Are dishwashers worth it?

[yourdaysa]

We are moving to a new house soon and there seems to be space for a dishwasher

Would you bother? Are they really any good? I've heard you have to pretty much wash up what's there anyway before you put it in

Thanks! I've never had one before, I have heard they're life changing

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MNHQ

Mine made it possible to stay married for as long as I did. He would always say "leave the washing up I will do it later" and never did. When we married we were gifted some money and it went on a dishwasher. I have now had one for 20 years and still marvel that I can put dishes in a cupboard and they come out clean!

I will never be without one again

@EmmaGrundyForPM

I don't understand how people are managing not to wash up with a dishwasher.

We've had several dishwashers and we still end up washing some stuff up. Saucepans, roasting dishes etc. Sometimes they need to soak because stuff has stuck on.

I think you’ve just had rubbish dw or the cycle isn’t hot enough.

@MaMelon

They’re worth every penny - I wouldn’t be without ours.

Absolutely. Easiest way to have a tidy kitchen.

Oh. My. God. Get a dishwasher, you really have no idea what you're missing!!

We have a lot of expensive Riedel glasses (dh is a wine geek ) and they come out the dishwasher far cleaner and more sparkly than if we hand wash them - and we don't run the risk of snapping the stem while trying to dry/polish them or of knowing them against the tap and breaking them

In fact, at a presentation I was at given by Riedel at a big Oddbins wine tasting (many years ago), they positively recommended that you use a dishwasher (provided the upper shelf could accommodate the long stems) to reduce handling and breakage.

I've already mentioned that I only use half a tablet (Lidl Classic) and this seems to stop the potential problem of clouding the glass (none of my glasses have clouded since I started doing this) and as little RinseAid as I can get away with. However, I don't know if that's because I'm in a soft water area in Scotland. I've seen advice to occasionally use citric acid.

Unfortunately at the moment our dishwasher is broken so we're having to wash by hand. So far Dh has broken two of his precious Riedels and I've (touch wood) been very careful when walking the glasses - drying them carefully one at a time as soon as they've been swished in hot soapy water. They're not as sparkling though - as well as it being a pain

There are a few things that don't go in the dishwasher (eg an old le Creuset pan with a wooden handle) but having to do all the washing at the moment reminds me how much washing it does save us

At least your dh broke the glasses not you.

Indeed

But I have in the past (before we had a dishwasher that could take the taller glasses) snapped the stems of a couple when drying them

YES.

Absolutely. Married 42 years, had a dishwasher for 41 of them except when we were waiting to install a new kitchen in our current house. Heaven to get one again.

@Fluffycloudland77 DH always puts it on the "eco" cycle which might not be very hot.

@LatteLoverLovesLattes I hope you didn't think I was being snippy with you. If so, I apologise. I can totally see why you hold on to 'things', given what you said.

In other news: the eco setting is crap on my Bosch machines.

[quote TheCupboardOfChaos]@LatteLoverLovesLattes I hope you didn't think I was being snippy with you. If so, I apologise. I can totally see why you hold on to 'things', given what you said.

In other news: the eco setting is crap on my Bosch machines.[/quote]
@TheCupboardOfChaos

Oh god, I absolutely did not think that!! I would love to be less attached to 'things' and I know 'it's just stuff' but I can't, honestly, get there. I'm not at all materialistic either.

The 'eco settings' on a lot of things isn't actually that eco either when you really look into it.

No their not, especially washing machines.

I’ll admit I use an eco setting but it’s got an intensive lower basket setting. It tells me how much water and electric it uses with each cycle so I know it’s eco.

It’s just me and dh and I love our dishwasher. Never pre-soak or rinse, just scrape and put in the dust washer. I do everything in there, glasses, pans, wooden no spoons etc. We just fill it up during the day and turn it on after dinner, one of us then empties it before bed!

We use whatever tablets are on offer and rinse aid but no salt as we live in Scotland so it’s not needed. Once a month I put a cleaner in.