Dishwashing, keep tap turned on or turn on and off when rinsing.

[Feraldogmum]

Hi we have a condensing combi boiler so get hot water on demand. I’m attempting to use the dishwasher less but not sure if the way I wash up is costing more. When I wash up by hand, I always rinse items before draining under a hot running tap, so should I keep tap on low or turn on and off as I rinse? I don’t know if firing the boiler up several times is more costly than just running the tap. Not rinsing isn’t an option. I used to work as a nanny in my youth for a chemical engineer, who freaked out when he saw I was putting dishes straight to drain “ that’s pure poison on there” he squawked about the suds.

I always thought the dishwasher worked out cheaper?

Other than glassware, I rinse under the cold tap over the half sink and leave the tap running. I have no idea whether the dishwasher is more economical but I still have items that I prefer to hand wash, including most of my pans and knives.

On and off works well and is cheaper than constant running.
Start with an inch of water in the sink (with suds of course) the hot soapy water washes then the rinse as you go gets rid of soap residue and any clinging bits.
Sink 3/4 full when finished, about 5l of water heated by gas... much cheaper than electric dishwasher.
I always wash this way and my mugs and cutlery don't taste of soap or salt like those who don't rinse or who use dishwasher.

I wash mine before loading the dishwasher 🙂

dishwasher more economical if you have a full load
i rinse under a cold tap and turn it on and off as needed.
if you have metered water I wouldn’t keep it running

I suppose you could wash everything then rinse everything so you're running the tap, but not running the tap unused. I don't cos I don't have somewhere to pile half washed dishes.
So long as you aren't running the tap ages while you wash even when no rinsing is happening you'll be grand.

Dishwashers use far less water than washing up the same amount by hand.
It's about half a sink full, so you wouldn't be able to wash all those plates, pans, glasses, mugs, cutlery etc in half a sink full of water.

Plus it's much less effort, and is unlikely to cost significantly more than washing up by hand, especially if you're double rinsing everything.

Cold water is fine for rinsing. Except glasses if you mind a few streaks.

I was always told a dishwasher is cheaper, but it’s often energy companies and dishwasher manufacturers telling us that, so I’m a tad cynical. It’s a tough one because yes they use less water, but electricity is 3 times the price and I frequently have dishwasher on twice a day. I’m sure I read somewhere a dishwasher costs about £2/2.50 a load! I don’t use cold water to rinse as I find using hot lets the items dry more effectively and quicker, thus reducing drying by hand. I’ve problems with hands arthritis,Dupuytrens and carpal tunnel, so dishwashing not fun at best if times. I may just suck it up with the leccy bill, life’s too short for some things. Ta folks.

I’m sure I read somewhere a dishwasher costs about £2/2.50 a load

Did you not think to check the accuracy of what you read? It's way off.

A dishwasher uses 1 to 2 kWh per cycle, less if it's new and has an eco cycle - ours uses about 0.7 kWh on the eco cycle, so about 25 p on the standard tariff.

We get the cheapest decent all in one tablets we can find (currently Aldi, Lidl, Costco or occasionally a supermarket offer) and never pay more than 10 p a tablet. We don't use separate salt or rinse aid, although people in harder water areas might need to. Therefore a cycle in our dishwasher costs about 35 p, if you have harder water or a less efficient dishwasher it could be a little more, maybe 50 to 70 p, or in extreme circumstances, old inefficient dishwasher, needing extra salt and rinse aid, maybe £1 a cycle as an absolute top limit.

But how much washing up are you producing to need to put the dishwasher on twice a day? If you're doing two dishwasher loads by hand, you must never be away from the sink? Do you need to make so much washing up?

rinse items before draining under a hot running tap, so should I keep tap on low or turn on and off as I rinse?
Can't you fill another bowl with a few inches of water and swill in that?

in what way are soap suds poison?

Not that I have many on my draining board anyway, there isn't piles and piles of them in the bowl

Depends how you wash up.
If everything is clean, and ready for a rinse, leave the tap running.
But don't have the tap running while you scrub last night's dinner off the bottom of the pan.

It's not the cost of the water, it's the cost of heating the water.

Dishwashers are efficient because they reuse the water and use powered jets and have the water much hotter than you could stand to touch.

Most efficient way of washing up by hand I found out by accident when we didn't have a hot tap in the kitchen.

1. Boil kettle
2. Fill WU bowl with boiling water (and detergent if you like)
3. Carefully, using a brush and holding by edge, rinse/scub all items in boiling water (ignore if water is getting disgusting)
4. Place items back on dirty side of sink
5. Empty WU bowl
6. Wash as normal (for me this is a single bowl of hand-hot water, starting with the cleanest items - glasses - mugs - cleanish crockery - cutlery - dirty crockery - pans) replace if bubbles disappear or when water is discoloured, greasy or cooled.

The boiling water step removes the majority of the grease and solid food which means you need less water and detergent and effort to wash them.

I cook from scratch ,have dogs ( well sadly down to one right now) and do packed lunches for hubby. I use a lot of pots and pans, mixing stuff as make own sauces, several dog bowls a day and none of the Tupperware use for his lunches is dishwasher proof. It does feel sometimes that I’m never out of the kitchen.
In answer to “ poison” the chap I worked for was a chemical engineer and told me that washing up liquid was extremely toxic, he worked in the industry. It may be in low levels when you’ve washed up ,but if you don’t rinse or wipe the soapy water off and consume the residue ,over time you can ingest a great deal of it, another good reason to use the dishwasher ,if any were needed.😁

but that doesnt answer the question - toxic in what way? I have never rinsed the washing up in my life, and the only illness I have ever had is genetic.

How is anything toxic when ingested? It’s a chemical, I’m assuming it could have all manner of effects that eating one could have over time. I don’t know what effects it has been linked to, not being a dr or chemist, but I’m sure if you looked up the precise chemical makeup of a standard washing up liquid then you could look up the toxicity, noted side effects etc of each constituent part. Being a detergent designed to clean and not eat, I choose not to eat it, it seems just good sense to me. We have enough toxins in modern day life, why add another unnecessarily?

your are the person saying it is toxic, and everything is a chemical.

I dont think it does any harm at all.

According to my bottle of Fairy, the problem is Methylisothiazolinone. However, the article refers to "leave-on products such as body creams". The Fairy bottle seems more worried about eye irritations and aquatic life.

If there were an actual health risk from washing up liquid I think we would know about it by now. There's no need to rinse. But the dishwasher would be better anyway as has been said.

I scrape plates of any uneaten food, then with a hot wet scourer with some washing liquid on wipe down plates and keep going if the scourer makes suds adding liquid as necessary and then rinse with hot running water. I still prefer using the dishwasher but washing by hand saves maybe 50p

its best not to drink it! but really, the residue on the washing up is harmless. The OP is not able to explain why they think it is toxic, it is just something they heard someone say once. Like I said, I have never rinsed the washing up in my life, and have always been perfectly healthy, until recently with a genetic condition

If you read my text I stated that a chemical engineer,a highly educated and experienced professional told me this. I have no reason to doubt him and yes everything does have a chemical makeup but when we talk of chemicals it is generally accepted we are talking about manmade chemicals created by various processes of extraction , addition, concentration that do not exist in a natural form , many of which are toxic, many have other applications,medicine for example, many natural occurring things are also poison.
If a dr says something is poison, most people understand what poison means and that ingesting it is harmful.
Definition of poison “ a substance that is capable of causing the illness or death of a living organism when introduced or absorbed.” There are many articles on the web as to the possible toxity of ingested wul.”
I would also say that if you do not rinse plates etc,you are not only leaving soap residue but minute particles of food in the dirty water attached to those suds, only rinsing them off will ensure they are clean.

Its harmless.

Dont drink the washing up liquid, dont pour it in your wyes, dont worry about it on the plates!