleaned properly too. I'd never have another one again.

Yes, it depends on how your day-to-day life goes really; I work at home, and I take emptying and refilling the dishwasher as a sort of break, or at least a few minutes to get away from my desk and move around a bit.
We only have a slimline dishwasher, too, so, even though we only have a small kitchen, I don't feel like I'm desperate for more cupboards.

Yes, of course they're a bonus. They wouldn't be so popular otherwise. It's sort of like being without a microwave. You would really miss it if you were used to one. Having said that (and I know this sounds weird) but does your DH actually enjoy washing up. Does he find it satisfying and like that bit of quiet time on his own?

@LittleBitofBreadwhereas I would like it all done in one go rather than washing dishes overnight then sorting it in the morning.
It’s all just preference, my sister loves her dishwasher, my parents and in laws don’t.
We just see hand washing dishes as a day to day thing. Our kitchen is clean and tidy and we are never ill with gastro illnesses. My tea towels are washed on a high heat and have good quality ones.
Again it’s just preference! I’d rather have more cupboards!

Yes lifechanging, but if he's happy doing it then I guess it wont change your life either way 😂

Yes life changing. Kitchen stays tidy as you just put the pots straight in after use even if you don’t switch it on until later.

Absolutely. Mine needed a repair guy yesterday, it was going to cost more for a new motor than a new one , so bought a new one and got it delivered and installed the same day. Couldn’t be without one if possible.

No kids in my household, so it's a bit different, but it's a social thing for me and DP too, and our lodger when he's around; we all pootle about the kitchen chatting, tidying up and putting things in the dishwasher and making tea etc before bed.
I've never experienced an electrical fire <<touches wood>> I find it very inconvenient not to put the dishwasher on overnight.

Well obviously I don't sit waiting for it, but whatever I carry on doing it's still a job that needs doing later or in the morning, when I could have just had it all done in one go! Often it gets left until the morning and I don't want to do it then either! DH completely disagreed with me and loves it, but I just think itspkits a job into two and I'd rather do it all in one go!

At the ripe old age of 51 I got my first dishwasher and I’ll never NOT have one from now onwards.

@LittleBitofBreadwe all sit in our kitchen/dining/chill area (separate from our lounge) and it’s a social thing. Washing dishes putting away, having a chat tidying…chill etc then start getting our child ready for bed.
Yeah I had an incident with my dryer not so long ago and it was quite new where it started to smoke! It was a decent make as well.
I grew up with programmes in late 90s/early 00s such as 999 where it used to show pictures house fires etc and it just stuck with me.
Also it is recommend to not have appliances such as washers/driers/dishwashers on overnight or when out of the house due to possible electrical malfunctions.

Wouldn’t be without mine. I never pre-wash, everything just goes in the dishwasher after tea,goes on when it’s full, comes out clean and dry before bedtime and is put away then, ready for the next time!

It used to be the case, but that was a long, long time ago.

I have questions for whoever is telling people that they need to wash dishes before putting them in an appliance designed to wash them.

Mine has a drying cycle, so you don't need to think about opening the door. It does seem to go on for hours on end though!

Is it that much of a risk? Genuine question, not being snarky.

To me tea towels never feel like they come up properly clean after a few uses.
I also prefer to shove stuff in the dishwasher rather than have it sit on the side, although of course that's only relevant if you weren't going to wash up immediately; in our house we like to eat, and then sit and chat or flop for a bit and watch TV, and spend five minutes stacking the dishwasher just before bed.

@LittleBitofBreadI only put on electrical appliances if I’m at home and during the day due to risk of fire hazard.
The tea towels get washed after use. I don’t understand the germ factories.
Honestly handwashing dishes doesn’t bother me, we wash as we go when we cook and there’s only 3 of us. It’s just part of wiping down the benches and part of a meal time.
As said in my post…there’s 2 kinds of people…people who have never had a dishwasher and aren’t bothered….and people who have a dishwasher and can’t live without them.
Im just one who isn’t bothered!

I’m still not convinced!

We don’t have a great deal of cupboard space. So it would either be a range cooker, or a smaller cooker and a dishwasher, we couldn’t have both. And dh loves cooking so the range cooker is the one thing he wants (and yes, he washes it all up himself when he’s cooking!)

You were doing it wrong - there’s no need to rinse and you do something else while it’s washing.

I read that if you rinse the dishes off first it stops the dishwasher doing its job properly! We scrap off dishes but deffo dont rinse anything.

I would get one with an auto open door feature - ours opens slightly at the end of the cycle to help the dishes dry off.

I got rid of ours. Takes so much more effort to rinse the plates, load the dishwasher, wait for it to be full enough to switch on, wait for it to do its cycle and often stuff either still needs a wash or is still wet and all needs unloaded. Hateful. Just get it washed dried and put away and job is done in 15 minutes. Our kids take it in turns to help so it’s a good time to have a one to one catch up

It has changed my life, but I’ve always done all the dishes! But in other ways you can also hide all the dirty dishes and the smell when you’ve cooked something garlicky/ fishy etc.