To think my dishwasher might be the best thing ever?

[Keletubbie]

I never thought I needed one. I hate washing dishes. But so does everyone else.

I won some vouchers for a department store just before Christmas and could see myself spending them on ridiculous shit in the sales, so instead I bought a dishwasher. And it's bloody brilliant.

The sink is empty. The drainer is not stacked like the leaning tower of Pisa. I've made a curry, a cake and banana bread yet my kitchen looks clean. I don't have to stand at the sink after everyone else has sloped off to digest their dinner.

Has anyone else been totally blown away by something so simple/obvious?

We need to help Gin sort out hers! Have you put rinse aid in? Checked the salt drawer, looked at the filter? x

GinBunny what type is yours if you don't mind me asking? We only have room for a slimline one so I'd rather avoid one with problems!

I'm sure people were thought of lazy when washing machines were first introduced. Now they're considered an absolute must in most households, no one uses a washboard to clean their clothes now do they? It will be the same with dishwashers, eventually most households should will have one.

Ughno this is the one we have, had it for nearly a month now and it's been great, easy to operate and cleans very well. It's super energy efficient too, would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a slimline:

http://ao.com/product/dfs28r20w-beko-slimline-dishwasher-white-36589-24.aspx

We got a dishwasher 10 years ago when we moved into a new build house. For at least the first year it sat there unused & I continued to wash by hand. I can't remember what prompted me to start using, but I've never looked back! I love it & wouldn't be without it

bambhino

We have a LOT of teaspoons but a word of advice-if you have good quality chopping knives, most makers advise washing them by hand because dish washer detergents can corrode the metal. Luckily a knife is very easy to rinse and dry by hand

On a similar theme, you shouldn't put lead crystal in the dishie either. I THINK it's because the high temperatures can lead to clouding and cracking. Since lead crystal is a total pain to wash and dry by hand all mine has gravitated to the distant corners of the kitchen and our day to day glassware is Ikea

I have had a dishwasher since I first got married nearly 30 years ago and the sheer joy of no longer having to wash up by hand is still with me. I am the designated cook/hostess for most family functions and I love that role. I think if I didn't have the dishie it would be a different story.

GinBunny

What detergent are you using? It can make a massive difference. It is one area when I think it is worth buying topof the range tablets rather than Tesco value (other supermarket cheap ranges are also available).

Scrape off any chunks of food waste before putting stuff in the machine. A good dishwasher will do a great job of dissolving grease and residues but it cannot destroy matter. Any lumps of food will cook/solidify in the heat and will just wash round and round with every cycle sticking to the otherwise clean washes. It will eventually clog up the filters so make sure those are clean.

Even if the packet says you don't need added salt or rinse aid, ignore it. Keep the salt and rinse aid topped up.

I hope it works out - a good dishwasher is a great thing.

It's a Zanussi Ugh and yes it is all topped up - the bastard thing won't even turn on if it's not full up with rinse aid and salt (despite what the manual says), and we use Finish Powerballs. It didn't work at all when we first got it because it hadn't been installed properly so it was on borrowed time before it even got started. Oh, and the installer didn't connect the tap properly so it leaked at the back for 3 months meaning the kitchen flooring is saturated and needs replacing. Not meaning to drip feed y'know because that's the installer's fault not the dishwasher but all things considered... I wish we'd never got it
Thanks for the hand holding

gin

Maybe it is faulty? Our main house has a Miele which is brilliant and would always be my first choice, but our second home has a Zanussi which, although noisier and slower than the Miele, does a great job. But is is a full size one, rather than a slimline one. IDK if that makes any difference.

I don't know whether it is faulty, or just rubbish. It's just finished a hot cycle, the industrial long cycle of caked on food and this is the grill. Can you see the food remains still stuck on? I won't wash chopping boards in it if they've had raw meat on. Sorry to derail thread though

The inside of a mug, less dirty than the grill pan...

Gin, it could be faulty.

I don't know about Zanussi generally though would have thought they would be OK. I have had Bosch for the last 10 years, and have almost never had that sort of result. Only when I have needed to use dishwasher cleaner or something like that.

It might be worth putting dishwasher cleaner in it. I use it about once a month anyway as build-ups of grease and food debris in its spray arms, filters and pipes can also cause that. I also clean the main filter weekly by running it under the hot tap. It is amazing what you can find trapped in it.

Might help.

Noo, its my new tumble dryer that's the greatest thing ever! We've just moved into our own house, and I've never had one before!

I don't think I could live without my dishwasher , I love it.

I'm the same Miaow. I've just had a new kitchen fitted and all the kitchen designers were obsessed with putting the sink under the window 'so I had something to look at while I was washing up' and they just didn't get that I didn't care where the sink was because I never washed up - it all goes in the dishwasher. If it's not dishwasher safe, I don't have it.

I put so much value on the dishwasher that until we had the new kitchen, the fridge was in the dining room as there wasn't room for everything in the old kitchen.

No way on this earth will I live without a dishwasher if at all possible and I agree with others that I really don't get those who say they aren't worth having or actually have one and don't use it .

Dishwashers wash up much better than by hand, use less water and are so much quicker - anyone who says they can wash up themselves quicker is a delusional liar who probably never cooks so doesn't have much washing up. Ours is on full just about every day.

It gets filled up as things are used and takes just a few minutes to empty, usually while waiting for the kettle to boil. I don't rinse anything before they go in and everything comes out sparkling.

barb yy, my dishwasher makes epic bath cooking sessions possible. No way would I spend hours prepping and cooking only to wash up for hours later.

i couldn't live without my dishwasher or my dryer. We had a hole in the utility room for a dryer which we only installed a few years ago. What was I thinking? No more damp clothes hanging over the house, no more hard as rock towels, no more staggering the laundry when we get back from holidays or when it's raining

Ooh thank you imwithspud that's helpful. It's tricky to know which one to get, they all look the same!

We're having to lose a kitchen cupboard to fit ours in but I don't care, it'll be so worth it.

Ughnotagain When I had to replace my old dishwasher in a hurry a couple of years ago, I just got the cheapest available Bosch one and it's been totally fine.

There are some fancy features available and your plate size might be an issue if they are very big, but I just wanted something that could be delivered ASAP and washed up for me.

It was about £250 from Currys - I could have got a brand I didn't recognise for a bit less or paid a lot more for features I wouldn't ever use. If the plates had been too big, which they weren't, I would have probably just bought smaller plates (current ones are cheap from Ikea - I don't have fancy dinnerware).

*OP said: We should go door to door.

Excuse me, do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and saviour the dishwasher? *

This made me laugh so much!

I never saw the point of a dishwasher until we bought our first house and I insisted on a slimline one as I thought we'd never fill a standard one. I loved it but wouldn't admit I was wrong on the slimline size. Damn thing kept going for 12 years so we only changed it when we moved and had a new kitchen! The old one went to a new home via Freecycle.

We moved in August after buying our first house. We treated ourselves to a dishwasher a month later after never being able to have one in our tiny kitchen in the rented house. I havent used the sink since. Best bit is, the DD's enjoy emptying it. Win win!

My landlord is having the kitchen done up at the moment. The fitter's got all the doors and windows open so I'm freezing my tits off, everything I've ever owned and loved is coated in a thick layer of dust, and I'm living off microwave meals. Don't mind any of it because when he finishes later this week I will have both a dishwasher and a dryer. I can't wait.

I am pissed off with ours and deeply resentful of all of you (except poor Gin) because ours stopped working on Saturday. Error code suggests new pump needed, though it empties OK but won't stop. Should we chuck it or get it repaired? Of course it is out of guarantee. Will try £25 plus VAT for local engineer in the first instance.