It's not that I’m mean about the
cost of running machines so I continued to run the household in the same way I
did when Joe was chief householder, but one day it struck me that at least one
appliance was best left alone.
Because there’s only me to look after cooking
arrangements have diminished, and it seemed silly even to try and load a
dishwasher on a daily basis. Nevertheless, I carried on until one day I
realised I was wasting money running a machine virtually empty. It would have
taken ages to fill and I didn’t have enough tableware to do that, so I stopped
using the machine altogether. It is still there as a just in case, but I can't ever see a time when massive entertaining would take place again.
Some friends thought I was mad until I gave my thoughts on the matter.
Removing the machine from use meant having to hand wash everything. Tough?
Hell, no! Three times a day I wash up and it’s a great excuse to get out of the
chair and actually DO something.
I must remember to tell the chiropractor… he’s
always on about the dangers of sitting down too much.
My mother stopped using her dishwasher as she was living alone. Because my partner travels so much, I spend quite a bit of time alone too and don't create that much washing up either, so I let it accumulate in the dishwasher then I run a half load which works well for me.
ReplyDeleteHii Joe. I keep thinking about the cost of running the machine, water and electricity usage is bound to be higher so it will be interesting to se if I save anything..
ReplyDeleteI enjoy washing the dishes -- well I did when we were a family of 4 and certainly now that I'm on my own. When the girls were young, I used to say I had 3 dishwashers ..... and neither worked really, really well. Hahahaha! Thanks for visiting my blog. (You inspired me to do a dishwashing post.) I'll come back and visit again.
ReplyDeleteHello Sandy, how lovely that you returned the visit. Welcome to my Blog. I once had a permanent dishwasher who went by the name of Joe. Sadly he is no longer with me so his chores have passed to me.. It is a good job my eating habits lessened somewhat lol.
ReplyDeleteValerie, I felt the same as you when I had a dishwasher. I don't have one in my apartment now, however, when I lived in Florida I had them in two of my once-lived apartments and NEVER used them. Like you, I felt as though it was waste of water and energy when it was only ME living there.
ReplyDeleteI actually don't mind washing dishes by hand, it feels therapeutic.
Have a lovely day, my friend!
X
Ron, having just received a water cost warning I think I should have done this years ago. I'm in a saving money mood as well as energy....lol.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy doing dishes by hand sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThis may sound really silly for a 67 year old woman but I remember when I was a young girl and would dream of having my own home, my own dishes and furniture, pretty curtains and plants to water.
There are times I want to do dishes by hand (though I do use the dishwasher most) but I like the feel of the hot soupy water, looking out the window at my yard and imagining how happy that little girl would be to know her wishes came true.
Makes plenty of sense to me.
ReplyDeleteMy parents had five children, which meant I washed dishes for 7 people. Dinner was served at noon, supper at 6 pm. Mom always fixed massive hearty meals for our farm people. LOTS of dishes and pots/pans passed through my hands. My sister dried and put them away. It felt like we would finish noon dishes, wipe down the kitchen, and sweep, and then turn around to fix supper.
ReplyDeleteWe have a small dishwasher. Dishes are washed when it is full. No, I love my small dishwasher. Memories of my youth drive my love.
We have a dishwasher that never worked properly, so there it still sits, used as storage. My dishwasher is an older Italian model called Tony (my husband).
ReplyDeleteMy inclination is to use one pot or frying pan for all serious cooking. Needless to say since Im not the kitchen manager we fill up a large dishwasher once a day. Not very "efficient actually...:)
ReplyDeleteThis definitely makes sense Valerie, back before Cindy and I married I had a dishwasher and I rinsed and loaded my dirty dishes as I used them, then placed them into the dishwasher, once I ran out of dishes I ran the dishwasher and started over. Looking back it would have been easier to just wash them when I was rinsing them instead...I think your idea is to stop using yours is the best thing for you.
ReplyDeleteWe have a dishwasher. It seems to take ages to empty it. I often say I could have washed them in the time it takes to empty the dishwasher.
ReplyDeleteToni, I shared your dream for a while..lol.
ReplyDeleteActually I get satisfaction when I wash dishes by hand. How crazy is that?
Agreed, Joeh
ReplyDeleteSusan, I understand. I imagine it felt like the worst chore imaginable. There was only three of us in my family so washing up didn't seem too bad.
ReplyDeletekden, I hadn't thought of using it for storage. It's a great place for dirty dishes awaiting a wash and out of sight of visitors!!
ReplyDeleteHi TB, thing is - I don't cook anymore. All my meals are bought ready to heat up and eat. I could get away without using a plate!
ReplyDeleteHi Jimmy, this has been an interesting subject, so many differing ideas. I shall carry on if only to save on electricity and water costs. It has to be cheaper by hand!
ReplyDeleteDave, absolutely right. It takes a VERY short time to hand wash but hours to get through a dishwashing programme. And think of the cost!
ReplyDeleteDH is now the chief cook and bottle washer. He uses so many dishes and pans when he does. He seldom has the time to do the dishes and they stack up. When he runs out of clean things, then he will use the dishwasher ... or go buy more pans. If I could do kitchen duty, I would. I'm sick of the sight of it.
ReplyDeleteShare, I have heard before that men use more pots and plates than women, I wonder why that is?
ReplyDeleteWe are making up for your lack of dishwasher usage. I think we run it at least once a day and sometimes twice depending on how busy we are in the kitchen with the kiddos. Take care, Val.
ReplyDeleteMatt, I used the dishwasher every day at one time but there's no need now. It's a bit different when there are more people to use crockery etc.
ReplyDeleteWe have a dishwasher and on average will only run it weekly when we've run out of dish ware or glasses OR there's no room to put anything else in the DW. We do a lot of hand washing to puts and pans and most often will just wash the dinner plates and cutlery that way as well.
ReplyDelete