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Moving on to bigger and ??better?? things….
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I feel really silly posting this, but I am truly lost. On what? Using a dishwasher. There, I said it. LOL
I can’t express how very tired I am of trying to keep up with dirty dishes (the time issue) but am not convinced that a dishwasher cleans them well enough. Because of this, I feel the need to SCRUB everything even though we’ve rinsed them well right away after use. This has caused me to use our diswasher ONE time since we had the old one (here when we bought our home) replaced (never used it). I am not a big fan of dishwashers (call me old-fashioned, because I am). My husband replaced the old one shortly after my youngest (now 2yo) was born because he was lovingly sensitive (God bless him) to how overwhelmed I was and wanted to help ease the load (no pun intended).
Does anyone have any encouraging words and/or helpful tips in loading, favorite dishwashing supplies (preferably with the least harshest ingredients), dishwashing routines, do’s/do not’s, etc…? Yes, I do have the users manual and have read it. I feel like I’m all thumbs though.
I keep telling myself I don’t need the dishwasher, but quite honestly, I’m coming to resent even cooking, only because the dishes get so out of control so fast. I’ve reminded myself that it’s all part of serving others/my family – but THEY JUST NEVER GO AWAY. (I’m referring to the dishes, not my family LOL)
There, my confession for the year. Anyone able to help. It’s o.k. to laugh with me, really.
HI there. I don’t think you’re silly! First, do you have any proof that your dishwasher doesn’t clean them?
Secondly, although I am helped out tremendously by my dishwasher, I would be overwhelmed, too without the help of my children. My routine is:
my daughter puts away the dishes in the drainer in the am
In the meantime, I (and the children) put dishes in (after rinsing) after breakfast and lunch (along with the evening dishes that were already in there from the nite before)
I turn it on after lunch.
My daughter unloads d/w at her afternoon chores, b/t 3pm and 4pm.
Then process of loading starts over. It’s very important to me for my children to rinse their dishes and put them in after they are used.
So how many little helpers do you have?
I get overwhelmed on bread day.
Rachel
We do use our dishwasher quite a bit. I buy the cheapest dishwashing gel I can find (didn’t do well with the powders) and load away. I put pots and pans on the bottom along with dishes, and cups and bowls on top.
You might let your husband try his hand at loading. My husband surprised me with his loading. He’s much better at making things fit. Alot of times he’ll do the last loading and rearranging for the night.
I have found a new powder dishwashing soap at Wildoats that is good for septic and nontoxic. It was called something like Eco Wash. They didn’t have it this time around.
Sometimes I have to run the dishwasher twice because it fills up so much. Now my daughter loads the dishes and one of my sons unloads. I don’t know if this helps. I think the dishwasher actually uses less water than washing by hand and ours has a “sani clean” cycle for really dirty dishes. You could also open the lid once the wash cycle is done and let the dishes air dry too.
HOpe this helps.
My one contribution to this discussion is a tidbit of wisdom (don’t ask how I learned it 😉 ). Namely, this: do not use regular dish soap (like Dawn or Joy) in a dishwasher. It will foam up and over and out and all over the floor. Hmm, . . . but maybe that’s an efficient way to clean the dishes and the floor at the same time. Have to ponder that one . . .
From someone who has only used a dishwasher for 9 months (in a rented apartment when I was in college) out of my 31 1/2 years, I say to you–YOU HAVE A DISHWASHER AND DON’T USE IT!!! Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. Good luck with figuring it out. Think of me when you’re listening to the hum of the scrubbers! I’ll be the disgruntled one huddled in the corner lotioning up my dishpan hands!
LOL, Faith 🙂
I cannot say enough about my dishwasher, it is one of my best friends. My husband bought me one as a a birthday present, just like your husband he saw how ovewhelmed I was. My poor hubby use to do them for me in the morning before he went to work. God bless him, I just realize what a nice gesture that was. I’ll have to say thank you because now that I am thinking about it I don’t think I was very nice when I didnt’ have one, I wasn’t as gracious as the lord inteded for me to be when it came to dishes. Anyway here are my suggestions that I learned with my first disherwasher. BTW I would have kept my original dishwasher, but we bought a house and the owner left a brand new in it, sad to say it was the only new thing in the house. We spent 2 years dumping our finances into it to make it livable for our family. My mother needed another one in her cottage and my husband gave it to her since it was a portable.
Back to my suggestions
First of make sure you do rinse your dishes, I don’t know about anyone else , but I am not sure what I was thinking, that their were semi automatic jet in that thing. the food particles do add up quick. I use electrosal tabs, but they are not chemical free, if you really need chemical free I had the best luck with menaluca. It was too expensive though so I stuck with the electrasol.
Another thing, which I don’t know how it happen. If you have long hair check the trap by the motor. Somehow my hair would alway end up in the trap,Now I curt my hair short so that doesn’t happen anymore. don’t forget to run a cleaner through it every so often. I am not sure what options you have but if you have a rinse option in it use the jet dry, it presents spots and streak marks.
have fun and enjoy your extra time.
blessings,
Hazel
I second the idea of letting your husband try his hand at loading the dishwasher. My husband is great at fitting in most of the dishes, leaving very few to wash by hand. He does the final loading/rearranging before we run the dishwasher each night.
One thing to keep in mind if you have hard water is that hard water will spot and leave a film on glassware unless you use detergent that is high in phosphorous. Depending on the hardness of the water you may need to use another product to boost the cleaning power of your detergent.
One of the best things about the dishwasher, in my opinion, is that it hides the dirty dishes. 🙂
I thank each one of you for your time in responding and your helpful advice. (And for the chuckle with the “I get overwhelmed on bread day”, “…clean the floor and the dishes at the same time…”, and the “it hides the dirty dishes”.) I must say, that of the things I was looking to gain posting this, I most enjoyed being yelled at by Faith. 🙂 I’m truly kidding and send hugs your way as you huddle in the corner – I couldn’t help but laugh because I would love to GIVE you my dishwasher. Not that I’m ungrateful for my husbands generosity, but I can’t get past my old-fashionedness (is this a word?). You are ALL beyond great.
Yes, I do have a couple blessings that can help (7yo and 9yo – the older two), but I haven’t assigned them to dish duty because as Faith calls it, I don’t want them to have “dishpan hands” at age 12. I like my dishes washed with as hot of water as possible. (I’m starting to come across as OCD now, aren’t I?) I just like really clean dishes, just like another might insist on stain-free laundered clothes (not happening with little ones around) or an immaculate kitchen floor (again – not happening with little ones around). If I keep with using the dishwasher, I guess I can get them involved now. I’m definately asking my husband to try loading it, because as was mentioned, men seem to fit things together better.
Karen, I’m so glad you mentioned the hard water because we have opted to stop running our water softener and the evening I posted this, I had my dishwasher going for the second time during its 2years with us. When it completed it’s cycle, I opened the door and what did I find???…..spots, more spots, and still more spots. I was not convinced at that moment that a dishwasher is better, so I thank you for your post.
When I hit the grocery store this week, I am going to find a dishwasher detergent (maybe I’ll get some palmolive, since my floor needs a cleaning 🙂 ) and use my dishwasher for as long as the bottle lasts. I would think that at this point, I’ll know if the dishwasher is “better” and be converted to modern times, or if I just need to stop whining and get back to work. I will report back and let you know how it went. 🙂
God bless each one of your generous hearts!
Rebecca
For the spots all you need to do is add Jet Dry and set your drying cycle to heat and that will keep the spots away. I do think that Cascade Complete is the best even if the appliance man who was here to fix mine yesterday tells me Wal Mart brand is just the same.
Real quick question – Is there something I’m doing wrong if plastic cups (placed in the top drawer) are seeming to fly around a bit (not in the same place as how I put them once the cycle is done) and some are right side up and full of water? Is this to be expected?
Other than this, I think I’m really liking modern technology. (I’m feeling kind of guilty, though. Lazy, because I’m not handwashing. My old-fashioned thinking I guess.) It TRULY seems to give me a bit of PEACE, having one less thing demanding of my time. I bought the Cascade Complete and the JetDry, which seems to be taking care of the spots.
Hoping someone can give some answer in regards to the cups full of water. 🙂
Rebecca
I’ve also had numerous folks recommend the WalMart brand to me.I’m just not a big fan of buying anything at WalMart.
I’ve tried “homemade, all natural” too.It just doesn’t seem to get the job done.As with most “homemade, all natural” cleaners I’m trying to use.We’re about to switch back to expensive, bad for you, mass produced, chemical stuff in order to have clean, smelling good dishes, clothes, home, etc…ongoing battle for me :~
As for all the tupperware cups being sideways…we’ve used a dishwasher for all 11 yrs we’ve been married, and it’s happened with every dishwasher.I think it happens more often when the dishwasher is not so full.Maybe try making sure you have a full load in there.
Enjoy your dishwasher.Stop feeling guilty.You’ll get used to it, and it will become easier and quicker.It is one of God’s many gifts to busy mommies 🙂
Kathi
Thank you, Kathi – you’ve been helpful. I especially appreciate the “It is one of God’s many gifts to busy mommies.” I needed to hear that. 🙂
Kathi,
If you are looking for a natural smells really good and very economical laundry detergent check out Crunchy Clean at http://www.crunchyclean.com.
Talk about a run-on. lol!!!
hi, i just wanted to add, we used our dishwasher all the time, then for some reason,lol, i got all homey and started washing dishes by hand and my water bill went down 50%. And i know it was that bc that is the only thing i changed.
I do still use my dw on occasions. I did tonite actually, and i think it does well with the cleaning as long as my dishes are rinses. Something i have done, if everyone forgot to rinse that day is i fill my sink full of the hottest water, add a little dawn, and let all my silverware, cups and plates and bowls soak, till the water cools down. then i take out and put in dishwasher. then i top off sink with a little more hot water, and put the rest in to soak for half and hour. by then even the most stuck on food wipes right off, and i can add to my dw. just my two cents, hth!
Heather
Here’s another cheaper alternative for laundry detg
TIPS FOR LAUNDRY SOAP: We use Fels-Naptha bar soap in the homemade soap recipes, but you can use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile or Zote bars. Don’t use heavily perfumed soaps. We buy Fels-Naptha by the case from our local grocer or online. Washing Soda and Borax can normally be found on the laundry or cleaning aisle. Recipe cost approx. $2.
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value
4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
– Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
Powdered Laundry Detergent- Top load machine
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
-Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)
Inexpensive Fabric Softener Recipes
Recipe #1
1 Cup White Vinegar
Add vinegar to rinse cycle. Works great. Removes residue and odors. Also helps to keep washing machine and hoses fresh and clean too.
Recipe #2
1 Container of Name Brand Fabric Softener
4 Inexpensive sponges, cut in half
Pour entire container of softener into a 5 gallon bucket. Fill empty softener container with water twice. (2 parts water to 1 part softener) Add sponges to softener/water mixture. When ready to use wring out extra mixture from one sponge and add to the dryer as you would a dryer sheet.
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