reading the post about the gadgets made me wonder...how many of you have a dishwasher?

I do not have one, and I never have. I never really have that many dishes, I do them after each meal and they never really pile up. If I had one I would probably only use it when I had LOTS of company over (like on a holiday or something).

By Tink on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 12:27 am:

I've had one most of my life. I use it all the time. I really hate to do dishes and I think I would end up letting them pile up, if I didn't have the dishwasher.

By Andi on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 12:47 am:

I use it daily. I empty it every morning and run it every night before I go to bed. It makes life so much easier.Onece you have it it's hard to live without!

When we first got married I didn't have one and we lived in that house for 6 years, so I know what it's like not to have one.

When we have a dinner party and I use my China I have to handwash all of it and what a pain in the butt that is!

By Mrse on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 02:18 am:

We use to have one which was second hand, did not work so we threw it out. At christmas dh borrowed a portable dishwasher from his brother, which he said we could keep, but it is going back as it does not clean the dishes everything comes out with dry soap on everything. Dh wanted so bad to get me this other second hand dishwasher and I drew the line, I told him I was getting a new one or nothing at all. After his brother's dishwasher did not work out, he finally agreed with me that we would get a new one, instead of getting another second hand one, just to have it not work in the end. But if I had one I would definaltely use it all the time.

By Trina~moderator on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 06:47 am:

We use ours daily and still have to wash dishes by hand every night. (The pots and pans and large bowls, etc. won't fit.) I don't like going without a dishwasher unless I really have to.

By Colette on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 07:43 am:

I never had a dishwasher growing up, however, every apartment or house that I've owned has had one. If it's ever on the fritz, we get takeout. I HATE doing dishes by hand.

By Pixie on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 07:50 am:

I use mine all the time. I too HATE doing dishes by hand. My hands are as dry and my nails are also much healthier. We never had one growing up but I love having one now.

By Karen~moderator on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 07:53 am:

Have one and wouldn't be without it! I only wash pots & pans, my Henckels knives and really large things by hand.

By Kittycat_26 on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 07:54 am:

I did without one for about 2 weeks when Timmy was first born. After that short amount of time, it was more than enough. Everyone should have a dishwasher if for nothing more than those baby bottles.

By Amecmom on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 08:26 am:

I've always had one. I love them because I can put in stuff that had raw meat and other germy things. When they come out, I know they've been sanitized!

I ony have to rinse stuff that had raw egg, otherwise the egg cooks before it comes off.

The house has a Bosch, which was here when we moved in. It holds a huge amount.

I don't use it for bottles because I use disposable liners.

Ame

By Missmudd on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 08:29 am:

Dishwasher here, would go crazy if I didnt, run at least 2 loads a day w/ 4 boys.

By Happynerdmom on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 09:07 am:

I could live without mine, (I did for many years) but it does make life easier. Ditto Andi on the dinner parties! I use my good china when we have guests, so I have to wash them by hand. BTW, I am one of those weird people who have to rinse the dishes clean before I put them in the dishwasher!

By Melanie on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 09:11 am:

We have one and I wouldn't want to be without it!!

By Breann on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 09:21 am:

Can't live without it!

I never thought we had many dishes either. I would also do them after each meal and never leave dishes in the sink. I always said we didn't need one.

Now that we have one, EVERYTHING goes in it I even rearrange so more things can fit, LOL. We run it everynight after dinner.

I like it best for when I make cookies/cakes. It is so nice to just stick all the messy bowls in there. I find myself baking more because I don't have to wash all the bowls.

I don't rinse before loading. Just stick 'em in there!

By Trisa on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 09:29 am:

My sister in law has one but
NEVER uses it. She says doing the dishes
is her thinking time. I think she crazy! lol

By Kate on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 09:38 am:

Have one, wouldn't ever go without. I don't even do the pots and pans by hand....if they don't fit, I run the dishwasher, empty it, and then stick the pots and pans in and run it again. If I could build the house of my dreams with no financial limitations, the house would have two dishwashers and two sinks. (and two water heaters )

Oh, and I stick my china in there, too. I have a germ phobia about hand washed items. I have trouble eating at a house where I know everything is hand washed.

By Jelygu on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 10:04 am:

Couldn't live without it. I run it at least once a day, sometimes 2x. I think it is on it's last leg though, might have to get a new one soon

By Insaneusmcwife on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 10:49 am:

We have one. I still wash my dishes by hand and then I run them through the dishwasher. I guess I just use it as a sanatizer.

By Cat on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 12:16 pm:

Absolutely. I run mine almost every night.

By Fraggle on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 12:26 pm:

I couldn't live without one. I do a lot of cooking and we almost never eat out or get takeout. And three meals a day are eaten at home-(except for my DH, but I pack his lunch in the morning). I usually have to run it twice a day. If I ever get a chance to design my kitchen from scratch, it will have two dishwashers.

By Hooney on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 12:29 pm:

Oh my no dishwasher, I would go insane! We never eat out and I cook a lot. On an average day the five of us can dirty every dish, plate, pot and pan lol. I remember the days of washing dishes and it seemed there was never time to get everything done, now it only takes minutes to load and unload. If you have kids a dishwasher is a must have!

By Sunny on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 12:52 pm:

We had one, but it broke a few years ago and we never replaced it. As a matter of fact, it sat in our kitchen until this past Fall when we finally got rid of it. We are dragging our feet about getting another one because we had a free standing dishwasher and really have no room for another one, and to install one would be a lot of work (and money). I wash everything by hand. Most days I get away with only doing one sinkful a day because we use a lot of paper cups and paper plates. I consider them staples in our house.

As far as germs go, a capful of bleach in the sink water will kill whatever germs there are.

By Feona on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 12:54 pm:

I washed the dishes when our dishwasher broke.

three people in the house. It took over a hour a day. I was soaking wet after that.

Dishwash - Still takes a good fifteen minutes a day. Filled up and run every single day.

By Mommmie on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 01:47 pm:

I have always had one, but our lakehouse doesn't have one. I think hand-washing dishes can be a calming thing for a child to do though - all that warm soapy water.

By Palmbchprincess on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 02:09 pm:

I use mine all the time, unless the item won't fit or needs to be scrubbed.

By Cybermommyx4 on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 02:11 pm:

We have one, but I don't put any pots and pans in it, or any plastic cups, or any of my favorite coffee or tea mugs....so I end up doing a lot of dishes by hand (several times a day). It's great for silverware and bowls and plates, though. I probably *could* live without it. Maybe if I had one that worked better I'd be more attached to it, lol!

By Amecmom on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 08:13 pm:

Now, how strange is this: my SIL uses her dishwasher to store pans and such. She as her daughter wash all the dishes as part of her chores.

Ame

By Eight_Kids on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 11:51 pm:

Definitely would not want to live without my dishwasher. No way.... too many kids to not have a dishwasher.

By Babysitbarb on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 11:18 am:

I have one and it's one of my favorite appliances. We didn't put one in when we first built our house because growing up I never had one and thought I didn't need one. When I started babysitting I changed my mind. We put one in about a year after we moved in and it runs almsot everyday and sometimes 2 times a day.

By Karen~moderator on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 11:20 am:

Ame, my mom does the same thing! She hasn't used a dishwasher in probably 12-15 years. I just don't get it..........

By Unschoolmom on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 12:39 pm:

We don't have one. I don't want to give up the space for one though I know I'd love one if I had it. I also like doing dishes.

Crazy, I know.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 01:18 pm:

I couldn't live without mine! It runs nearly everyday (although probably should be everyday!) I would hate washing all those dishes by hand. We will handwash the big stuff because it takes up too much room.

By Audreyj on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 01:38 pm:

I had to wash dishes by hand growing up it was my "chore" so when I married, I insisted on a dishwasher! :-) AJ

By Lovemytwins on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 01:40 pm:

We've only had a dishwasher for about 6 months now. We didn't have one in our old house. We have 1 year old twins so having a dishwasher has been great. I know the bottles are clean when they come out. What a time saver for us. I usually wash at least once a day. Our water usage has actually gone DOWN since we started using the dishwasher. I think it's because of all the bottles I had to constantly wash all the time. This is one Mommy that will not do without anymore!!

By Ramona63 on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 02:04 pm:

With nine kids at home, my mom never did dishes, so we did'nt have one either. Until the last few kids, anyway. They were never home, so my dad finally bought one. I don't have one now, no place close to water supply for it. AND I'M GOING CRAZY.