Pros and Cons of Owning a Dishwasher

Have you ever washed so many dishes that your hands hurt? I have! In a big family, there were always dishes in the sink. My parents wanted us to learn how to wash dishes without the help of a dishwasher. This concept seemed silly at the time but has proven to be super helpful as I have lived in many homes without a dishwasher.

Pros of Owning a Dishwasher

1. It is somewhere to hide your dirty dishes. You know what I am talking about when you find out that your family is coming over in 5 minutes and you can’t see the bottom of the sink.
2. The water gets a lot hotter in a dishwasher. If you have ever burned your hands when you open the dishwasher to grab a fork out, you will know what I am talking about.
3. All you have to do is push start. Dishwashers make life so much easier! Rinse off your plate and stick it on the rack. Poof, it is like magic!
4. You don’t have to feel up the sink for one or two dishes. You have two options when hand washing. Wait for a ton of bowls to be piled into the sink or fill up the sink with water for a measly one or two dishes. 
5. Your laundry pile will shrink. YAY! First, you save yourself on work with dishes, and now you save time on laundry! It takes a lot of dish towels and dishcloths to keep a kitchen dry and clean while handwashing.
6. You don’t have to stand for hours with your hands in hot water. I still remember washing our family’s dishes after nine of us ate dinner. My feet would ache as I switched from standing on one to the other.
7. Your hands are a lot softer when you have a dishwasher. Gallons of lotion will not fix the damage that hot water does to your hands. (You can fix this problem with gloves)
8. No more floaties!! I hate washing dishes and having hundreds of little food floaties in my dishwater. It doesn’t feel like the utensils are getting clean as they sit in a slimy soapy soup.

Cons of Owning a Dishwasher

1. The power and energy that it takes to run a dishwasher is a lot! If I set my dishwasher on the Normal setting, it can take two and a half hours before it completes the cycle. That is a lot of power and water you could be saving if you washed your dishes by hand.
2. When you are stranded, without power. Do you know how to sanitize and wash your dishes by hand? If not you, might feel a little panicked. It may sound silly, but it happens. One of my sister’s friends begged to learn how to do dishes by hand because she had never done it.
3. It feels like you go through more dishwashing soap than dish soap. If you are tight on a budget washing your dishes by hand may save you a few dollars at the end of the month.
4. Doing dishes can be therapeutic! My imagination has no limits as I slowly scrub one dirty plate at a time. With a dishwasher, this time vanishes. A tip is if you are ever feeling a little down, try doing some dishes by hand.
5. Dishwashers can break. After buying our home in Idaho, we were only here for about a week, and our dishwasher broke. It was frustrating because we had just used it a few times.
6. Dishes may not end up clean. Dishwashers don’t guaranty clean dishes! I feel like I have to hand wash one or two dirty spoons after running the dishwasher.
7. Dishwashers can damage your dishes. The lovely aroma of burning plastic coming from the kitchen makes me shutter! And on top of that, you can’t beat the water stains on all of your beautiful glassware. Haha
8. Dishwashers need to be washed too. It is a funny concept, but just like your shower needs to be cleaned after you shower. So does a dishwasher after it cleans your dishes.