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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:
TookTheBook · 01/04/2023 23:44

You shouldn't be spending all day loading and unloading it OP - that's a child's job! In our house children unload the dishwasher (primary school age).

Bunce1 · 01/04/2023 23:47

Once a day. Family of 4

I would wash big things by hand like a mixing bowl or
pots and pans.

Today was

breakfast- 3 plates, 3 knives and the smoothie cup. 2 coffee cups.
lunch was loads of utensils because we made sushi
dinner- bowls and plates and serving spoons we had chicken shawarma Some chopping boards. We had another kid over so there was extra.

hand washed the griddle pan and the salad spinner. And the pot for the sushi rice.

I think you’re inefficient in your DW use.

DandledASandle · 01/04/2023 23:49

Just an extra plate upside down over teen's food, instead of the plate cover, would stack a lot more efficiently in the DW. Plastics like that take up a lot of space and take ages to dry from DWing.

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TwoBlueFish · 01/04/2023 23:50

Mine goes on once a day generally. Possibly twice if we’ve had a cooked breakfast (not very often). I think 3 times is my max and that was Christmas Day with extra people.

we do rinse and reuse the same mug/glass for the whole day.

TurnedOutOrangesAndLemonsAgain · 01/04/2023 23:51

Family of six. 2-4 times a day.

Wheelz46 · 01/04/2023 23:51

Once a day for our family of 4 and we WFH too.

How long is your dishwasher cycle? Ours takes a minimum of 2.5 hours, it would be bedtime by time I got to the fifth load 😄

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 01/04/2023 23:54

Do you use a fresh mug for every hot drink? I always make my next brew in the same cup I've just used.

RWB9 · 02/04/2023 00:15

Once a day here (sometimes every other) but I never put frying pans/baking trays/non stick anything in the dishwasher. Just a quick wash.

RWB9 · 02/04/2023 00:18

Also without being too cheeky, I’m intrigued by the cost of your energy bill 😅

CherryBlossom321 · 02/04/2023 00:25

2/3 times daily.

neighboursmustliveon · 02/04/2023 00:54

It depends what we are eating but twice a day on a weekend is normal. 5 feels excessive!

Theoldwoman · 02/04/2023 00:58

Ours goes on between 1-3 times every day.

We do a lot of food prep, baking and kids have friends stay over a lot.

mondaytosunday · 02/04/2023 01:06

When we had five of us at home it was on once a day max.
I have a friend who will run hers with just a couple pots and a few things from lunch - not even half full. I wait til it's very full and tend to wash pots in the sink.

wordonthestreetisthat · 02/04/2023 01:17

There are five of us.

Three of us are home all day.

It's on twice a day.

Topseyt123 · 02/04/2023 01:21

We were a family of five when all of the DDs still lived at home. The dishwasher is a full sized one and was usually on once a day after dinner. Very occasionally twice.

It can depend how efficiently you stack it, I find. My DH can have it full with just a handful of items in it. Shall we just say that his stacking is interesting, to say the least!!??

mafsfan · 02/04/2023 01:41

How often do you wash bits by hand?

TheTeenageYears · 02/04/2023 01:41

I don't think I have ever put the dishwasher on more than once in a day in the 25 years I've owned one. Can't imagine putting it on 5 times a day! I would be intrigued to see photos of your fully loaded dishwasher @Comedycook. If left to others our's would be a lot less full - there's definitely a space efficiency to loading a dishwasher.

NotoBlueStockings · 02/04/2023 01:57

If your kids are secondary school age doing the dishwasher is a perfect job for them.

Ours is on once a day, I use the same water glass all day and sometimes use a cup for coffee twice, DH is the same. We are a household of 3 and then 4 within a week, plus a cat.

HappyAsASandboy · 02/04/2023 04:03

Family of 6 here, and we run it twice a day normally. There is also stuff that needs hand washing though - frying pan/air fryer drawer, wooden chopping boards, instant pot lid ....

My DD bakes most days, either cookies or pancakes or waffles or cakes, and that's included in the twice per day.

Christmas Day means 4 goes!

AmberGer · 02/04/2023 05:00

Same as everyone else, usually once.
When we have guests or Christmas day, it's twice. Never more than that.

Glittertwins · 02/04/2023 06:00

Paperexcelandpens · 01/04/2023 22:48

Family of 4. Dishwasher goes on once a day. We reuse mugs and glasses. What snacks are you having that need plates?

We do the same with mugs and glasses.
Dishwasher goes on once per day, twice if there's been a lot of weekend batch cooking. I'm pretty sure we've not managed 3 even when we've had visitors.

marshmallowsforbreakfast · 02/04/2023 06:02

Once every other day, family of 3, I do wash any frying pans etc myself though.

SkyandSurf · 02/04/2023 06:02

Pre Covid when we were out all day, we used it once a day.

Now DH is home all day, we have more children, children are mostly home with a nanny, sometimes I WFH as well- all day dishes are being generated.

SkyandSurf · 02/04/2023 06:06

To the people saying they wash pots etc by hand- if you have a modern dishwasher that's usually much less water efficient than just running the machine.

RhubarbFairy · 02/04/2023 06:18

Ours goes on 5 or 6 times a day, but it's a slimline one, as that's what fits in the space we have. So dinner stuff can take 2-3 loads just for that one meal as the pans take up a lot of space. Are you doing that many in a full-size one?!

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