News:

Thanks to everyone for the feedback on what errors you encountered from the forum database changes made in Fall 2023. Let us know if you discover anymore.

Main Menu

Do you hand wash dishes or use a dishwasher?

Started by Max Rockatansky, May 03, 2022, 10:58:40 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Max Rockatansky

I haven't used a dish washer in probably about five years.  I've found when I hand wash dishes they always come out cleaner no matter how nice a dishwasher might be. 


JayhawkCO

Both. A dishwasher uses less water than hand washing. So what I can wash that way, I do.

abefroman329

I use a dishwasher for anything that is dishwasher safe, which pretty much leaves insulated drinkware, our electric skillet, and our cast-iron cookware to be cleaned by hand.

Despite the ramblings of a certain ex-President, I've found modern dishwashers to do a great job of cleaning dishes, provided you clean the food trap regularly and keep it full of rinse aid.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: abefroman329 on May 03, 2022, 11:03:06 AM
I use a dishwasher for anything that is dishwasher safe, which pretty much leaves insulated drinkware, our electric skillet, and our cast-iron cookware to be cleaned by hand.

Despite the ramblings of a certain ex-President, I've found modern dishwashers to do a great job of cleaning dishes, provided you clean the food trap regularly and keep it full of rinse aid.

I didn't realize this was actually a thing, it's almost like a Seinfeld standup skit:


abefroman329

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 03, 2022, 11:06:04 AM
Quote from: abefroman329 on May 03, 2022, 11:03:06 AM
I use a dishwasher for anything that is dishwasher safe, which pretty much leaves insulated drinkware, our electric skillet, and our cast-iron cookware to be cleaned by hand.

Despite the ramblings of a certain ex-President, I've found modern dishwashers to do a great job of cleaning dishes, provided you clean the food trap regularly and keep it full of rinse aid.

I didn't realize this was actually a thing, it's almost like a Seinfeld standup skit:


"This one is fast-acting; this one is long-lasting.  Do I want to feel better now or later?"

kphoger

Quote from: abefroman329 on May 03, 2022, 11:03:06 AM
I use a dishwasher for anything that is dishwasher safe, which pretty much leaves insulated drinkware, our electric skillet, and our cast-iron cookware to be cleaned by hand.

Despite the ramblings of a certain ex-President, I've found modern dishwashers to do a great job of cleaning dishes, provided you clean the food trap regularly and keep it full of rinse aid.

My wife and I do similarly.

in the dishwasher
everyday plates and bowls
cups and glasses
normal coffee mugs
silverware
reusable plastic straws
bottles and sippy-cups
food storage containers of all types (except see below)
large metal and plastic utensils
cheap pots and pans

hand washed
china plates and bowls
crystal stemware
insulated or sports bottles
a couple of ceramic coffee mugs
steak knives and chef's knives
reusable metal straws and their tips
the lids for Lock & Lock containers
wooden utensils
heavy-duty pots and pans
most cutting boards
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

snowc

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 03, 2022, 10:58:40 AM
I haven't used a dish washer in probably about five years.  I've found when I hand wash dishes they always come out cleaner no matter how nice a dishwasher might be.
Don't have a dishwasher. Have a old 1920s house that cannot process dishes.
We wash them instead.

1995hoo

Both. We have some things that are not dishwasher-safe. Then there are times when it just makes more sense to hand-wash (e.g., when I feed the cat I handwash the spoon and use it again next time; I also handwash the glass I use for orange juice each morning because it's the only glass we have of that particular size).
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

MikieTimT

Hand wash.  Unless you do a very good job of prerinsing before loading a dishwasher, I've noticed that you wind up with boiled particles on things afterwards.  Really, dishwashers are just sanitizers unless you have a really good model that can at best do as good a job as handwashing.  Unless the dishwasher for the week is one of my sons...

thspfc


hbelkins

I'm living in the house that was built when I was in my teens. My parents had a dishwasher installed. I would be willing to guess that it was used fewer than two dozen times, and I can pretty much state with certainly that it hasn't been used since 1986 (when my mom died) and definitely not since 2008 (when my dad went to a nursing home).

I'm not even sure if it still works.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

skluth

I used a dishwasher when I had one. My current home desperately needs a kitchen update so I can have one again.

Rothman

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

LilianaUwU

I sure wish I had a dishwasher, considering I'm the one who washes the dishes in the house.
"Volcano with no fire... Not volcano... Just mountain."
—Mr. Thwomp

My pronouns are she/her. Also, I'm an admin on the AARoads Wiki.

JayhawkCO

Quote from: LilianaUwU on May 03, 2022, 05:07:25 PM
I sure wish I had a dishwasher, considering I'm the one who washes the dishes in the house.

Then you do. You actually have two. Your left hand and your right hand.  :)

jeffandnicole

When we remodeled our kitchen 6 years ago, we added a dishwasher.  Run it about every other day for most things.  We handwash things that shouldn't go into the dishwasher or we don't want to expose to constant hot water, like most of our pots and pans, good knives, certain china, my Trevis coffee mug, etc. 

Growing up we had a dishwasher and rarely handwashed anything.  My wife though handwashed their dishes every day.  Honestly I don't mind handwashing dishes; it's the limited room we have in the sink and countertop that handicaps us doing the manual labor.

J N Winkler

Quote from: MikieTimT on May 03, 2022, 12:14:14 PMHand wash.  Unless you do a very good job of prerinsing before loading a dishwasher, I've noticed that you wind up with boiled particles on things afterwards.  Really, dishwashers are just sanitizers unless you have a really good model that can at best do as good a job as handwashing.  Unless the dishwasher for the week is one of my sons...

We likewise use the dishwasher as a sanitizer for things that are dishwasher-safe.  We also pre-rinse and pre-soak extensively, but not in the sink (blocks access to the tap).  I don't think I've ever seen a dishwasher get really dirty dishes 100% spotless, no matter how highly rated by Consumer Reports it is.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

Scott5114

I use a dishwasher. I've discovered that any deficiencies my dishwasher has had are due to using those pre-formed detergent packs.

Dishwashers generally wash in two cycles, a pre-wash cycle and a main wash cycle. They need to have soap in the water for both parts. The soap dispenser is designed such that, when you use powdered or liquid dish soap, a portion of the soap will seep out of the dispenser for the pre-wash cycle (usually the dispenser has a separator down the middle, and one side will have a vent that allows it to escape while the door is closed). If you use a single detergent pack, soap is only released in the main wash cycle, so the pre-wash cycle cannot work as it is designed to.

If you must use detergent packs, you can mitigate this by using two of them, putting one in the soap dispenser and the other tossed on the bottom of the washer tub.

I only hand-wash dishes if the dishwasher is full and there is an urgent need for all dishes to be dealt with (i.e. company is coming over and the house needs to be presentable). The main reason is that my kitchen is such that there's really no good place to dry them other than on a grille placed over the sink to drip-dry them there, which of course makes the sink inaccessible while the dishes are drying. I do not make an exception for non-dishwasher-safe dishes; any dish I own that is not dishwasher-safe is too much trouble to keep around anyway. If a dish is ruined, it merely reveals that dish was a traitor to the cause all along.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

J N Winkler

I glady hand-wash good-quality knives (the kind people send out to be sharpened and try to keep honed in the meantime), the stainless steel saucepan I use for cooking food in oil, and smaller utensils such as a wood-handled spatula, a bamboo stirring spoon, and a serving spoon made out of some kind of non-ferrous alloy.  Otherwise, I try to retire utensils that aren't dishwasher-safe.  I drain pasta in a stainless-steel colander even though the handles are spotted with rust and we have an aluminum colander that still looks like new after almost 50 years.

I use just one teaspoon to one tablespoon of dishwashing detergent per wash; a standard-sized container usually lasts us a year.  I hesitate to use more to try to eliminate the pre-washing stage, since we were told our last dishwasher failed partly due to unused detergent clogging the drain.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

Scott5114

The key thing is not so much amount of detergent used, as it is ensuring a proper supply of detergent for both the pre-wash and wash cycles. As long as a portion of the detergent is in a location where it can be picked up in the pre-wash cycle, it will do its job. (Note that the water used in the pre-wash cycle is flushed out of the system and fresh water is used for the wash cycle; in theory, pre-wash water and wash water will never come into contact, so it should not be possible to add to soap density by supplying soap to the pre-wash cycle.)
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

US 89

I have a dishwasher in my apartment, but it is horrendously loud and annoying, so nobody really ever uses it. I can think of maybe twice I've used it in the past year. One of my roommates might use it maybe once a month. I don't generate enough dirty dishes that hand washing takes up all that much time anyway.

Unfortunately, that means most of the time our sink is filled with dirty dishes, 90% of which are not mine.

Rothman

I haven't had a problem using detergent pods in my older model dishwasher.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

kphoger

Quote from: Rothman on May 03, 2022, 11:34:34 PM
I haven't had a problem using detergent pods in my older model dishwasher.

Me either.  In fact, we switched to goo a while ago but then switched back to pods shortly thereafter.  We had to use too much goo to get the same results.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

kphoger

Pro tip for baked-on crusty nastiness in a crockpot, or mineral build-up inside a teapot, or other such hard-to-scrub stuff:  put one detergent pod in in the dish/vessel, fill it up with hot water, cover, and let it soak for 30 minutes.  Then dump it out, and it will be super easy to clean.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

abefroman329

Quote from: kphoger on May 04, 2022, 09:01:23 AM
Quote from: Rothman on May 03, 2022, 11:34:34 PM
I haven't had a problem using detergent pods in my older model dishwasher.

Me either.  In fact, we switched to goo a while ago but then switched back to pods shortly thereafter.  We had to use too much goo to get the same results.
Goo is messy and wasteful.  In fact, it'd be lovely if rinse aid pods existed, since I end up spilling a non-insignificant amount of it whenever I'm refilling the reservoir.



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.