Dishwasher verses Washing-up

ixwood

And no I don't drink coke.

You want to keep eating washing up liquid when it's completely unnecesary then go ahead.

student100

Perhaps it won't kill you. Perhaps it will.

But since you don't get a second chance at that sort of thing, I'll stick to hot water and detergent and proper washing up, thanks. Medical treatment and/or time off for food poisoning is much more expensive than a bottle of Fairy and some hot water.

Maybe cold water and no soap is OK for rinsing "clean" dishes, but I certainly wouldn't risk it for anything that's touched high-risk foods (e.g. raw meat).


As for "eating" washing up liquid... nonsense. Wash, rinse, leave to dry. There is no detergent left on the plates afterwards.

Kron

Hi everyone

My dishwasher stopped working about 4 weeks ago. Since then I have been washing up by hand. We only had a slimline dishwasher and I used to put it on 2-3 times a day. With 6 of us and all the other bits to do I find it a bit of a nightmare to keep up with everything. Anyway DH said I could get another dishwasher but with the way things are going I'm wondering whether I should just carry on washing up by hand.

So I suppose my question is : is it cheaper to washup by hand (the boiler clicks on automatically to provide hot water / cost of water etc) than run the dishwasher.

I expect the answer is 'of course it is you silly woman' :rolleyes: but I just wanted to check with all the experts.

Thanks for all your advice.

Karen

Penelope_Penguin

Hi there :beer: We have an older thread - dishwasher v handwashing, with lots of interesting opinions.

I'll add this thread to that one later.

There are other threads on the Green and Ethical Board

Penny. x

Magentasue

Good question. I prefer using the dishwasher and found these in support:

http://www.mostlyeating.com/2007/08/ecofriendly_reasons_not_to_be_ups.html

http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/buyingguides/Buying-a-Dishwasher/6.html

I'm quite fussy about washing up. Have to have rubber-glove-hot soapy water and it has to be right order - start with glasses and finish with roasting trays and the like. Everything else has its own place in this order and that's obvious to me but seemingly, only to me. I'm not big on rinsing but I like things dried properly with a clean dry tea towel. The water and tea towel have to be changed as necessary. Again, only I seem to do that.

We recently moved into a kitchenless house and I thought I'd have to do without a dishwasher for a while but we've managed to plumb it in and have it (and the washing machine) pump out into the sink. There's no way we'd be able to manage without a dishwasher without constantly washing up because there's nowhere to stack and drain.

CoD_2

I've read that it's more economical to use a dishwasher than wash up by hand. could you get a larger machine so you just put it on overnight? (if you have economy 7) i set mine to go on 3 or 4 nights a week at 3am.

taurusgb

Funnily enough only last night I used my new toy - an electricity usage monitor - on my dishwasher, and it told me that to do a full load at 65 deg it cost 15.4p. Of course this will differ for others dependant on what you pay for electricity (for me that is edf economy 7) and whether you have a water meter (we don't).

I intend to do the next load on the eco setting and see what that costs. It is 50 deg tremperature but according to the manual takes longer, so haven't got a clue whether I will save or spend money.

Do love my dishwasher though - hate washing up and the kitchen always looks tidy

Magentasue

I did a similar test to taurusgb but can't remember the results. I only use the economy programme anyway.

For my washing machine the 30degree prog that takes ages is cheaper to run than the 40degree half hour prog.

taurusgb

CoD wrote: »

I've read that it's more economical to use a dishwasher than wash up by hand. could you get a larger machine so you just put it on overnight? (if you have economy 7) i set mine to go on 3 or 4 nights a week at 3am.

I can't do this with either my washing machine or dishwasher as they both need the 'start' button pressed so won't operate on a timer.....BUT not sure I'd do it anyway as I've been told from more than one source that these two items are one of the major causes of house fires, so I only switch them on when I'm around to keep an eye on them.

Kron

Hi guys. Thank you.

I don't have economy 7 but having read some of the threads mentioned above it probably isn't too expensive. I suppose one of the biggest positives is the kitchen looks a lot tidier when you have a dishwasher.

Perhaps I will look into getting one after all!

Thanks for your replies.

Karen