Dishwasher owners - tell me about your usage

[LouiseHeather]

Am trying to decide whether to get a dishwasher but not sure about eco crdentials vs time saved etc. Have read a few studies on dishwahsers claiming that they use less power/ water than hand washing but not 100% convinced.

So dishwasher owners, can you tell me for family of 4 having breakfast, kids tea and adults tea plus 3 meals a day at weekends (usually with a roast dinner):

a) how many dishwasher loads
b) how many handwash loads you also need to do e.g. for large pots, fragile non dishwahser items etc.

Ball park figures are fine. Just trying to get a handle on the general picture.

I don't handwash anything (can't believe you all handwash pans, they are the worst bit), have it on once a day, twice at weekends. Everything goes in the dishwasher and if it is not dishwasher safe it is donated to charity unless vintage (don't mind washing up for vintage). Ikea is good for dishwasher safe everything, but obviously not for eco credentials. I believe that the ecover dishwasher tablets are good but must be used with rinse-aid and salt.

I handwash baking trays, chopping boards, the wok and dh's good knives. Everything else goes in the dishwasher including pots, pans, etc. It is normally put on after dinner. We tend to use it once per day during the week and depending on whether we have a roast, do baking, etc it can be on a couple of times a day at the weekend. It can be a bit like a logic puzzle to fill it sometimes so that you can get the maximum number of items in but I wouldnt be without it now.

It goes on once a day for family of 3-4.

i don't hand wash except for anything that doesn't fit which is often a pan or two.

I use Waitrose own brand tablets which ar emuch cheaper than Finish.

Family of 4. On once a day. Always use it full to make it eco. If you were on Economy 7 electric and used at night it would be even better.

I am so JEALOUS

Family of 5 (1 a fully bf baby who makes no washing up yet) - once a day. When DH is away it's usually every 2 days. Don't hand wash a single thing.

Use whatever tabs are on offer.

Yes, I stock up on dishwasher tablets whenever they are on offer. Got a big cellar with shelves where I store all my householdy bogofs.

Fairy are the best, I'm afraid. But I'd never pay full price for them.

There are 5 of us here most days. We eat breakfast and dinner on weekdays, and three meals a day on weekends. I couldn't do without my dishwasher tbh.

I put all my saucepans and pots in, plus teapot. I only have one big cast iron frying pan that is seasoned and doesn't go into the dishwasher. I only buy casserole dishes, etc., that are dishwasher safe, so everything goes in. I scrape the plates and bowls using a paper towel, and rinse and scrub the pots and pans, sometimes soak in dishwasher detergent, before putting it all in. I run one very full load every day (I really load it to the gills), probably two on Christmas Day and Easter.

Six here - dishwasher once a day, but definitely no room for pans, ever. Handwash those and also wine-glasses, chopping knives and wooden utensils. Definite mixed economy but still worth it. Buy the cheap tabs when they'e on offer.

There are 4 of us (3 children one adult) - I usually put it on once a day - often on the quick wash (1/2), or the Eco for muckier stuff.

Very rarely handwash stuff, as even if I do a roast I usually do a quick wash for the plates/cutlery etc and then a longer one for the pots

I can actually cram 2 days worth of dishes into it if I concentrate - but then I run out of mugs and teaspoons and have to handwash them to have a coffee

I'm currently using Morrisons Value tablets which are doing just fine.

Couldn't live without it (honestly!) - the dishes is the very first thing that goes to pot (scuse the pun ) when my housekeeping goes astray (a regular occurence) or if I get down/tired

Use it once a month or so for when we have 12+ eating

Otherwise DH prohibits its use. They use electricity you see. He pre-empts any complaint from me by doing all the washing up by hand.

lol Quattro - I find it quite interesting actually - I have an OWL (geek emoticon) and actually apart from when it's heating the water my dishwasher doesn't actually use that much electric - in fact it uses more electricity to switch keep the dining room lights on than it does to run my dishwasher

you know you can install the dishwasher on the hot pipe. then it hardly uses any energy at all, as most energy goes on the heating.

Family of 4.
Breakfast for 4
Lunch for 2 (working from home)
Dinner for 4
Evening meal for 4

One or two pots that needs cleaning separately. I fit smaller pots and oven dishes in the washing machine.

Dishwasher on in the evening.

So, it runs 7 times per week, once a day, for 50 minutes, on eco 50 programme. (less water, water heated up to 50 degrees celcius - if you do use the eco cycle daily, you need to run it on 60 degrees once a week to clean the machine and kill bacteria)

I have a whirlpool. I used to have a miele. I think they are as good as eachother.

Oh thanks everyone for all your replies. I'm quite suprised about how few times you have to use them - thought it would be twice a day.

Am still mystified how all the pans fit in - if kids have pasta plus sauce and DH and I had the grilled something plus 2 veg for tea then that would be 2 pans, steamer, wok, grill pan and grill wire grill thing all needing to fit in. Can you just put pans on top of the plates - for some bizarre reason I had the idea that things aren't allowed to touch each other. (Oh god - I would get U grade in Dishwashing GCSE).

Anyone know what will happen to my old plates if they aren't dishwasher safe and I put them in - will they crack up or just lose their colour (as they are unfashionable rural oatmeal look circa early 1980's this probably not a problem).

Also can you put LeCrueset stuff in there?

The dishwasher hole in new kitchen is looking very tempting.

LOL at Quattrocento - I might be the female version of your DH if we get one and I come from the soft South.

Well, we eat together as a family, and the kids eat the same as we do, so we might have less pots and pans than you. I dont get the wok in the dishwasher, but I do get my largest frying pan, if there is little else.

As for not dishwasher proof, I think your plates will just fade.

Here you have the perfect excuse to splash out on new crockery!

Once a day for family of 4, unless have been baking or something and made a lot more washing up. Still wash some plastic cups and boxes by hand (they tend to flip over in the DW and fill up with gunky water), also don't put grill pan or wok in. Basically it goes on in the evening and anything that either won't fit in or has to be hand washed is done then too, empty first thing in the morning and refill again all day.

As someone else said, over time you find ingenious ways of getting more and more stuff crammed in. Mine is a Whirlpool, 7 years old, never rinse anything before putting it in (just scrape off any solid bits of food) and it gets pretty well everything spotless (when it doesn't that is usually due to poor positioning/overloading).

I think most LeCrueset is dishwasher safe isn't it?

I know they say the wooden handled ones aren't.......but I put my wooden spoons/wooden handled stuff in and it's all fine

80's crockery may fade - but it'll be fine

animal food dishes in with crockery the kids eat from?? ewwwwwww... Surely you dont?? I once watched an episode of "how clean is your house" and that blonde woman found som animal stuff in the dishwasher and said it was a complete no no. So it must be true.

I probably would do if I had pets.

Kind of figure if it's getting the water hot enough to make my plates clean and safe to eat from then why wouldn't it kill the yucky pet stufff???

guffaw at cooked breakfasts for teens.

If my boys want more food in the mornings they will have more cereal or toast

I wouldn't hand wash them together as I doubt the water would be hot enough - but there seem to be an AWFUL lot of dishwasher safe pet bowls available

If you put mouldy teenager hidden mugs in their can't see what's wrong with pet bowls.

Louise - I wash my saucepans because they have the handles get discoloured in the dw and they are expensive lifetime-guaranteed ones which I don't want to replace.

Also, let me tell you, unloading the diswasher is the biggest chore known to mankind. So I fill it up completely before running it so I don't have to empty it so often!

You can get into a very silly situation where you spend 10 minutes re-jigging everything in the dw to fit a couple more items in when you could just as easily have washed them by hand under a running tap in 2 mins.

Pet dishes go in after they have had a soak and a good scrub in the sink first. And if there's any room left.