Hand wash or dishwasher??

**kellieetter** · 03-31-2009, 01:19 PM

I can never remember which is better in saving money????? Any idea??? I know you can do more dishes in a dishwasher which is a plus but do you end up using more water when you hand wash???

**jmd5294** · 03-31-2009, 01:29 PM

I think it depends on who you are and how you do dishes. I know people have saved water by doing their dishes by hand. I am assuming they fill up the sink and wash everything in that sink full of soapy water.

I do not save water doing them by hand, and I would go crazy if I had to do them by hand (we didn't have a dishwasher for the first year of our marriage).

**Michelle** · 03-31-2009, 01:34 PM

I asked this question a few years ago:
[ame="http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58416"]Has anyone gone from automatic dishwasher to washing by hand and... - Frugal Village Forums[/ame]

**mauimagic** · 03-31-2009, 01:35 PM

Since our dishwasher is broken, dishwashing by hand is the way for us - try to make it as frugal as possible.

**Momto2Boyz** · 03-31-2009, 02:28 PM

We had a dishwasher that was 10 years old and it used 11 gallons of water per cycle. Which was alot! When it broke, we pitched it and have not bought a new one...I guess it's been about a year now.

I only use about 2 gallons of water when I do dishes once a day. I have a double basin sink. I fill one up with soapy water and one with rinse water, and I wash, then dunk in the rinse water and it works great and hardly uses any water! So for me, hand washing saves us water and electricity.

**miss_thrifty** · 03-31-2009, 03:28 PM

I recently have went from dish washre to hand washing.
Most times I tried to hand wash as much as possible to keep elec. bill down and use elss oil at other place.
2 kids and 2 adults here. Sink always has dishes in it.
I rather hand wash now with my one sink because my dishes have to be done to keep small counter cleaned off and tidy. It helps.

**Pemberleyan** · 03-31-2009, 04:31 PM

For me it's all about saving time and wrist pain. It saves water, too, but I also wash certain things by hand like wooden items, painted items, etc.

**Debbie-cat** · 03-31-2009, 05:09 PM

I don't have a dishwasher and I don't want one. I hand wash everything.

**LucyOctopus** · 03-31-2009, 06:26 PM

I grew up washing dishes. Then my SO came along. He grew up with a dishwasher. I enjoyed washing by hand, but he finally convinced me to try out the dishwasher. I love it -- I have more time to cook, or enjoy a magazine. I do handwash fragile items.

**sabrelvssammy** · 03-31-2009, 07:53 PM

i do have a dishwasher but i prefer to hand wash...yes it takes more time to wash by hand but i hate to unload a full dishwasher....plus i never run out of anything coz with just dh & I it would be days before it would be run i would be needing a certain item before then and would just have to drag it back out of the dishwasher and wash it off to use it....

they (whoever they really are) say that a dishwasher is more economical than washing by hand.... for myself...i dis-agree.... i have a dishpan that i fill with just a couple of inches of water...(one thing i do before i turn on the water is i know that it will take about 10-15 seconds of water running before it starts to get hot water so i keep a milk-jug under the sink and i catch that first initial water til it turns hot then remove) and i start with the small things first and then rinse right over the pan...the water is still hot in the pipe so it continues to fill the pan a little higher before it goes cold...i turn the water on and off with each item rinsed...when the water goes cooler from the tap (i rinse in cold water) i start stacking the washed items in the other sink and after everything is washed i rinse one item at a time (water on/off) as i am moving the items to the drainer....i do this over the dishpan... then when i am done rinsing i transfer all the water to a bucket and it goes to the bathroom where it awaits being dumped in the back of the toilet... or if i have items waiting in the garbage disposal i turn it on and slowly pour some of the dishwasher down the drain....when the milk jug gets full it also goes to the bathroom to be poured in the tank....

i waste no water washing them by hand...as opposed to the dishwasher....no gas heating up all that hot water...and my kw's are free.....

**ravenmaniac** · 03-31-2009, 08:42 PM

I love having a dishwasher but I feel hand washing is probably more economical depending on how much wash water and rinse water you use. I fill up one side of my double basin sink 1/4 of the way when I hand wash. I need to fill up the other side with rinse water but I'm lazy and don't. When it is just my husband and I (after my kids are out on their own), I'm sure I'll hand wash more.

**Starlight9803** · 03-31-2009, 08:48 PM

we have a dishwasher, but I prefer to handwash. Our dishwasher is very inefficient (came new with the house 7 years ago, but was the cheapest/most inefficient available at the time). It uses close to 13 gallons of water, not to mention the electric. I use about 6 gallons of water a day to wash dishes two times per day (1.5 gal hot/soapy water for washing, and 1.5 gal cold water for rinsing x2) So, I guess it depends on the dishwasher you have, and how efficiently you hand wash.

**EmilyD** · 03-31-2009, 08:52 PM

I don't handwash ANYTHING. It all goes in the dishwasher. I would never be without one for very long.

I like my dishwasher for the sanitation factor and the "more hands" factor. Anything I need more then 2 of I buy more. Usually we do dishes every other day.

According to most "green" organizations, the dishwasher uses the least water/elec/ gas. The most expensive part is the dry cycle and I always shut that off. Most people use a lot more handwashing then they think.

**Sassyclass** · 04-01-2009, 11:56 AM

I've done both and prefer doing them by hand and letting them air-dry. I wash them in very very hot water and rinse them in cold. We have well water so that isn't an issue but we do have total electric so that is an issue. I also do dishes for just 2 people. When I did have a dish washer it seemed like I was always doing the dishes over anyway, I always found dirty dishes in the "clean "dishes. When I do them by hand I know they are clean and I won't waste electricity, time, or water doing them again.

Cat

**Contrary Housewife** · 04-01-2009, 12:57 PM

I hand wash the plastic items (mostly re-usable containers for leftovers/lunches) and the plates, flatware and other heavy stuff goes in the machine. For me it's not about how much water we use, if my hands get too wet or too warm my eczema breaks out really bad -- and my prescription cream is $150 a tube.