Dishwasher newbie

marcia_

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82106163#Comment_82106163

keep all the cutlery together, knives spoons then forks is a weird thing I do but I'm a bit ocd like that and with other stuff

jaybee

I live alone but opted for a full size dishwasher. My kitchen is small so I find it helpful to be able to put things in the d/w as I go rather than have stuff stacking up and taking up space in the kitchen. Mostly I run it two or three times a week and I do cook from scratch most pf the time. Also more hygienic as they wash hotter than you would usually do by hand and no soggy drying up cloths!!

FreeBear

When checking for space, look behind the cabinet and make sure you have the depth - I have a ~50mm waste pipe behind a cabinet that was earmarked for a dishwasher/washing machine. Unfortunately, none of the models I looked at could accommodate the pipe without sticking out proud of the worktop.

Electrical supply is also needed - Ideally, a socket below the work surface with an isolator switch above. Drilling a hole in the worktop to pass a cable through is a nasty solution, and running a long cable underneath is less than ideal. You certainly do not want to be using extension leads !

silverwhistle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82106372#Comment_82106372

Same here, for the same reasons. I do a bit of hand washing occasionally, particularly my better wine glasses, and sometimes grab a favourite mug from the DW to hand wash.

jennifernil

Having been married for 57 years, we have plenty of plates and cutlery, and I think we are on our 4th full size dishwasher. Even with only 2 of us these days we usually need to run it every 2-3 days, I always do a quick rinse after adding dirty plates, keeps it from smelling. We have a freestanding Bosch at present and it has lasted well, cannot remember how long we have had it, but our daughter has an almost identical integrated one, which she has had for 21years.

My OH seems to be incapable of loading a DW sensibly, so is actually banned from doing so, but he keeps trying to do it anyway, which just makes more work for me! Even if I ask him to just follow what I have done, he insists on doing it totally randomly.

Princess4Dotty

j have a LOCH tiny one person dishwasher which is fab as I live alone.

But my neighbour has two full size dishwashers (also lives alone) says she keeps all the clean crockery etc in the one just used and loads the dirty into the other one, then only ever has to put a few things in the cupboard that she isn’t using in between washes

WindfallWendy

Can I just make the case for a CUTLERY TRAY not a cutlery basket. It has blown my mind how much better life is with a cutlery tray in the dishwasher.

Ours is a Bosch series 4, fully integrated. I use it every day for the two of us, but I do tend to space things out.

Also, I am a bit obsessed by wiping out every trace of food before putting dishes in, just because my mum's dishwasher years ago (we are talking 30 years ago) got a bit stinky.

You will be amazed at how clean and squeaky glasses and crockery comes out, tea stained mugs will be a thing of the past, but do bear in mind that some things aren't as well suited for a dishwasher. Our pans are dishwasher safe, but are definitely marked a bit from the wash cycle. Some mugs lose their colours too, so take heed of what is and isn't dishwasher safe.

zagubov

Just a tip, although it might sound a bit daft: regardless of the make, the dishracks aren't all equally good/well-designed and this affects the capacity or load you can wash at once.

We had a good make (Bosch) for reliability but the rack was so badly shaped you could never get all your dishes stacked in it.

A relative was disposing of theirs and gave us their rack which fitted well and increased the capacity, so if your fitter is taking away your old dishwasher for disposal, hang on to the racks in case they turn out better.

jaybee

It's a good idea to take one of your largest dinner plates along to make sure it fits. I made the mistake of not doing that once!

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82110195#Comment_82110195

With the Bosch ones you can adjust the height of the top rack, so you can fit bigger plates in the bottom rack. However if you go too far up, then you can have issues closing the top rack, without bashing something.

It is a balancing act.