I love my dishwasher

[auntie_betty]

UK dishwasher lover here. Though nothing will ever compare with the one I got given for free as it kept fusing and it cost me £2 to get it fixed. Aaaahhhh, I loved that machine :( Current one has never meant as much to me.

When the £2 died I bought the cheapest one in store, unpacked it and took it home in my little car, 'walked' it into the house and worked out how to plumb it in - shop would have delivered free in 2 days but this was an emergency!!!!!!! Why is it when your washer breaks people offer to do a load for you, but don't offer when your dishwasher breaks?

When my marriage broke up but we were still living together we divided up the house, putting a nominal value on everything. As he was buying me out of the house and the dishwasher was built in he refused to pay anything for it. A few days later when we were in the kitchen and the dishwasher was wide open there was a loud groaning noise. One hinge gave way, then the other and the door fell off, hinges had rusted away. Oh how I laughed......... He didn't.

[RootofGood]

And now you'll undoubtedly know about rule 35, as well. 

Get cracking now, RoG, and you can have this done before the weekend!

I thought the internet was a place absent of all inhibitions, free of burdensome social strictures.  Come to find out there are all these rules!  After finding out what rule 35 is, I think I'm going to break that one and let someone else follow it with respect to the subject at hand. 

[wintersun]

I love mine too, and just posted about that on another thread this morning.

But, have you ever taken a rag and wiped the bottom of the door?  Ewwww.  Mine was caked with slimy food goop.  I am now a dish rinser.

[wintersun]

I love mine too, and just posted about that on another thread this morning.

But, have you ever taken a rag and wiped the bottom of the door?  Ewwww.  Mine was caked with slimy food goop.  I am now a dish rinser.

[MMMaybe]

I love mine too. We currently live in a country where dishwashers are not common because labour is so cheap. So knowing that, we brought our dishwasher with us (we do not have household help).

Problem is, we can't get it serviced here either. So we are now semi-experts in dishwasher problems. It has broken down twice in the last few months but we've fixed it with internet tutorials.

I just want it to stay alive until we move back to a place where you can walk into a store and just buy one or even just replacement parts, if you needed to!

[PatStab]

We moved into this house 2 years ago.  The dishwasher wasn't broken but it didn't do well, some of the racks were broke and I just didn't like it.  I had a Bosch in our other house and loved it.  I went to Sears and wouldn't you know they had one on display they were selling to bring in new models.  It was on an upper tier so it hadn't been slammed and banged on by kids and it was an upper level Bosch.  I got a HUGE price reduction and got it put in.  We have an open concept house with 9 and 12 ft celings so noise echoes.  You don't even hear this running in the kitchen, sometimes just a gentle water sound if you are in there, that's it.  It is about a year old now and I LOVE it. 

I hated doing dishes when I was growing up and always said I was going to have a dishwasher, my folks thought I was silly.  Wouldn't you know I married a guy whose mom had had a dishwasher for years.  We had a mobile home but our first or second Christmas he bought me a portable dishwaher!! I was in heaven, had one ever since.  I still get a kick out of that.

[Johnez]

I know this topic is a bit old, I just have a quick question: any particular brands to look for or avoid? I'm thinking about getting a counter top dishwasher here. I'm currently looking at a Danby model on Best Buy's site.

[Bob W]

I know you love your DW but for small loads a good hand job is often quicker and easier. 

[Bob W]

Hate mine.  Most be my personal experience but all of them I've had have done a shit job and the soap is uber expensive.   Not sure it is good for my septic system with all that soap used?

My wife loads it but I prefer to soak my dishes over night after a quick rinse.  Takes me less time to wipe them with a sponge and rinse than to rinse, wipe, load, run, unload. 

We use big pots and pans that don't fit into the DW so we end up soaping up the sink about 4 times pre week anyhow.

You could always use disposable cups and plates.   The cost of the cups and plates would probably be less than the DW soap.    I tried this for a month once and it was really nice.    In fact,  I think I will fully revert to that now that I think about it.

Yikes! What kind of dishwasher soap are you using? I get a $4 box of Finish from Wal-Mart and it lasts at least a month, and we're running 14-20 loads a week over here.

Yikes!  14-20 loads a week!  You running a restaurant there?    Even if your dish process takes only 8 minutes per load (improbably to be that low, but not impossible) that is 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours doing dishes per week!    I would say disposable plates should definitely be given a try with number like those.   

Not arguing with those that "love" their DW.   

[RootofGood]

Is there anything special I should do in terms of cleaning or packaging after I remove it to ensure it's still in good working order after a few years in storage?

Just make sure the drain hose is empty.  Probably turn the unit on it's side or back and get the hose to a slightly lower elevation and let it drain out completely.  Otherwise, I don't think it would matter to let it sit for years.  Leave the DW's door slightly ajar as well so moisture doesn't build up and mold. 

[OttoVonBisquick]

I know you love your DW but for small loads a good hand job is often quicker and easier.

Hahahaha damnit it got better the more I re-read it. Just be sure to clean up the mess when you're done.

[RootofGood]

Even if your dish process takes only 8 minutes per load (improbably to be that low, but not impossible) that is 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours doing dishes per week!   

I think 8 minutes is a great estimate for what it should take to load a dishwasher.  I time myself more often than I would like to admit, and 10 minutes is about the max unless I'm prewashing some ugly pots and pans.  My wife moves even faster than me but I err on the side of slight prewashing to get big gunks of food off the dishes before placing into the dishwasher.

[RootofGood]

So setting aside that it's not plates, bowls and cups that are the bulk of my dish doing, is two hours a week doing dishes nuts? That's a little over half an hour a day. Food prep for my family is easily a part time job. Figure 1 hour of cooking and cleanup per weekday, plus 2 hours of food shopping per week, plus 1 hour of heavy kitchen cleaning on the weekend and 4 hours of bulk cooking on the weekend, and it adds up to a lot of time. It's worth it, because my food is better than most restaurants, but it's a labor intensive way to eat.

Seems legit to me.  If we're cooking a lot on a particular day, we might spend 2-4 hours in the kitchen between prep work, cooking and cleaning. 

[Ozstache]

For the most part, I hate my dishwasher. While waiting up to two days for it to fill to its efficient washing capacity, it robs me of dishes I need in the interim. It uses electricity and more expensive detergent to run. It uses about the same amount of water that I would for the same amount of dishes. It washes all dishes with the intensity of the lowest common dirty denominator rather than tailoring the wash to how dirty each dish actually is. It wastes space with strangely shaped or large dishes. It does not capitalise on soapy water already in the sink to wipe down dirty surfaces or to clean pots/fry pans/oven trays/woks too big to put in the dishwasher. Being an enclosed container, it does not capitalise on air drying available to washed dishes stacked on the sink. Finally, after the time taken to pre-rinse, load, wait, load, wait, load, wait, load, start wash, wait, unload, hand dry still wet items, and rewash unclean items, it is simply quicker per dish just to hand wash. The only time I use it is when we have a dinner party and it can actually be filled to capacity and put on straight away, but even then it is begrudgingly.

[RootofGood]

Ozstache,

We rarely have to hand dry anything.  It's a built in drying rack.  Open it up once it's done washing and the residual heat does a lot of the job as it cools down.  Our dishwasher also has soil sensors that adjusts the run time and even # of wash cycles based on how dirty stuff is.  It sips the water (just a couple gallons IIRC to wash and rinse a huge load). 

[Bob W]

My wife has loaded the DW for 2 days.   She has left for work.   I will now unload it and hand wash the dishes in less than 8 minutes.   I also use a hand can opener.   Let's not even get into that discussion!      Edit. 8 minutes 10 seconds.  I put them back in DW.  She'll never know.   At that pace my annual hand washing time is 24 hours.

[Kitsunegari]

Oh I LOVE having a dishwasher!  When we bought our house last year I insisted that putting a dishwasher (first time for me!) was a top priority and it was not up for discussion. My SO tried to talk me out of it because of the cost, and "do we really need it?" (Now you guys know who was doing the dishes...). I put my feet down, and he was a convert within a week.
We had a few months of adjustment and discussions about the details (how to arrange the stuff inside, rinse or not rinse before...) but for us hardcore cooks has been a real game changer.

OTOH, this didn't make me forget that the real blessing, the thing I don't want to make without, it's the washer. I had to hand-wash everything for a single summer in my life and there is NO WAY I wanna live like that.

[Bob W]

Oh yeah,  washing machines rock!   And don't forget refrigerators!   

So this is the second thread on this in the last month that has gained traction.  Yes,  MMM forum readers really are crazy! lol

My absolute favorite kitchen appliance in the last 3 years has been the spinning pizza cooker dealy.    We use it every day.   My son loves pepperoni pizza but we also use it for nuggets,  wings and other odds and ends.   (Yeah, my 8 year old is not the healthiest eater)

[KisKis]

For the most part, I hate my dishwasher. While waiting up to two days for it to fill to its efficient washing capacity, it robs me of dishes I need in the interim. It uses electricity and more expensive detergent to run. It uses about the same amount of water that I would for the same amount of dishes. It washes all dishes with the intensity of the lowest common dirty denominator rather than tailoring the wash to how dirty each dish actually is. It wastes space with strangely shaped or large dishes. It does not capitalise on soapy water already in the sink to wipe down dirty surfaces or to clean pots/fry pans/oven trays/woks too big to put in the dishwasher. Being an enclosed container, it does not capitalise on air drying available to washed dishes stacked on the sink. Finally, after the time taken to pre-rinse, load, wait, load, wait, load, wait, load, start wash, wait, unload, hand dry still wet items, and rewash unclean items, it is simply quicker per dish just to hand wash. The only time I use it is when we have a dinner party and it can actually be filled to capacity and put on straight away, but even then it is begrudgingly.

Same here.  I want to be a dishwasher lover, but maybe our dishwasher is just not awesome enough.  It's much faster and easier for me to wash the dishes myself, and I feel I conserve more water.  One little tub of hot soapy water does a lot.  Plus, by the time our dishwasher is full enough for a load (family of 4), dishes have gotten a little stinky and stuff is more caked on.  It feels more sanitary and energy efficient to wash pots and pans immediately after I am done cooking and dishes immediately after the meal.  Ditto on dishwasher use only for dinner parties. 

[Bob W]

For the most part, I hate my dishwasher. While waiting up to two days for it to fill to its efficient washing capacity, it robs me of dishes I need in the interim. It uses electricity and more expensive detergent to run. It uses about the same amount of water that I would for the same amount of dishes. It washes all dishes with the intensity of the lowest common dirty denominator rather than tailoring the wash to how dirty each dish actually is. It wastes space with strangely shaped or large dishes. It does not capitalise on soapy water already in the sink to wipe down dirty surfaces or to clean pots/fry pans/oven trays/woks too big to put in the dishwasher. Being an enclosed container, it does not capitalise on air drying available to washed dishes stacked on the sink. Finally, after the time taken to pre-rinse, load, wait, load, wait, load, wait, load, start wash, wait, unload, hand dry still wet items, and rewash unclean items, it is simply quicker per dish just to hand wash. The only time I use it is when we have a dinner party and it can actually be filled to capacity and put on straight away, but even then it is begrudgingly.

Same here.  I want to be a dishwasher lover, but maybe our dishwasher is just not awesome enough.  It's much faster and easier for me to wash the dishes myself, and I feel I conserve more water.  One little tub of hot soapy water does a lot.  Plus, by the time our dishwasher is full enough for a load (family of 4), dishes have gotten a little stinky and stuff is more caked on.  It feels more sanitary and energy efficient to wash pots and pans immediately after I am done cooking and dishes immediately after the meal.  Ditto on dishwasher use only for dinner parties.

You are correct --- but does that mean that you still cannot love your Dishwasher?   I think you should go ahead and love it.   One can love both handwashing and dish washers.   These are not mutually exclusive.   It's not like you're cheating on Dear DW if you occasionally do a hand load. 

[KisKis]

For the most part, I hate my dishwasher. While waiting up to two days for it to fill to its efficient washing capacity, it robs me of dishes I need in the interim. It uses electricity and more expensive detergent to run. It uses about the same amount of water that I would for the same amount of dishes. It washes all dishes with the intensity of the lowest common dirty denominator rather than tailoring the wash to how dirty each dish actually is. It wastes space with strangely shaped or large dishes. It does not capitalise on soapy water already in the sink to wipe down dirty surfaces or to clean pots/fry pans/oven trays/woks too big to put in the dishwasher. Being an enclosed container, it does not capitalise on air drying available to washed dishes stacked on the sink. Finally, after the time taken to pre-rinse, load, wait, load, wait, load, wait, load, start wash, wait, unload, hand dry still wet items, and rewash unclean items, it is simply quicker per dish just to hand wash. The only time I use it is when we have a dinner party and it can actually be filled to capacity and put on straight away, but even then it is begrudgingly.

Same here.  I want to be a dishwasher lover, but maybe our dishwasher is just not awesome enough.  It's much faster and easier for me to wash the dishes myself, and I feel I conserve more water.  One little tub of hot soapy water does a lot.  Plus, by the time our dishwasher is full enough for a load (family of 4), dishes have gotten a little stinky and stuff is more caked on.  It feels more sanitary and energy efficient to wash pots and pans immediately after I am done cooking and dishes immediately after the meal.  Ditto on dishwasher use only for dinner parties.

You are correct --- but does that mean that you still cannot love your Dishwasher?   I think you should go ahead and love it.   One can love both handwashing and dish washers.   These are not mutually exclusive.   It's not like you're cheating on Dear DW if you occasionally do a hand load.

DH loves it when I do a hand load.  Sometimes it is easier for all concerned.  I will try my best to be a pan-lover of all our appliances.

[Bob W]

For the most part, I hate my dishwasher. While waiting up to two days for it to fill to its efficient washing capacity, it robs me of dishes I need in the interim. It uses electricity and more expensive detergent to run. It uses about the same amount of water that I would for the same amount of dishes. It washes all dishes with the intensity of the lowest common dirty denominator rather than tailoring the wash to how dirty each dish actually is. It wastes space with strangely shaped or large dishes. It does not capitalise on soapy water already in the sink to wipe down dirty surfaces or to clean pots/fry pans/oven trays/woks too big to put in the dishwasher. Being an enclosed container, it does not capitalise on air drying available to washed dishes stacked on the sink. Finally, after the time taken to pre-rinse, load, wait, load, wait, load, wait, load, start wash, wait, unload, hand dry still wet items, and rewash unclean items, it is simply quicker per dish just to hand wash. The only time I use it is when we have a dinner party and it can actually be filled to capacity and put on straight away, but even then it is begrudgingly.

Same here.  I want to be a dishwasher lover, but maybe our dishwasher is just not awesome enough.  It's much faster and easier for me to wash the dishes myself, and I feel I conserve more water.  One little tub of hot soapy water does a lot.  Plus, by the time our dishwasher is full enough for a load (family of 4), dishes have gotten a little stinky and stuff is more caked on.  It feels more sanitary and energy efficient to wash pots and pans immediately after I am done cooking and dishes immediately after the meal.  Ditto on dishwasher use only for dinner parties.

You are correct --- but does that mean that you still cannot love your Dishwasher?   I think you should go ahead and love it.   One can love both handwashing and dish washers.   These are not mutually exclusive.   It's not like you're cheating on Dear DW if you occasionally do a hand load.

DH loves it when I do a hand load.  Sometimes it is easier for all concerned.  I will try my best to be a pan-lover of all our appliances.

Well done on the hand load!  And yes,  try to love all the various methods and appliances.  Even the battery powered ones as they seldom get the respect they deserve.  We love our battery powered gadgets! 

[RootofGood]

I started the thread to discuss a method of maintaining cleanliness and it ended up dirty. 

[Kriegsspiel]

Yea, like ANY kind of thread involving cleaning is going to not be sexy. Get real.

[Bob W]

I started the thread to discuss a method of maintaining cleanliness and it ended up dirty.

Glad to be of service!  See you at  your blog my friend.