First time dishwasher owner

[YaWeeShit]

As sad as it sounds, I’m getting a dishwasher on Monday and as I’ve never owned one before, I’m hoping for tips on how to get the best use out of it.

We’re a family of three so not loads of dishes - would it be best to put on once a day?

Are plates supposed to be scraped before going in?

Am I officially middle aged being so excited about a dishwasher

Dishwashers are cold fill unless you have a cheap hot water source, like solar or geothermal. in that case you can plumb it directly onto hot water.

I stand corrected! Ours wasn’t working well and I was given advice to run the hot water before starting it, turns out I’ve been doing it for no reason

I scrape the plates but there's some things you do have to rinse or soak in my experience before putting in.
Anything burnt/stuck on. Porridge pans and bowls. Weetabix. Egg. Rice. Mash. All need rinsing off. Weetabix particularly just gets splattered all over everything if you don't.
Our is full at least daily so is often on twice or occasionally more.
I absolutely hate washing by hand though and if it doesn't survive the dishwasher it pretty much doesn't belong in my house.

@raspberryk

I scrape the plates but there's some things you do have to rinse or soak in my experience before putting in. Anything burnt/stuck on. Porridge pans and bowls. Weetabix. Egg. Rice. Mash. All need rinsing off. Weetabix particularly just gets splattered all over everything if you don't. Our is full at least daily so is often on twice or occasionally more. I absolutely hate washing by hand though and if it doesn't survive the dishwasher it pretty much doesn't belong in my house.

Weetabix eaters here so will absolutely bear that point in mind

I do find it's the best thing ever for shifting the tiny bits that get stuck in the mesh of metal sieves.
And a tip I only recently found on here; you can open the door(carefully) during a cycle if you need to put something else in.

I don’t know why their not more popular given the environmental benefits.

Only half of UK households have one.

my dishwasher (bosch) has no problem with weetabix/porridge

Have fun with your DW tomorrow OP. Once you get used to it you will wonder why you ever washed up 😃

Small kitchens? My sister would love one, but only has a corner cupboard and one other under counter one. She'd lose half her storage!

@Fluffycloudland77 ☝️

In the '90's I moved into a small one bed house. The kitchen had space for washing machine and one more, so I went for dish washer, microwave and had a job installed over the dish washer.

Much higher priority than n oven IMHO

you can get slimline, drawer or table top dishwashers.
but agree that kitchens are often small and/or poory laid out in uk.

I've had a dishwasher for 40 years except when we moved to our current home when I had to wait for a kitchen refit. Really, really missed it. DH fills ours and has it down to a fine art. Echo others re extra mugs, cutlery and whatever you use most frequently. As a first time user I'd probably try a couple of different brands at both ends of the price spectrum, perhaps Aldi and Fairy Platinum and see what you think. NEVER use Lemon fragrance tablets. Happy lack of washing up!

Only use the “quick wash” option when you REALLY need to. Using quick wash too often is a good way to knacker your heating element as it has to work really hard to get the water hot enough quickly.

I was told this by the engineer who had to come out to our machine in the staffroom at work twice in 18 months. We’d been using quick wash because we only washed coffee cups and thought it was a good idea.... it wasn’t....

Had one since kitchen refit, love it, everything is so much cleaner.
Cat and I, mine goes on about every 3 days

@user1498572889

Have fun with your DW tomorrow OP. Once you get used to it you will wonder why you ever washed up 😃

I’m actually getting a new sink and taps fitted today as well - I may wash a single plate up by hand just for the novelty

Are you on a water meter?.

@Fluffycloudland77

Are you on a water meter?.

Nope

Update - I love it It’s taking a while to figure out the best way to load it, but OMG my glass pan lids actually sparkle!

@YaWeeShit. 😁

Not even sure what rinse aid is.

Ours is on 1-2x a day. I add salt every now and then and maybe once a month use dishwasher cleaner on empty (is that rinse aid?).

@zigaziga

Not even sure what rinse aid is.

Ours is on 1-2x a day. I add salt every now and then and maybe once a month use dishwasher cleaner on empty (is that rinse aid?).

Rinse aid breaks the surface water tension, without foaming, which makes drying more efficient and without streaks.

A lot of water boards will fit a meter and remove it if your bills go up.

Ours is £20 a month, two adults, Dh has a bath every night, shower for me. Wm on 3-4 times a week minimum.

A vital hint. Read the troubleshooting bit in your instruction manual - it’s better to know what to do in advance if something goes wrong, rather than when you have a machine that won’t start or won’t empty.

The main filter catches most things but sometimes something small ( like a chip of glass) can get caught in the impeller wheel of the waste pump and it won’t pump out. On most machines this is something you can fix yourself and it will be described in the manual as safe you to do. . It’s found under, or beyond the filter and is usually quite tricky, the first time, to get the protective cover off. Our last machine, a Siemens, involved a particular screw head - our current one ( a Bosch) is levered off with the help of a spoon but just clicks back into space.

To empty out remaining yucky water to get to this, the most efficient way I have found is to use tubing like is used for changing the water of fish tank. I keep a metre of it in the understairs cupboard ! Otherwise it is bailing out with a cup then a sponge or similar.

I am the Filter Fixer Queen of our house .........

Finish tablets are rubbish, use Fairy Platinum. We never have to use rinse aid nor salt with them