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Original poster

If you're a family of four and have a dishwasher...

227 replies

Comedycook · 01/04/2023 22:12

How many times a day is it put on? Let's say a weekend day when you're all at home.

Because mine has been on 5 times today...and it's like this most days. Is this normal or am I going wrong somewhere?!

OP posts:
berksandbeyond · 01/04/2023 22:36

That is insane! There are 3 of us so slightly smaller household but we’ve never even ran it twice on one day - not even on Christmas Day! Sometimes we go two days before we need to run it!

Tarantellah · 01/04/2023 22:37

Then there's constant tea and coffees, snacks, lunches, dinner
This is the issue right here. We’ve had one cup of tea today. Why are you constantly having caffeinated drinks and why aren’t you reusing the same cup? And why are you constantly snacking? A biscuit or crisps doesn’t require a plate so you must be having pretty substantial snacks, more like what I’d call a meal. You don’t need to be consuming constantly.

Return2thebasic · 01/04/2023 22:37

Like some others said, we reused mugs and handwash all pots and pans, unless I have room to fit one at the end of the day before running it overnight.

We are four people and only have space to install a slimline. I developed a way to pack things really efficiently over years though.

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AlwaysLatte · 01/04/2023 22:38

Does no one reuse mugs
we tend not to for tidiness. Not too keen on leaving up to 4 mugs out waiting in case anyone wants another coffee later!

NameChangingIsMySuperPower · 01/04/2023 22:38

Once a day usually.

I don't really put saucepans or frying pans in there, though.

And at the weekend when everyone is home, I have a wash up your own breakfast and lunch stuff rule!

I also would wash up anything quick and easy anyway.

Eg, a small plate that's had a sandwich on it is much quicker to wash than a large dinner plate that's had mash and gravy on it, but they would take up the same amount of room.

RandomMess · 01/04/2023 22:38

You need 2 dishwashers minimum.

Tessisme · 01/04/2023 22:38

Four in our house. Once a day, sometimes slightly less. We each use a cup/glass all day. A few items have to be hand washed, eg DS2's Roblox mug (if the pattern wore off I'd never hear the end of it😬), aluminium steamer, wooden spoons. Five times a day seems insane. Must cost a fortune!

Original poster
Comedycook · 01/04/2023 22:39

We have 12-15 people over for Christmas, Easter, Midsummer and Birthdays and would run the dishwasher twice on those occasions

I don't understand this... only twice but you're feeding 15 people?! Most I've hosted on Christmas day was 10 and my dishwasher was on constantly

OP posts:
UhhhhhhhOK · 01/04/2023 22:39

Big items like pots/pans/mixing bowls are wasteful on space in dishwasher and we have to handwash anyway. If you make a point of putting all dishes/bowls/utensils, mugs, etc you should be able to manage a good full dishwasher for once a day. Some days we might have more, but it just ends up in the next days’ load.

if you do 5 dish loads a day, how many laundry loads do you do?

Keepthetowel · 01/04/2023 22:39

i cook from scratch up to four times a day, three of us, but I don’t wash by hand and have lots of drinks

Errmmmmmmmmmmm · 01/04/2023 22:39

Once a day, maybe twice but that's usually if we've had a roast or the like at the weekend. lots of pots and pans etc

Tessisme · 01/04/2023 22:39

Four of us that should have said!

DanceMonster · 01/04/2023 22:39

Family of 5. Once a day. 2 at most, if we have a complicated meal with lots of pans.

BansheeofInisherin · 01/04/2023 22:39

Once.

Blueey · 01/04/2023 22:40

Family of four here. Use it once a day, very occasionally twice. And I make a mess and use everything when I cook, we tend to cook breakfast etc. But we only run it when it's completely full and stacked as efficiently as poss.

Some things could be quickly rinsed clean though OP, like in your pancake example it'd be super quick to clean the bowl, which takes a lot of room in a dishwasher. Same with the whisk and plate cover. We tend to hand-wash bits as we go across the day.

Flavabobble · 01/04/2023 22:40

Family of 3. It's on once every one or two days. Could be filled and emptied 2 or 3 times if I'm doing tons of baking, batch cooking etc.
And I'm a fresh cup, fresh spoon for every brew person.
Even at peak baking I can't imagine it being on 5 times.

LifeInAHamsterWheel · 01/04/2023 22:41

Ours goes on once a day, usually late evening. I have us all trained to reuse the same glass/mug all day (sometimes doesn't happen!) and I might sometimes wash up the odd thing during the day rather that put it in the dishwasher but generally it gets full over the course of a day and gets turned on in the evening. I can't imagine needing to put it on more than twice let alone 4 or 5 times!!

Original poster
Comedycook · 01/04/2023 22:42

Tarantellah · 01/04/2023 22:37

Then there's constant tea and coffees, snacks, lunches, dinner
This is the issue right here. We’ve had one cup of tea today. Why are you constantly having caffeinated drinks and why aren’t you reusing the same cup? And why are you constantly snacking? A biscuit or crisps doesn’t require a plate so you must be having pretty substantial snacks, more like what I’d call a meal. You don’t need to be consuming constantly.

Well I drink two cups of coffee a day usually...then herbal tea throughout the day so it's not always caffeinated. DH will have two or three cups of tea or coffee a day. We have a teenage ds who eats a lot!

OP posts:
Oakyloaky · 01/04/2023 22:43

Once a day max . Three adults. Hand wash Wok and big saucepan. Mugs are reused throughout the day.

Hotpinkangel19 · 01/04/2023 22:43

Family of 6 here, 3 teens. 1 child, 2 adults. Once a day. Twice on really odd occasions. I have no idea how you manage 5 times!

ichundich · 01/04/2023 22:45

Comedycook · 01/04/2023 22:12

How many times a day is it put on? Let's say a weekend day when you're all at home.

Because mine has been on 5 times today...and it's like this most days. Is this normal or am I going wrong somewhere?!

At least once a day, up to 4 times a day when we have guests.

TheInterceptor · 01/04/2023 22:45

hellololabells2019 · 01/04/2023 22:14

Family of six... once a day

Ditto

APurpleSquirrel · 01/04/2023 22:46

How much crockery, cutlery do you have? I guess if you only have 4 bowls, plates etc & use all at breakfast, they'll need to be cleaned before lunch etc?? But other than that I don't understand how you can be using so much so often.

BansheeofInisherin · 01/04/2023 22:47

I drink a lot of coffee but I just reuse cups.

DandledASandle · 01/04/2023 22:47

Once a day. Things like breakfast bowls and lunchboxes take a disproportionate amount of space in the DW but are trivial to wash by hand so everyone washes up their own breakfast bowl in the morning, and a child washes up the lunchboxes and water bottles after school. If I bake I'll tend to wash up some stuff so we stick on the schedule of running the DW overnight and emptying it in the morning.

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