Getting a dishwasher to make life easier?

maysmummy

Another vote for Miele and dishwashers in general.
Things I do in my dishwasher:
Clean cat's bowls and plates(on their own):D
Wash my washing-up brushes
clean my oven trays and pan stands
rinse and sterilise jam jars when making jam
Cooking large fish (yes) in foil....
Can't do without it.:)

seraphina

My parents bought me and MrS a dishwasher for a wedding present. Once my mum got one she swore no daughter of hers was going to be washing dishes! My parents' Bosch is nearly as old as me and hasn't missed a beat - a bit noisy now but still going strong after nearly 30 years.

There's only two of us and I use ours every day. All the breakfast things go in and then I put it on a rinse; then in the evenings the lunchboxes and dinner plates, pots and pans go in and it's put on to wash overnight. Brilliant!

Also dishwashers are great at sterilising things like jam jars, but probably more importantly for you, you can do baby bottles in them. Ours has a special extra hot drying cycle for this but I've put jam in jars straight out of a normal wash and they've been fine.

blabberwort

I have always wanted a DW but OH didnt. I didnt really have anywhere to put one if im honest but was determined and got my way I did have to move the dryer into my understairs cupboard mind you and put a concertina door on there instead of the normal door but its sooooooo worth it.

I really wouldnt be without mine now. My OH still isnt convinced but as I pointed out to him, it wasnt him having to do the washing up everyday

Kelinik

We decided to get one just before our 2nd baby was born, hired one initially as I wasn't sure. As soon as the minimum hire period was up we bought one and when we moved to a house without space we knocked a cupboard out rather than be without!

I've used it to sterilise jam jars as mentioned by someone else and having just had baby number 3 am bunging his dums in on the top rack too.

Our hotpoint was awful though (we had matching hotpoint appliances and they'd all been repaired multiple times and died completely within 4 yrs) but we've got a Bosch now which is fantastic.

gratefulforhelp_2

I would say...

Do not buy Hotpoint/Zanussi. they are crap and all the bits fall off.

We now have a pretty smeg one. It's...pretty smeg. Looks good but normal sized plates don't fit in.
Doesn't fall apart though.

Jo_R_2

Wow - I got to say I was thinking there would be a real mix of opinions but it seems most are in favour, especially with recommending particular brands - this is the kind of thing I need to hear.

Been doing a bit of research (thanks daska for the useful info.) I was hesitant because we've recently had a HUGE electricity bill (partly due to moving to a bigger house and underestimating how much more leccy we'd actually use) so it would be good to hear more of what people think about how much it's affected their bill, how much people use theirs related to how many people in the house, any comments on slimline versus 'normal' size, and where you bought from, but I am definitely swinging towards a carefully-planned spend soonish!

daska

Not counting the purchase price as a general rule you'll save on energy/water costs by using a dishwasher. Especially if you buy one with a good eco-program. For example my Miele uses 40% less energy on an eco-wash than it does on it's standard program. It also uses only 11 litres of water (for 14 place settings) where my washing up bowl (which is not enormous) contains about 6 litres - how many of those do you need to wash the equivalent amount of grot?

Praana

My dishwasher broke down 2 years ago and i've been scrubbing dishes since!! not so fab as i get fed up! and also am trying to conserve water so i soap them all then rinse, which makes it harder!!! the last dishwasher i had was a smeg...definately do not get a smeg!! have just bought a bosch, it has a grade A efficiency rating. Comet is selling it for 599 pounds and i got mine from this other online company called appliance planet..co.uk for 399 pounds which is a much better price, plus they threw in some money off coupon from bosch. I couldn't stretch to miele though i would love one of those. i let you know how it goes, but i'll be so glad not to have to do dishes anymore!!!!

belfastgirl23

Just to say I wouldn't be without mine, it's fab. But I didn't choose it (came with the house) and the one thing I'd do differently is buy one with a fast cycle - mine takes about 90 mins on the lowest temp and this is a pain if you have people round etc. I think too that would be important if you're going for a slimline one - you'll need to use it more often so the turnaround time is important. But it makes a huge difference - no more dishes lying around waiting to be done!

ellay864

For years I never had one and wasn't at all bothered then I got the chance of one from a friend for a few quid. Loved it, especially with kids now eating more, friends round etc etc. When I had a new kitchen fitted a couple of years back we had one included and really got into using it loads. But my electric bills seemed to be creeping up rather too much!! I now use it a lot less, only really after big meals when I've got more soiled plates or lots of pans etc. Though must say that I still rinse them quite a bit before washing or they just dont get clean enough on the eco wash