How your dishwasher works and how to use it most effectively

We have a dishwasher and would use it sparingly, like 3-4 times a year in the previous home, lol. Reason is that the type of food we cook, our dishes are very greasy and the heavy iron pans need proper scrubbing. And, the dishwasher just doesn’t seem to be cut out for the job. I should add that where we live, cost of electricity keeps going up so, using hot water, which is using instant gas heater, comes out to be cheaper.

Also, the additional chore of cleaning the grease off the dishwasher and the smells that build up in these things mean that we now have one more contraption to maintain and keep clean in addition to the oven/stove etc.
 
This video got me thinking about how very helpful knowledge is to our activities. And some thing as straight forward as learning how to use a dishwasher optimally by gaining a bit of knowledge just illustrates the whole point that “knowledge protects”. It protects us from bad decisions or sub optimal decisions.
Straight forward really, learn how things work and make reasonable decisions.
If more people had done that during covid regarding vaccines etc they would have been a good deal better off today.
 
Scottie said:
And finally, I will definitely second his comment about not rinsing dishes before you put them in. I know so many people who do this, and it's really ridiculous. Dishwashers do a WAY better job of rinsing plates (even with cold yet high-pressure water) than you could ever do in a sink with a trickle of water (to save water/energy, of course).
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Only exception to this: plates that are super-greasy-dirty-meaty, AND you know you won't turn on the dishwasher for a day or two. This avoids the thing starting to smell like mad while waiting to be turned on. BUT only hold the plate under cold water for 5 seconds, no "pre-cleaning".

Not an issue if you use it every day, but since we are only two people we only use it every 2 days, sometimes every 3 days, and in summer this can be an issue!
 
luc said:
Only exception to this: plates that are super-greasy-dirty-meaty, AND you know you won't turn on the dishwasher for a day or two. This avoids the thing starting to smell like mad while waiting to be turned on. BUT only hold the plate under cold water for 5 seconds, no "pre-cleaning".

Not an issue if you use it every day, but since we are only two people we only use it every 2 days, sometimes every 3 days, and in summer this can be an issue!
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That’s when you need a smaller dishwasher. Those ones with two seperate compartments that can be turned on individually. 😅
 
I wipe my plates and bowls off with a part of a paper towel to remove any grease, and any food scraps (even the smallest bits) go in the trash, so the plates and bowls goes in the washer without much of anything on them. This avoids most all of build up in the washer and drain lines.

Edit: If you have a septic system then this also helps avoid that debris entering your system, which of course can prolong the time between maintenance and possible system break down.
 
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Mark said:
I wipe my plates and bowls off with a part of a paper towel to remove any grease, and any food scraps (even the smallest bits) go in the trash, so the plates and bowls goes in the washer without much of anything on them. This avoids most all of build up in the washer and drain lines.
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Me too. I usually use the paper I already have in the recycling bin. I also keep a small part of the greasy paper/cardboard as a fire starter for the fireplace in the winter or the grill in the summer.
 
Mrs. Peel said:
I grew up washing dishes by hand and never had a dishwasher until I was in my mid-30s. I think we use ours maybe once or twice a year. Old habits die hard.:-D
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I also prefer washing by hand. People laugh when I tell them I do it because it is easier for me. :D
For the time I make basic wipe for them, stack them properly and put detergents (which is super boring for me), it would already be halfway done with hand washing.
 
This is a great video and I really enjoy the entire channel - lots of very useful and informative stuff on there, this guy is great.

I had this wild idea a few months ago and my family looked at me like a crazy person. But hear me out! This is only partly tongue in cheek, and certainly not practical for many for multitude of reasons. I'd absolutely try this if I could tho - what if you had 2 dishwashers? As you use up dishes, start stacking them in one. Once its full, have it clean the dishes, and now start using them and stack the dirty ones in the other one. Then once the other one is full, have it clean the dishes, and now just start using them again and stacking the first one again. Technically, you'd never have to re-rack the dishes! Actually I'm surprised this concept hasn't been implemented in a single double-sided dishwasher. Just needs to have 2 halves, and the washing element can move itself to either half, depending on where the dirty dishes are at any given time. You're always just using a dish and moving it from the clean to the dirty half, and then reverse later. Yes it will use up more room, but being a single dishwasher (vs having 2) you won't need 2 water hookups to make it work. If you got money, space, and are lazy, this is the way.

Also for anyone who doesn't have space for a dishwasher, they actually make counter-top dishwashers. Not sure how good they are, and certainly smaller in size, but they do exist!
 
Mark said:
I wipe my plates and bowls off with a part of a paper towel to remove any grease, and any food scraps (even the smallest bits) go in the trash, so the plates and bowls goes in the washer without much of anything on them. This avoids most all of build up in the washer and drain lines.

Edit: If you have a septic system then this also helps avoid that debris entering your system, which of course can prolong the time between maintenance and possible system break down.
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Me too. When I had wood heaters, that used paper towel was saved in winter to help start the fire.
 
Dishwasher is good only if you have big family (5 or more people) or you have disability problem.

If you use bad quality dishwasher detergents, you eat those detergents with your dishes (rinse aid).

Why they don't create mechanical dishwasher like in car wash? Becouse they want seel phospates based detergents.
 
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