To want a dishwasher?

[poooooooop]

I suggested getting a dishwasher the other day to dh and he isn’t keen.

His argument against is that they waste lots of water, are noisy, you have to rinse everything 1st and it’ll never get used anyway as he claims to know many people who don’t use theirs (in work apparently) but the only person I know that he knows who doesn’t use theirs is his parents. But I reckon that’s because there’s only 2 of them there. When we stay, or after dinner parties, they use it.

We are a family of 4, I reckon we’ll use it daily!
My argument is is the fact that there are 4 of us and I feel like I spend quite a bit of my day washing dishes, or they end up taking a lot of space on the side (we have a very small kitchen with little worktop space as it is), so I could hide the dirty dishes in there until it’s full!

Who is BU?

I bloody love my dishwasher! There was only room for one machine in my kitchen so the tumble dryer had to sit in the workshop anyway. Some years ago I had plumbing put into the workshop and the washing machine moved in there. It wasn't too difficult other than the digging up of the front flower bed to find the pipes!

So now this wonderful machine called a dishwasher sits in my kitchen. There's only me and my animals and it still goes on a few times a week.

I'm in Scotland and not had problems with the pipes freezing though I'm having a back porch/utility room built on in the spring so the trek in the dark and rain to the workshop for washing and drying will be over.

Sainsburys do 1kg powder for £3. I bought mine in September & still have loads left.

You can break tablets in half. Wilko do the cheapest rinse aid.

I've never used branded because they still test extensively on animals.

Really fluffy is that true? Genuine question.

Have you got a list of the good and bad guys?

I use white vinegar for the rinse aid. Cheap as chips.

I can see the benefits, just don't get the gushing love.

Each to their own and all that, but I don't see washing up as such a problem. And surely you still need to load and unload it?

We are thinking of re jigging our kitchen soon as it is quite old now, and if we can fit one in we will, but it's not a massive priority to us.

Yes it's true. We test on more animals now than ever before.

All the big brands are owned mainly by two companies & they all test.

Ecover & method don't test. They are buav approved or cruelty international as they are now known.

Waitrose, M&S & Aldi are buav approved. The other supermarkets aren't but don't test on animals for own brand products on any of the lists I've seen. Sainsburys own is buav approved too from memory.

I have only ever bought the cheapest tabs available (Lidl/Aldi/SB economy) and I usually split them in 2. They work beautifully.

But then I have a tumble dryer I never use.......... maybe I am just weird?!!!

I used to use finish but switched to Lidl all in one tabs. They’re brilliant. You don’t need to but I use rinse aid and salt too since we are in a very hard water area.

Yes it's true. We test on more animals now than ever before.

and tbh with such toxic chemicals that are sometimes used in household products I'd rather they are tested before letting them lose...

Thanks fluffy I try and avoid the bad guys wherever possible but assumed, wrongly, it was only one or two major companies churning out the same dishwasher tablets.

My Ocado shopping list has now been amended!

Each to their own and all that, but I don't see washing up as such a problem. And surely you still need to load and unload it

The amount of effort/time taken to load and unload a full dishwasher is a small fraction of that taken to do the same amount of washing and drying up by hand.

And as it won't all fit on the draining board, if being done by one person, you have to keep pausing to dry up to make more room.

Got a dishwasher 4 years ago when it was just dh and I and I always joke and call it ‘the marriage saver’ lol! It’s made a huge difference to our life and we have an open plan kitchen / lounge and the noise is no issue. If you do one thing, get a dishwasher lol!

We have friends who refuse to have a dishwasher. They also have a room full of washing draped everywhere to dry as they also refuse to have a tumble dryer. They are lovely people, but don't know what they are missing imo!

Now, if someone could please invent an ironing device which just gets on with it unaided, that would be fab.

I took down a wall and redid my kitchen so I could have a dishwasher. He is BVVVU. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t. There are 4 of us, ours goes on at least once a day and it’s changed our lives. Why would you CHOOSE to wash up?

Dishwashers are one of those things you don't understand until you get one, then you don't understand how you ever managed without it.

Once you have one you'll never go back.

My dishwasher has been broken for a few months now and I hate it!!!!!

I love mine. It was always something I swore I would get. Washing up is a chore I hate. It’s really quiet too I can barely tell it’s doing anything. Eat dinner, scrape plates and pots and plates then sit a relax whilst dishwasher does it’s thing. All you need to do is clean out the filter once a week and every month I put one of the dishwasher cleaner bottles through it.

Are there people who don’t have one?

We don't. Our various rentals didn't and then for whatever reason the previous owners of our house didn't fit plumbing for one. We've only just got round to booking someone to add the necessary pipes. I suspect we will wonder why we didn't do it a lot sooner.

Ok. Once the kitchen is re done I promise to get one.

You can't all be wrong can you? Maybe it's just growing up we never had one, so it's not something I see as essential. And one of my abiding memories of being at my best friend's house as a teenager is her and her sisters arguing constantly about who would load or empty it. As it was never done there were never any clean mugs or anything, and we always ended up rinsing one under the tap. So I guess I never saw the point. We also have one at work that is always breaking, and again there is constant griping about loading/unloading. I refuse to be involved so just wash my stuff by hand and it's done, whilst their stuff is festering in a dishwasher for days. Hard habit to break!

Anyway, never let it be said I don't listen to you lot!

And surely you still need to load and unload it?

Well, we put the dirty stuff straight in, rather than have it pile up so it is always away. And when the dishwasher is unloaded, either late at night or early the next morning, it takes a couple of minutes rather than the faff of drying and putting away.

My Oh is away this week so I am going to shove any spare spaces with fridge drawers/side bits/metal hangy bits to get them all spick and span over the time he isn't here. Also maybe some bathroom stuff like the toothbrush holder etc. It is bloody marvellous.

Hmmm I DO like the idea of bunging fridge shelves and bathroom cups in................

I do the oven door glass and washing machine drawer in mine. I sometimes even do the kitchen bins and very occasionally the cat litter tray but make sure I use the cleaning chemicals after that.

I got the cheapest Bosch one and you can remove the top basket and add a second spray head at the back for big things.

Our first dishwasher lasted 13 years but we are in a soft water area. I think a lot of breakdowns could be due to hard water.