There is a doubt among people about whether they need a dishwasher or not. Public opinion is divided into two camps: those who bought a dishwasher and can no longer live without its advantages, and those who consider it a waste of money, water, and electricity. Let’s discuss the pros and cons of such a machine.
The Main Advantages of Modern Dishwashers
Let’s quickly review the main advantages of a dishwashing machine that significantly saves time:
- Putting plates in it takes only 30 seconds. To compare – washing the dishes accumulated during the day with your hands takes 30–40 minutes. Also, a modern dishwasher is not energy-hungry, because dishwasher amps range between 9-12, depending on the washing program.
- The dishwasher eliminates contact between water and detergent on the skin of your hands. This is one of the good reasons to buy a dishwasher for allergic people. In addition, daily contact with chemical dishwashing detergents greatly damages the skin of your hands and makes it age faster.
- A dishwasher uses less water than washing by hand. When washing dishes manually, an average of 5–10 liters per set (pot, plate, mug, cutlery) is used, while a dishwashing machine uses only 1 liter of water for the same set.
Additionally, if your machine has a “high temperature” mode, then 90% of germs and viruses on the dishes will die. This effect cannot be achieved with your hands, no matter how carefully you wash dishes.
Who May Not Appreciate the Advantages of a Dishwasher
Now, let’s take a look at the opposing camp: those who don’t find the above-mentioned advantages of a dishwasher convincing:
- Single people or married working couples – if you only accumulate a couple of mugs and several plates during the day, there is no point in loading a half-empty machine and wasting extra electricity and water.
- Those who love cleanliness and who don’t like hoarding dirty dishes – some people simply cannot stand the fact of having unwashed dishes, even when stored in a dishwasher. Such people often think that they can wash a few dishes better than a machine.
- Owners of a small kitchen, when it is not possible to place additional large appliances. However, it’s fair to mention that there are small dishwashers these days, the size of a microwave oven.
- Collectors of beautiful and expensive porcelain dishes. We do not wash porcelain dishes that have beautiful and delicate decorative elements made of gold in the dishwasher. The golden layer and decorative pattern are washed off.
This is only a quick overview, as the current list can go on and on, depending on one’s character traits and health issues.
The Bottom Line
So, dishwashers have both pros and cons. Those who need it are families with 2 or more children, allergy sufferers, and those who do not want to waste their time on household routines.
On the other hand, if the process of manually washing dishes is a kind of meditation for you, and you hate accumulating dirty dishes and enjoy manual washing – then you most probably will not like such a space-hungry assistant in your kitchen.