I never had one until this year, when I got a tabletop dishwasher.
Honestly, I could not go back again.

We have a dishwasher. Never use it. Just store dishes in it.

I had access to a dishwasher for the first time at 30 years old, and thought it was the best thing ever created. But over the years, I have discovered that I occasionally wish it didn’t exist.

Ideally, everyone in the house should treat eating as a full transaction that involves using (dirtying) a dish and then cleaning that dish. Having a dishwasher makes it feel (for many people) that using (dirtying) a dish is all that is required.

I unsuccessfully attempted to sell my family on the “wash your bowl” approach, where you make a commitment to the entire process of a dish/bowl/fork/etc when you pick it up and decide to use it. You eat with it, and then clean it. That is the full transaction.

Instead, we have a tool (dishwasher) that reinforces the notion that our relationship with consumption ends following the consumption. There are no consequences.

Do I use the dishwasher? Of course. But with 5 of us (or 4 when my daughter is at school), the thing runs at least once per day. So many unnecessarily-dirtied dishes. And there is a constant fight to get people to unload/load the dishwasher.

Note: Yes, I understand that a modern dishwasher uses less water than handwashing in most cases. And, I am not entirely sure I’d want to completely eliminate the dishwasher. It’s nice to have after a party or event. But I’d rather it be something we use occasionally.

What is a dishwasher? :P

@Mimishu1995
Another word for “husband”.

I do use one, but I’ve been using it less. I used to put everything in the dishwasher, but over the years I’ve noticed the ways in which the high water temps and abrasive detergents wear out and eventually ruin certain dishes. The ceramic plates and bowls will be fine, but when it comes to pots, pans, knives, wooden utensils, silverware with multiple parts, anything with a more complex structure than a ceramic or plastic bowl or plate, I wash those by hand to prolong their longevity.

^Glassware also starts looking murky.

My rentals all had them and I was never a fan. My home doesn’t have one and people think it’s odd I haven’t put one in but I prefer to handwash since there’s only two of us.
Have you read up on the germs inside them, much like hot tubs? Gross, hard pass.

I didn’t have one growing up (‘natch — it was the 70’s).

When we bought a house and got married, my wife did t want one. Completely against it.

I gutted the kitchen though and remodeled it and ordered a dishwasher. Less than a year later, my wife announces to everyone that we are now hosting every holiday (4–6/year).

Once that got rolling, she was very thankful for the dishwasher, which we run 3–4 times on any given holiday.

Now, she uses it daily, trying to cram in as many items as possible.

When I was a young girl in the early 70’s we lived in a NY apartment that didn’t have a dishwasher so my mom bought a portable one that attached to the sink. That was the beginning of a lifetime of always having a dishwasher, and when I designed my own home I had two dishwashers. I always had a place to let clean pots dry and always had a place to put my dirty dishes.

I hate washing dishes and pots and pans. I do wash my pots and pans by hand though.

I’m surprised how many American jellies are saying they don’t use a dishwasher.

Here is informational about bacteria in dishwashers vs. hand washing for @KNOWITALL or anyone else interested. https://amp.columbiatribune.com/amp/8418843002

Side note: my current dishwasher has a filter that I have to clean and I hate it. First time I’ve had a dishwasher like that; they came into fashion the last ten years rather than self cleaning filters. Never buy a dishwasher with a filter you have to clean.

No, I just (don’t) do it by hand.
I was eyeing a table top one though, like @ragingloli has (or similar).
But I’m not sure if I can fit a big wok pot in it, or a frying pan.

I know why you don’t have one @Jeruba ! @JLeslie has two – she must have taken yours!

Well, off and on, yes and no. Didn’t have one until Rick moved in. We picked one up at a garage sale for $15.00. Rick plumbed it in. Still works as far as I know.
Before that, no dishwasher, and the kids and I did them by hand. One would wash, the other (usually me) would rinse. There is something soothing about the process of washing dishes. And the kid washing and I would just chat about stuff.
2 of my kids have dishwashers but don’t use them.

I have a dishwasher now but it isn’t hooked up. We have to finish the floor first.

The thing I do like about them is they scauld the shit out of the dishes, and you know how I feel about that!

BUT I GOT HOT WATER BY GOD FOR WASHING DISHES!!!

I had one in the other house I was renting. This house, my house now, doesn’t have one and I felt lost when I first moved in. If I could add on a utility room next to the kitchen, I’d put one in where the water heater is now.
And that could happen.
I have a lottery ticket.

@janbb I don’t have two, I had two. Now, I have one that I hate. @Jeruba sounds perfectly happy dishwasherless.

@Dutchess_III I find it soothing, too. :)

@JLeslie Okay, I’ll concede some germaphobe points to you. Not enough to change though. Ha!

As for germs, a dishwasher uses caustic chemicals and far higher water temperatures to wash the dishes. I think that makes those machines more hygienic than someone with barely hot water, and a months old sponge that has probably already evolved its own ecosystem in its innards.

Just say no to sponges.

@KNOWITALL If I’m honest this dishwasher I have now I have my doubts. I clean the filter constantly, but I bet a lot of people don’t.

I’d guess that the dishwasher is has less bacteria than the washing machine. The washing machine doesn’t usually get so hot, and it doesn’t heat the water like the dishwasher does. The dishwasher heats the water, and also has a “dry” setting to dry the dishes, which essentially bakes them. Plus most people will leave the dishwasher open when they’re unloading it, which allows it to dry off more and air out.

Nobody complains about the washing machine being full of germs or bacteria.

When we lived in Texas we lived in a place with a very cheap landlord. She was very careful to point out that the dishwasher was new. But it was the cheapest she could find, and it was on the other side of the house from the water heater. Of course it barely got the dishes warm while washing. I hand washed, and used that new dishwasher as a drying rack.

@ragingloli I have an excellent dishwasher now, and I whenever I run it, I put my sponge in there. I have two that I trade out so they are always clean and smell sweet.