I will hand wash the non-stick pans and the cast iron LeCruset casserole pots and maybe a particular knife I need to use, otherwise everything else goes in the dishwasher. Seeing there's just the two of us, it goes on about twice a week.

If we did that we'd run out of dishes after dinner on Tuesday

First off, I'm "not allowed" to wash because I don't do it properly. Every now and then I do sneak in and wash a few things, just to remind her how bad at it I really am....

We (well, she) handwash 99% of the time - everything then gets rinsed and put in the most expensive drying rack around - the dishwasher!

I run the dishwasher about once every 3-4 weeks, just to make sure everything stays as it should. I have to say, the results from handwashing are immeasurably better than the results of the dishwasher, which was supposedly "top of the line" 10 years ago when we got it.

Let me guess

1. You wash dishes three times a day and never snack
2. You wash dishes whenever there is a single dirty dish
3. You wash dishes only when the sink is full of dirty dishes
4. You wash dishes whenever you feel like it

What a load of shit! Out of my half dozen or so American roommates over the years, I have never seen ONE so much as put tea towel to dish. "Leave them to drain" seems to be pretty standard here. Along with the obligatory "oh, but you put wet dishes next to my dry dishes, so now they're not dry anymore, so I can't put them away, which I was going to, but now they're wet..." If the dish rack is full of your dry dishes, where the **** am I supposed to put my wet dishes?? Drives me absolutely bonkers! In case you can't tell.

Absence of draining boards is also lunacy. One place I lived briefly had a dish rack just sitting on the bench. Wet dishes went in; water drained off, across the bench and onto the floor

I'm a wash, dry, put away kind of a person, in the Australian style (includes a non-turbo-shower rinse).

I do both, a load in the dishwasher every day, and special stuff and stragglers by hand.

We're more or less the same. It usually takes us one to two days to fill it up, but our kitchen knives and some pans get hand washed.

Ditto.

Eh?

Once a day. Occasionally twice at weekends depending what gets used for breakfast or lunch and what is needed for dinner. We only have a small kitchen and I hate clutter.

I wash after breakfast (but they are used for dinner before wife gets home so she never sees how good/bad they are) and she washes after dinner. I don't like the idea of "storing" dirty pots for over a day before washing them - even if we were using the dishwasher, it would run every night as, with 5 of us, it would generally be full anyway.

That's what the dishwasher is for!

My g/f is a bit obsessive about the dishes, I must say ... nothing allowed to sit in the sink area overnight. She washes everything in hot running water (no drain plug in use) and a soapy sponge in the left sink, placing things in the right sink briefly, then rinses them under the tap and into the dishwasher to drain / dry overnight. Under no circumstances does a towel enter into it. When I'm by myself I let stuff pile up for days and run the dishwasher when I'm out of things.

All my visitors from UK do seem to have what I consider to be odd habits, and consequently they have been banned from doing the dishes (which suits everyone fine). My sis-in-law washes everything in a big sink full of soapy (and eventually grimy) water and then places them on the side without ANY RINSE ... so that not-very-clean soapy water is left on everything. She then dries them with a towel I don't think is hygienic. A recent college friend visited, and was washing things in cold water without soap. I secretly re-washed everything when he was out ...

When I was living in Geneva with my ex (she's British), she did the same thing. I thought it was a little strange but then assumed the British did it that way since she was a clean freak and always kept the house spotless.

That is what I use it for. I rinse off the dishes, place them in the dishwasher, and wait until the dishwasher is full and turn on the dishwasher.

To kill most of the bacteria on a dirty dish, water must reach a scalding 140° Fahrenheit. That temperature is easily reached in a dishwasher, but in a sink, it's nearly impossible. Hot-water heaters are typically set at 120 degrees to prevent burns, and most people can't stand to keep their hands in a stream of water that hot for more than a few minutes.

Hand Washing Versus the Dishwasher — Real Simple | Apartment Therapy

Same here, we have lived in two properties with dishwashers, but never used them. We are a family of two, and have sufficient plates, cutlery and cups etc just for us. We, or rather I, wash up after every meal.

Isn't having a dishwasher and not using it like having a dog and barking yourself?

As there are only the 2 of us I put the dishwasher on rinse cycle at least I once a day...then run it every couple of days...sometimes 3 days. Can't stand dirty dishes in the sink...or washing them in grimy water. I am a neat freak when it comes to stacking the dishwasher...everything has to be in its correct place.