Do You Wash Dishes By Hand or Machine?

We had always had a dishwasher until we moved to our small farm. The dishwasher here was destroyed by the water and looked worse than the best greased and cooked in pot! So, we decided that we'd put one on our wish list and proceed by hand. Well, not really we, DH and I, the kids were to become the new dishwashers. What a surprise to discover that they had no idea about cleaning dishware!!! They're not that old (12, 11, 8, 4) but to them, sticking all the dirty dishes in a machine and voila! clean! was just the way things were. Needless to say, DH and I resolved to teach these cherubs another life lesson and they took turns each week between washing and drying. This led us into many discussions about bacteria, cleaniness, chores, the "old ways", and more.

I don't think we saved much on water, or soap for that matter - most dishes needed to be rewashed. And it certainly extended our meal times (I hate seeing dishes piled up in the sink all day!). But now the kids can add dishwashing to their list of life skills.

Oh yeah, after two years of this, the wishlist finally hit dishwasher and now we have one, which probably runs every 1.5 days. But, we still wash all pots and pans by hand. And occasionally a dish or two. And now I know when my children are grown and invite us to dinner, which one I'll check the silverware before I use it!

I have a dishwasher smack in the middle of my kitchen. I have to move it to cook, use the sink, sit down at the table, open some of my cupboards, etc. You have to turn sideways to walk through the kitchen.

I handwashed dishes for years, with 5 homeschooled kids (read: at least 3 meals a day). I probably spent 3-4 hours a day, washing dishes, while stairing at a plain wall or the cabinets overhead (and bumping my head on them). The dishwasher usually gets run once a day, taking 1 1/2 hours and using 9.3 gallons of hot water- much less than I used to handwash. I can do something else while the dishes are getting clean. I hope I never have to handwash again!!!

You can put the dishwasher on a countertop. Heartland america sells a 6 place setting counter top washer for under $150 and the size of a breadbox.

If the dishwasher thing messes with your mind, you better sit down for this one. Some of the wierder homesteaders even have electricity, air conditioning and internet connected personal computers :haha:

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"I didn't have time to slay the dragon. It's on my To Do list!"

I don't like dishwashers -- they always leave crud on the dishes and glasses, unless you basically fully wash them before they go in, so why bother? I don't have one at home. Don't want one.

I used to be the type of person who would let the sink fill up with dirty dishes until there was nothing clean left to eat on, and then I'd do them. Then I started a teahouse, and washing dishes was part of the job description. The dishwasher I'd scrounged was made in August of 1958 (it is only 4 months younger than I am!) and while it is monstrously heavy and parts can't even be had anymore, it is still in use today (though I have sold the teahouse.) BUT...it really only sanitizes -- we had to pretty much fully wash the dishes before they went in.

One day, about five years into the tea biz, I was washing yet another rack of dishes, and hearing my mother's voice in my head telling me I was a slob, and I began to calculate approximately how many dishes I probably had washed at the teahouse. Something like 10 pieces per customer (teapot, lid, cup, saucer, spoon, teastrainer, strainer cup, creamer, plate, fork, knife, etc), x 50 customers a day, 5 days a week = 2,500 per week, or 10,000 per month, or 120,000 per year, x 5 years...well, something like half a million pieces. And I calculated how many dishes my mother probably had done in her lifetime (family members x meals x years of active service and marriage...) and I figured out that I had done more dishes in 5 years than she had done in her WHOLE LIFETIME! After that I realized that doing dishes no longer fazed me. I owned the teahouse for another 6 years...

The main thing is to have a nice view out the kitchen window over the sink. I chose eastern exposure because I like to do the dishes in the morning while I wait for my teawater to boil.

I have had my Maytag for 9 years and use it everyday or everyother and it gets things clean 99% of the time. I even put in pots if they are not fried on and it works great. I think the wash cycle I use takes 9 gallons, it also preheats water as my hot water heater is turned down, so not hot enough. Prior to this one I had a portable from my mother, but didn't use it much. Dishwasher is nothing like the 55 gallons my washer takes for an extra large load. I know I would use more water washing by hand, or at least I did previously. It will be replaced when it goes.

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Cindy in PA

Well, this post may be a little "different".

Until 3 or 4 years ago, I used dishwasher. My '50's kitchen idea, has been a blast! (And my dishwasher broke down about then, as well!!

My oldest son actually ended up as his fraternity president and was accepted 3 yrs ago.. (partly) BECAUSE..... he had MISSED having a kitchen his Freshman year and the frat house NEEDED a kitchen guy!!! LOL!! (He had kitchen duty -dishwasher loading and/or unloading- his years at home/homeschooling!)

However, my counters were not clean enough when there was no nice hot, soapy, dishwater to use! (I love that part!!

Never know HOW this dishwashing is gonna turn out!! When I was about 7 or 8, my mom would always try to get me to wash dishes.. BUT they were smokers.. in the '50's and you MIGHT know what THAT means (or maybe my mom was just from a family of pigs???) ANYWAY... they put their cigarettes out on the plates... didn't scrape to MY satisfaction.. and EEEEEEEEEEwWWWWWW... To this day I have a THOROUGH SCRAPE RULE!! I HATE when something is floating around the dish water!!

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"TIMSHEL"
Spoiler ALERT: For those of you who've never read Steinbeck's "East of Eden".... timshel means "thou mayest".

I wash by hand.

I run a sink full of hot soapy water before I start cooking. Then I wash things as I go. When supper is over there isn't much to wash ....also everyone walks by the sink and washes their own plate, glass and silverware.
Lets me get out of the kitchen sooner.

We use the dishwasher at home but it takes 3-4 days for the 2 of us to fill it up. My FIL had installed a huge dishwasher at the cabin when he remodelled, (1984) but since we never used it and always washed by hand, we had it yanked and installed an Equator combo clothes wash/dryer in its footprint. We are still waiting for the warrenty repairs to be done after 3 1/2 months. I had my eye on an Equator counter top dishwasher, but after sampling their customer service am very dubious to say the least. Haier, Danbury and Carocelle all make counter dishwashers but the Carocelle is non electric. See www.walmart.com under appliances, www.compactappliances.com, and www.carocelle.com.

Chickflick, in college, I worked in the cafeteria dish room, and I was stunned at the number of plates with cigarettes put out on them! (My parents don't smoke). Your parents must not be the only ones! All of the comments about the dog pre-wash made me laugh! Almost every night my husband lets the dog do this and then feels compelled to yell, "Honey, I washed the dishes for you!"

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Melissa
Reformed hoyden. Please forgive me if I relapse.

I wash the dishes by hand all the time as we don't own a dishwasher. I use little tubs that fit down in my sinks so I can then take the wash and rinse waters out and water my plants with it. Good nutrients for the plants as well as kills most bugs.

Since DH does not do dishes, or house, or clothes, I am the one who always does the dishes. With just the two of us and very few meals at home during the week. I usually start the dishwasher at 5am. It will have all the dishes from the day before and the morning of -plus the dog's bowls (her very own , I have two sets. So they get washed everyday.) On weekends I wash at least one load a day sometimes two.... I love my dishwasher.

LOL!! I've never HAD a dishwasher... and the microwave is usually just an expensive big bread box. I even use a manual can-opener - though would love a crank model that mounts on the wall...... Its not that I don't like conveniences, or have anything against using electric - just never bothered! It IS cheap...

Dryer tends to be a storage bin from March through October, too, sometimes even in the dead of winter. I just don't use em - never bothered wasting my time to figure out why - just never think of it, I guess. Probably because normally its just the two of us, so would be a waste to do the dishwasher thing (or I'd have to buy more dishes just to fill it up over time), and the dryer is noisy, lol!

Sue

There are machines that wash dishes? :worship: :worship: What a wonderfull world we live in! :haha: Around here,dishwashing has always been a form of punishment that is reserved for the worst offenders, or if there are no offenders, we take turns.

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Freedom isn't Free