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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think dishwashers are a waste of money and don;t save you that much time/work?

193 replies

MinkSlink · 27/10/2012 19:08

We've just moved into a new house with a dishwasher which I used for the first time today.

The cycle took about an hour and the dishes were no cleaner than if I had washed them myself. It took a while to load/unload, meant we had dirty dishes hanging around in it until it was full, and some of the cups had silt in them after the wash, also ou can't wash pots and pans in there.

It takes me on average about 5 minutes to do the dishes by hand,

AIBU to think dishwashers are an expensive waste of time?

OP posts:
bedmonster · 27/10/2012 19:41

We have le creuset pans which have wooden handles that you aren't supposed to put in the dishwasher. We ignored the advice. The handles ALL split. The pans cost 200 quid and we bitterly regret not looking after them properly and taking the lazy option. We have bought new pans and chucked the dishwasher. The only time I miss it is every other Christmas.

valiumredhead · 27/10/2012 19:41

mrsjay we got a really good deal from Redhill electrics on line - about £200 less than John Lewis. We had an old Meile which was second hand and it lasted 15 years so well worth if you can manage the initial outlay.

valiumredhead · 27/10/2012 19:42

All wood goes on our washer even wooden spoons - all fine!

valiumredhead · 27/10/2012 19:42

in

Narked · 27/10/2012 19:43

I love my dishwasher. Without it there's no way I'd be cooking from scratch every day.

FishfingersAreOK · 27/10/2012 19:45

I have been living for 7 months without a dishwasher whilst we renovate our house. In some ways I have not missed it that much - in the evenings it does not take that much time to wash the dishes (I am a slattern - I never dry I just drain). But, and it is a big but, I am using soooo much water and washing up liquid. We are in a static so have a tiny kitchen and the bare minimum of dishes as no room to keep more. There is no room to stack dirty dishes so I have to do stuff as it comes along IYSWIM. I am washing up

  1. After breakfast
  2. After builders mid-morning coffee
  3. After my lunch
  4. Sometimes another coffee run
  5. After DC tea
  6. After our tea. (And sometimes after preparing and before eating else there is no room to dish up.

That is a minimum of 6 bowls of water. If I still had a dishwasher it would be 1 load. One lot of water, one lot of detergent.

They have been proven to be more environmentally friendly than washing up by hand. Give it another go. I am now longing again for the day I can have a bowl of soup at lunch time and just pop the bowl and pan in the dishwasher and leave it.

jchocchip · 27/10/2012 19:45

didn't know I needed a dishwasher until I was given one, I like washing up by hand, but it is so time consuming and if you can train the children to empty it as soon as it finishes and then stack as you go along, the sink is never full of stuff waiting to be washed...
When the first one broke, dh went and bought a new one within days.

TunipTheHollowVegemalLantern · 27/10/2012 19:45

I love my new Bosch one so much.
My old Indesit one sounds a bit like yours - it was useless even when new.
The difference was that we bought the old one thinking any dishwasher would do the job, whereas with the second we read a lot of reviews and got the second-best rated one (the best being three times the price).

Narked · 27/10/2012 19:46

I don't like Le Creuset pans. I have a couple of huge casseroles of theirs, but the wooden handled ones are incredibly heavy and not particularly useful.

StripyShoes · 27/10/2012 19:47

I had a dishwasher and never used it. We dont have one now. AND I do all the dishes. Not a big deal. You have to rinse them before stacking in the DW so not much more effort to clean properly and stack on the drainer. Then they air dry! (Although I know some people find that gross!)

valiumredhead · 27/10/2012 19:48

You don't have to rinse dishes now - I think you did back in the 'olden' days Grin

Bunbaker · 27/10/2012 19:48

"Why can't you wash pots and pans in it? I do in mine and they come out lovely and clean."

It depends on your pans. I never put mine in the dishwasher because it isn't recomended, and mine have lasted for donkey's years. BIL puts their Circulon pans in and they are wrecked.

crashdoll · 27/10/2012 19:52

YABU. When our diswasher broke, I felt a little bereft.

AnonymousBird · 27/10/2012 19:53

Your dishwasher isn't working properly.

YABU. I had to wash up for 3 weeks when ours broke and it was a nightmare, the time, the water everywhere, the mess, ugh. Never again (hopefully). I would never be without one, it is not a luxury!

I just clear the dishes/pots into it throughout the day, and once a day I bung in a tablet, press a button and hey presto an hour later everything is sparkling clean, dry and ready to go back in the cupboard. It actually gives me deep joy.

OrangeLily · 27/10/2012 19:56

YABU

Me and DH rank dishwasher high on our list of must haves..... I think it ranks under bed! Our new house has a slightly smaller dishwasher and I'm a little bit worried.

Surely your dishwasher has more than one setting? If I'm preparing food for a party or dinner party il out it on before I do my make up and hair and empty it before guests get here. So the quick setting must only be about 20 mins. That way any dirty glasses, etc can just go straight in before bed Grin

Original poster
MinkSlink · 27/10/2012 20:20

Off topic, how do you pronounce le creuset?!? Have always wondered

OP posts:
puffylovett · 27/10/2012 20:22

We have just invested in a second hand one, and I LOVE it for all the reasons listed above. No extra work really- either you carry plates
From the table to the w u bowl, or direct to the dishwasher. As for unloading, well u have to put crockery away after washing anyway! It's quite honestly saved my sanity :)

Mintyy · 27/10/2012 20:23

le croosay

marleybrodie · 27/10/2012 20:26

I lurve my dishwasher.
Couldn't be without it.
I give it a hard life .....it's on everyday at least twice.

TheProvincialLady · 27/10/2012 20:30

MinkSlink: Any way you like as long as it doesn't rhyme with gusset (how DH's family say it, bless emGrin)

I would never be without my dishwasher now. I have always hated washing up by hand and dishwashers keep kitchens much tider without all that dirty or draining crockery on view.

JudeFawley · 27/10/2012 20:32

YABU.

Absolutely could not live without dishwasher.

We ran out of tablets the other day. Only noticed at 11pm.

It was a disaster I tell you.

TheProvincialLady · 27/10/2012 20:33

PLUS when you realise the cleaning potential of the dishwasher you will never just stop at plates and pans. I wash virtually everything in there. It is a miracle machine. Stop me now before I start bowing and starting holy fires.

TheProvincialLady · 27/10/2012 20:35

JudeF can I recommend you keep an emergency box of tesco value tablets in your pantry like we do? Would never use them normally so not tempted to let the proper box run low in the knowledge that we have TV on standby, but in case of genuine emergency they do the job.

CharlotteBronteSaurus · 27/10/2012 20:37

we had one in our old flat, but no room in the current house.

i did like the fact that it hid the dirty dishes throughout the day until we ran in
but i think i still spent as much time then cleaning the kitchen as i do now, by the time you factor in scraping the plates, washing wine glasses/good knives and all the other bits that don't go in, rewashing the odd thing.

now if they invented a machine that would wash the dishes, clean the cooker, wipe the sides and sweep the floor i would definitely be interested.

TunipTheHollowVegemalLantern · 27/10/2012 20:38

Go on ProvincialLady, what else have you washed in there?