Ask HN: Dishwasher or Hand Washing Dishes? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Dishwasher or Hand Washing Dishes?

5 pointsdesertraven16 comments

Am trying to decide whether to buy a dishwasher or continue hand washing? Any experiences?

I lived alone for some time and literally had one of each dish (plate,bowl,cup,knife,fork). This meant that I had at most one dirty dish of each kind, and in general washed them immediately after use. In that case, it would have been pointless to have a dishwasher and it just would have been a buffer to hold more dishes.

Circumstances are different now and we dirty a dishwasher full every day, so it's definitely worth it to have one.

Overall, it depends on how much you dislike washing dishes, and how many you own. If you're single (which the fact you've posted this question on HN suggests though I don't jump to conclusions), I recommend owning as few as possible and just cleaning them as soon as you finish eating.

> I recommend owning as few as possible and just cleaning them as soon as you finish eating.

Or maybe a minimal, rugged, and easy-to-clean set for daily use, plus a somewhat larger "good" set that's reserved for company.

>Or maybe a minimal, rugged, and easy-to-clean set for daily use, plus a somewhat larger "good" set that's reserved for company.

The keywords are "restaurant dinnerware". Plates and other utensils that hotels and restaurants use break less easily. They need them to withstand industrial dishwashers or to survive rough handling.

For cooking, it's "cookware".

I lived much the same for many years. Though I must admit, during that period I didn’t do as much cooking as I do now.

My partner and I are curious how you made the single assumption? Alas, I’m just the designated dishwasher.

Dishwasher: saves you effort.

Dishwashing: when you have all of your best ideas after a long day.

Hand wash. Dishwashers are noisy and tend to break down the most inconvenient moment. It doesn't really take all that much time to do them by hand.

I'm sure I would feel differently if I had a large family living with me.

Dishwashers are noisy and tend to break down the most inconvenient moment.

Our Miele dishwasher is 13 years old and still going strong. Sometimes I have to check whether it's going or not because it's very quiet. The noisiest time is the loud gurgling from the sink drain-hole when it's emptying.

Our previous Dishlex dishwashers were so loud that our main criterion when buying this one was 'It has to be quiet'. The salesman said "If it's quiet you want, there's only one choice, the Miele". Though apparently the Bosch machines are also very quiet but I can't personally verify that.

Back in the mid 70s when we got our first dishwasher, I had been extremely resistant to buying one. That was because I went to a boarding school in the late 50s, and when we had eggs for breakfast we could see yellow spots on the plates for a couple of days afterwards.

We have Bosch. We will never, ever again buy another Bosch.

For Bosch, quiet means effectively eliminating the heated drying cycle, so that they can get rid of the fans. This means that nothing inside gets dry after being washed.

I’m happy to take recommendations for other brands, including from Consumer Reports. But whatever it is, it has to have a functional heated drying cycle, with fans to exhaust the wet air.

For a long time I didn't realise that the Miele had fans. I usually run machines in 'set and forget' mode: I turn it on and then do other stuff.

I was walking past the Miele and felt some warm air. I stopped to investigate and found it was coming (extremely quietly) from a vent on the top left of the door. I had thought, prior to that, that it was just a passive vent.

(Just in case you reckon that I think that the Miele machines are perfect, my indicator lights for 'empty' rinse-aid and salt don't turn off. I'll get them fixed when I next need a serviceman. And the automatic anti-flood cut-out switch has had me thinking that the machine had died when it just needed some extra cleaning.)

For my Bosch I have to hit the “extra dry” button to make things dry

Before buying my dishwasher I spent a month measuring the amount of water and time that I spent doing the dishes for my whole family.

On average I was waiting 36 liters and between 30 to 45 minutes every night doing the dishes. With that information I bought an extremely quiet, water saving Bosch dishwasher... Now loading the dishes takes 10 minutes and with the saved time I go to bed half an hour earlier...

I wish every piece of technology was as good for me as the my dishwasher

Both. Small bits of dishes after a meal for yourself - do them by hand. Big pile of dishes after a gathering of friends/family, or just because you let them pile up - use the dishwasher. If you have the space and can afford it, just get the dishwasher. That doesn't mean you have to use it every time, but it is there when you want it.

Check out these two interesting videos from Technology Connections on the subject:

https://youtu.be/_rBO8neWw04

https://youtu.be/Ll6-eGDpimU

If you have children get a dishwasher.

I choose the dishwasher over a TV.

I like because its better at washing than me and I can keep the kitchen top clean

A full dishwasher is supposed to be greener than doing those dishes by hand fwiw

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