Do you have 2 dishwashers? Or regret not having 2 dishwashers? Come and talk to me!

[GappyValley]

First world problem alert 🚨

We are currently doing a once-in-a-lifetime kitchen extension and redesign.
This is the last part of the refurb of our forever family home which we bought as a bit of a wreck so very keen to get it right so I never have to have builders set foot in the house again..!

We have seen quite a few kitchen companies, and half of them have suggested getting 2 dishwashers, suggesting it’s up there with a boiling water tap as a family essential.

The company we’ve ended up going with for the kitchen was Team OneDishwasherOnly but I am now having buyers remorse and wondering if I should ask them to incorporate a second one into the design.
It would mean sacrificing some cupboard space, but I’m wondering if that’s worth it?

We are a family of 4, and love cooking, having people over, doing big roasts, so can envisage times when we would need both
But can also see that for the majority of the time, we wouldn’t

Arghhhh

Only have one, would never think to get two. If it was me in your shoes would invest more in a pantry storage if you have the space and a decent freezer. A boiling tap is one of thing that i will always make sure i get if doing up my kitchen Love it. I hope to never ever have a need to buy a kettle again

We have 2. It's brilliant. We always had washing piled on top of one waiting for it to be emptied and reloaded and now we don't. Best thing in our kitchen (along with the hot water tap)

We have 2 for a family of 6. I'd never be without 2 again if I could help it. But then I have two sets of washers and dryers so I might not be the best person to ask. If they suit your lifestyle go for it.

We have two dishwashers. also two washing machines and two tumble dryers, and two fridge freezers come to think of it. Two adults, two kids, and a dog that needs a lot of exercise. We cook from scratch pretty much every day, also I WFH full time, and two dishwashers mean the kitchen is kept much neater and tidyer without pans and plates stacked waiting to wash. In the morning I empty both dishwashers, takes five minutes, and through the day I fill one then the other. Kitchen stays neat, and I can make luch without having to tidy space first. I'm not kidding when I say it's made a huge difference to my mental health, being able to make coffee in a tidy clean kitchen instead of having to shift dirty plates to get to the coffee machine. it's a little thing but it helps a lot.

With the washing machines it's not so much the volume of laundry I have to wash, although with the dog walking and DH's work on site and the kids, we do get through plenty of clothes. It's more the fact that I can get a lot done in a short space of time, by doing two loads at a time. It's made my life a lot easier, and I'm spending less time traipsing in and out of the laundry room putting on washes and drys and so in.

I have thought about this a lot

What I would do, is keep the standard kitchen dishwasher, then put a commercial one in the laundry (I'm assuming in the dream scenario that you have a laundry/outroom of some sort) - noisy, but very quick, can fit glasses and has the removable trays.

Now. Commercial ones are a lot, but if you watch ebay, are obtainable at a not too awful price second hand quite often.

ps I feel like I have found my people on this thread :)

I can only speak for my own kitchen space. Yours is likely a lot larger.

But if I had room for a second dishwasher I'd sooner use it for an under counter fridge. Always need more fridge space.

@gappy that’s exactly the same layout as I have described! It works really well if you do decide to go for it.

Oh I love your kitchen design OP. This thread has helped me enormously. Like you, I am doing a once in a lifetime extension of a forever home, (11 years after moving in ) and I will now include 2 dishwashers - as well as my plan for 2 washing machines and 2 dryers. I spend my life waiting for the washing machine / dryer to finish so I can get another load on.

I have another year to wait and we are only about to get an architect but at least if I have a list of what I want I can get it all down on paper when we do layout etc.

If people have two , do they just use one as storage ?
I have one small slimline dishwasher but I still have to wash up as not everything goes in the dishwasher
I find it generally does a day , sometimes its on twice a day as its only slimline so holds a little less

@NoFashion

I can only speak for my own kitchen space. Yours is likely a lot larger.

But if I had room for a second dishwasher I'd sooner use it for an under counter fridge. Always need more fridge space.

We’ve already got more than enough fridge and freezer space, so the option for this cupboard is only dishwasher or cupboard

@Kotatsu
We are moving the laundry upstairs (no more traipsing up and down with baskets! Hurray!) so the only non-kitchen space would be the boot room which is generally going to be mud and dog space so don’t really want clean dishes in there as well.

We have commercial dishwashers in the kitchen at work and they are indeed very noisy, so not a huge fan of having one in the house

I don't believe for a second that these kitchens with two dish washers and the silly tap are for real.

@SantiagoSky

I don't believe for a second that these kitchens with two dish washers and the silly tap are for real.

What’s a silly tap? One that doesn’t have water coming out of it..?

@worriedatthemoment

If people have two , do they just use one as storage ? I have one small slimline dishwasher but I still have to wash up as not everything goes in the dishwasher I find it generally does a day , sometimes its on twice a day as its only slimline so holds a little less

I think or a lot of people, yes!

But for people like my sister, they have one washing and then are actively loading the other one. Then empty the first one and the other one is then washing and they're using the first one to load up new dirty plates.

@SantiagoSky It's not a silly tap. I don't have one (again, due to space constraints) but if I'd had the space, I'd have put the boiling water tap in absolutely!!

@GappyValley we moved our laundry room upstairs too but I put a set on washer/dryer in the boot room for all the sports kit/dog beds etc.

We’ve not got the space for two (and probably not the need!) but if space not an issue then why not. When we move to a bigger place later in the year then will definitely be getting two ovens and a much larger fridge freezer. I can live without two washing machines as I don’t think we do that much washing. I love the idea of the boiling water taps but having reviewed the safety issues with many of the products currently available I decided to pass.

We've had a boiling water for several years. They are fantastic. Waiting for a kettle to boil now seems so archaic.

Ha. Don't even have one. Madness

I don’t even have one. Never felt the need as the washing up is just as quick to do

We have two. We have a large kitchen anyway, but moved the washing machine out to make space.

We're two adults and two teenagers. Most of the time we just about manage one load per day, but having a second is useful in case we overflow when entertaining (not recently!) or just because. It also allows separate loads of crockery and cutlery in one and pans and ovenware in the other. It's also been a lifesaver when one's broken down.

If you can find the space then I would say go for two.

My ex had 2 put into his rebuild, I was mind-boggled.

In have since read on MN about using one as clean and one as dirty - so you load as you go as normal, run when dirty, but then rather than unloading Chen clean just take clean stuff from it as you go loading dirty stuff into the other. Obviously if the dirty one is full before the clean one is unloaded then you out the few clean bits away. And repeat.

Okay, I could go along with that. Saves unloading the dishwasher, doesn't take that much storage space (and doesn't matter if you have a big kitchen) cos it is partly storage itself.

Then a few months ago, several years after his refit, I mention the above to the kids. They looked dumb-struck at me. No, they don't do that at dads, they fully load when it's empty.

So I'm momd-boggled at it again.

@SantiagoSky

I don't believe for a second that these kitchens with two dish washers and the silly tap are for real.

I'm pretty sure I live in a real house . . .It's got an open plan kitchen and in it there's a sink with a boiling water tap and integrated dishwashers on each side.

(There is an American style fridge freezer and an under counter freezer as well, but that's because I'm coeliac and the second freezer is for gluten-free stuff only to avoid any risk of cross-contamination.)

We have two It’s a game changer - first one full, start, begin loading second, repeat...

There’s 4 of us but always used to have dishes on the side since there wasn’t enough room.

Notably though, we don’t have a microwave which many deem an ‘essential’!

Yes I opted for 2 and use them both all the time (family of 4). If you organised it properly, you could avoid putting things away in cupboards and simply take them as needed from the 'clean' dishwasher.
This doesn't work for me though and I often have both running at the same time and then unload back into cupboards.
It does allow you to have clear work surfaces most of the time which is a major benefit.

Who the fuck has 2 dishwashers?!