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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU not to want a dishwasher?

450 replies

ChloeCC · 19/03/2021 21:22

My DP and I are currently planning our kitchen. We don't have dishwasher in our current kitchen and I'm not too bothered. He thinks it's an essential, and it'll become more essential as our kids grow - they're tiny atm. The new kitchen doesn't have a huge amount of cupboard space so I think we should save the space and go without. What do people with slightly older kids think? Is it something that would put you off buying a place if there wasn't a dishwasher? We might sell the house in a few years. I'm a bit torn - I don't mind washing up - sometimes it feels like a break!

OP posts:
Daydreamsinglorioustechnicolor · 20/03/2021 11:08

@littleredberries

Not to mention the resources used in the building of the machine! Not saying a dish washer is a bad thing at all. Just somewhat thrown by the "environmental" argument.
Its because you do a larger load in one go, whereas if you wash up by hand you tend to do more smaller loads through the day because you don't want a similar amount piling up by the sink. I don't have a dishwasher by the way and don't mind washing up. But its because I'm in a rental without one. I'd have one if I had the option.
VanGoghsDog · 20/03/2021 11:17

@CherryCherries

I use a commercial dishwasher at work and you definitely want to be pre rinsing before you load. Otherwise your dishwasher will be just clogging up with food debris, grease, general grime, meaning you'll need to be cleaning the dishwasher all the time. At work we need to drain and clean it each day, I imagine at home it would less so. We also need to salt it once a week. Cleaning your stuff in a dirty dishwasher is pointless and it won't be clean if you're chucking in dirty food items without a pre rinse everytime. More hassle than they are worth!
This is not my experience of having owned dishwashers for over twenty years.

Anything that would "clog" it up needs to be scraped in the bin, not rinsed down the sink. I don't rinse. My stuff comes out clean. I run it every night before bed even if it has only a few things in it.

I top up salt about every two months but this largely depends how hard your water is, mine is very hard.
I run a cleaner through it about once a year and clear the filters every few months.

I live alone and would never be without a dishwasher!

BarbaraofSeville · 20/03/2021 11:17

Hand washing tends to use less water

Care to check that?

The average dishwasher uses around 10 litres of water for a full load. That's about half a sink full.

Do you really think you can wash up a couple of dozen greasy plates, cups, pans and cutlery in half a sink full of water?

littleredberries · 20/03/2021 11:25

@BarbaraofSeville

Hand washing tends to use less water

Care to check that?

The average dishwasher uses around 10 litres of water for a full load. That's about half a sink full.

Do you really think you can wash up a couple of dozen greasy plates, cups, pans and cutlery in half a sink full of water?

I should add some bio. My family and I live off grid in a caravan, with a tiny caravan sink. We pump our own ground water well. Water is an extremely precious resource to us. Yes, you'd be amazed the amount of washing up we can do with extremely little water! But I'll follow up on the link another posted has left. I'm not arguing with it, it just goes completely against what I was expecting! And probably due to my lifestyle!
londonscalling · 20/03/2021 11:39

It isn't about not having to wash up. It's because everything comes out the dishwasher gleaming. Also you don't end up with so many dirty dishes around as you can put them out of sight in the dishwasher as you go along.

midgedude · 20/03/2021 11:41

The dishwasher may only use a small amount of water ( about half a sink is what we use for washing up anyway ) but most people I know rinse a number of things before the dishwasher and also have half a sink to wash things that won't go in the dishwasher

TheKeatingFive · 20/03/2021 11:45

I don’t rinse anything before going in the DW. No need.

NotMeNoNo · 20/03/2021 11:47

I'm sure all things being equal, the greener option is not to buy a huge machine with all its embodied carbon, to do a job that's very simple to do by hand, even if the running costs/impacts are not much different. It's still a very useful device that's become pretty mainstream. And if you already have one, look after it.
Consumer purchasing of items (and wastage) often outweighs the tiny carbon or water use of running them.

JustDespair · 20/03/2021 11:54

I don't understand how people can claim it takes less time to do it by hand. It just doesn't.
When we were without one and it was just us 2, it would easily be at least 15 minutes a day tied to the sink, scrubbing away like mad. If we had gone all out and cooked something that needed 3 pans and an oven tray as well as all the spoons and bowls etc, half an hour wasn't unheard of.
Now we have kids I spend 2 minutes filling it and 2 minutes unloading it. No need for drying either as I open it when it's done and leave it for a little while.

PanamaPattie · 20/03/2021 12:10

I don’t see the point. Never had one.

Templetree · 20/03/2021 12:20

@JustDespair

I don't understand how people can claim it takes less time to do it by hand. It just doesn't. When we were without one and it was just us 2, it would easily be at least 15 minutes a day tied to the sink, scrubbing away like mad. If we had gone all out and cooked something that needed 3 pans and an oven tray as well as all the spoons and bowls etc, half an hour wasn't unheard of. Now we have kids I spend 2 minutes filling it and 2 minutes unloading it. No need for drying either as I open it when it's done and leave it for a little while.
Its like people on here saying their 4 children are easier than having 1 or 2 Oh aye strokes chin Wink
Templetree · 20/03/2021 12:22

Also the newer models dry for you!
Mine has various functions including a really short programme.

BarbaraofSeville · 20/03/2021 12:25

All dishwashers dry up. It's been a standard feature for decades.

JustDespair · 20/03/2021 12:28

@Templetree

Also the newer models dry for you! Mine has various functions including a really short programme.
Mines a year old! I haven't read the instructions because I'm lazy! OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE
Parky04 · 20/03/2021 12:29

Never had a dishwasher. Actually enjoy washing the dishes myself. DW has hardly washed the dishes in 25 years!

dementedpixie · 20/03/2021 12:38

All the dishwashers we have had in the last 20 years have a drying cycle if it was doing a full wash cycle. Only the quick wash cycles miss out the drying part.

dementedpixie · 20/03/2021 12:39

And I always scrape the plates and don't rinse them as the detergent needs something to work on or it starts to damage your crockery

Templetree · 20/03/2021 12:39

@BarbaraofSeville

All dishwashers dry up. It's been a standard feature for decades.
My previous one was 20 years old It didnt dry
BigRedBoat · 20/03/2021 12:50

I don't get 'oh but you have unload it' as a reason for not having one, if you wash by hand you still have to put them away?

Mylovelyhorsee · 20/03/2021 12:52

I wouldn’t buy a house without space for a dishwasher.

It’s essential for us as a family of 4.

malmi · 20/03/2021 12:53

Get two! Then you don't have to unload them. Just take clean stuff out of one and put it into the other for cleaning.

Pyewackect · 20/03/2021 13:01

Dishwasher is one of those things you didn't know how you coped before you had one.

midgedude · 20/03/2021 13:03

@Pyewackect

Dishwasher is one of those things you didn't know how you coped before you had one.
Only for some people!
BuggeringBugger · 20/03/2021 13:22

I hate the feeling of glasses and plates when they've come out the dishwasher, is that just me?

JackieTheFart · 20/03/2021 13:31

YABU Shock my dishwasher is the best appliance. I removed a cupboard to fit ours in - we’ve got a slimline one which is fine for two adults and three kids. I’d rather have a dishwasher than a washing machine (but then we have two laundrettes within easy reach).