I have a question for all of you out there who have automatic dishwashers. I grew up with one but don't recall a thing about it or the way my mom used it. I haven't had one for some years now and we are getting ready to move into a fairly new house (built in 2001) that has one. Can any of you give me answers to any of these questions?
How do you feel a dishwasher does in water consumption versus handwashing?
What system do you have for a routine as far as running it? Do you run it once a day or after every meal? We have a fmily of 6 and I don't want to constantly be running a dishwasher or have to have extra dishes just to have clean ones at every meal. My mom was exeedingly frugal and ran hers (if my memory serves me correctly) about every one to two days. It seems to me things would get gunky to wait every two days though.

Also, what sort of things do you avoid putting in your washers. Sterling silver and fine crystal come immediately to mind as obvious ones.

Thanks for any advice you have.

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I have a family of 5 and in the summer, when most of us were home for every single meal and snacks, I ran it twice a day - and that is with using the same cups all day and trying not to use a lot of dishes. Now that the older two kids are back in school, we run it once a day for sure, but probably, every other day we run it twice, esp. if I'm cooking extra stuff throughout the day.

The best thing my dh and I have done is this: it is my dh's job to ensure that we have a completely empty dishwasher to start every day - whether that means he empties it at night after the evening dishese have been run, or he empties it in the morning before he goes to work. That way, when I get up with the kids and get going for the day, I can start with an empty dishwasher and put the dirty dishes right into it. I can't stand it when it is full and I'm trying to get breakfast and kids off to school and me off to work some days and then I have to empty it too.

As far as water consumption, I've read that it actually takes less water to run a dw than it does to wash dishes by hand.

I wash most stuff in the dw. I don't wash plastic sport bottles or the lids to tupperware and glassware. I find that is shrinks or melts or otherwise changes shape and then doesn't have a tight seal anymore. Anything plastic, wash on the top rack if you use the heat dry, which we do usually. You can save $ I think by not using the heat dry and letting them air dry, but you'll get water spots and wetness on the tops of thing. But, that's not that big of a deal.

I have a new dishwasher, which I love. The old one's motor burnt out just as canning season started and it took me about two months to get a new one ordered, delievered and installed. Just in time for canning season to be over.

This dishwasher is a energy saver - while I can't say on water (as I was watering the yard during the summer months) our heating bill did go up a bit while I was washing dishes by hand and that was the only real difference there. For a family of four, I usually just wash one load a day. If I find that it is going to sit for a bit, say overnight, with dirty dishes, I have a rinse mode that I use.

We are a family of 6. The kids are 7yrs to 1 yr. and I run it once a day (at night) most days. I try (though never that hard) to run it every other day. If we are gone at lunch or I really try and have them use the same cups all day then every other day works.

I have never hand washed. We grew up with a dishwasher as well. I hate to spend the time washing. I have a friend that she only handwashes and she has a dishwasher. She thinks it saves on water and that they are cleaner so it is one of those things that is wahtever you prefer to do.

I run the DW only when full.

I do pre-rinse but that's because we are a smaller family and the DW doesn't fill up that fast.

Since I pre-rinse, I run the DW on 'normal' or the level just below that. The newest DWs have sensors to see how dirty your dishes are and when they are clean, it cycles to the next step, no matter how you set it. My DW finishes the job very quickly.

I use the 'energy saver dry' cycle. I usually open the door before the dry cycle is done to let the dishes air dry.

Don't put sharp knives in the DW. It dulls them. Put knives and forks down so people reaching into the DW don't get stabbed or pokes. Put spoons up to save room in the holder.

Don't put anything aluminum in the DW. The detergent ruins aluminum.

My downfall is I pack the dishwasher too full. It is better to give the dishes a bit of room.

If you find soap residue on your dishes or grit, your detergent may not be completely dissolving (even gel detergent). Modern DWs are supposed to have a water heater in them but yours may be broken or your DW doesn't have it. If that is the case, you might have to raise the temperature of your hot water heater. Never, ever, never let regular dish soap get into your DW.

When using a DW, I highly recommend having a water softener if you have normal to hard water. Alternately you can use Jet Dry but you'll end up using a lot of it.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

I run mine about once a day unless I have cooked alot that day. I always prerinse even though the manual says there is no need to. I also found that if you have a "special" coffee cup like one that has a picture of your kids or dog etc. after time the picture will wear off. I learned to handwash only those.

Thanks everyone. This has all been a ton of help.

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I don't have a real routine. We have a large family. If everyone is home, it is run at least 2 tiems a day. Otherwise at least once. We run it when it is full. I put pretty much everything in it, but I don't have any fancy silver or crystal. I prefer to use liquid detergent. I think it dissolves and cleans better.

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~Happiness is a large family~

We run ours 2-3 times a day, it's always full. (7 kids, lots of dishes) We run ours on energy saver mode, no dry cycle.

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WAHM of 7!

According to my owner's manual, a regular cycle on my dishwasher uses 11.5 gallons! That is not efficient! Therefore, I usually handwash my dishes. I know that I don't use 11.5 gallons handwashing my dishes. I only use my dishwasher maybe once a month, just to keep all it's little mechanisms working.

Maybe someday I'll update my 1992 GE dishwasher for something that uses less than 11.5 gallons to wash dishes. Until that time, I'll just continue handwashing. It doesn't bother me.