Comments on: Teach Your Kids To Hand Wash Dishes

By: KK

KK — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:23:41 +0000

A response to AA: it sounds like you are doing the dishes in the reverse prder to what makes sense! Cleanest items first through to the dirtiest is how I was taught. I am 51 and this house I live in (18 months) is the first one that I have had a dishwasher in.

By: Joanna

Joanna — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 05:16:01 +0000

In the house we just sold, we didn’t have a dishwasher, so I was forced to wash dishes. I hated it at first. But then I grew to actually enjoy it, and now that we rent and I have a super small sink, I am not able to hand wash anymore. I actually miss it! My kids were learning when we lived at our old home, and I just wish our sink was big enough for them to continue. I just do not care much for dishwashers, hand washing does a much better job.

By: Mom of three

Mom of three — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:15:12 +0000

Just make it fun. My mom used it as punishment and I HATE doing anything in the kitchen. My kids like to wash by hand, since it’s faster. We will do them by hand if the dishwasher is full and running so that the kitchen is clean instead of leaving them until later. It only takes seconds and we have fun talking while we do it. I never use any cleaning chore as punishment. We clean to make our house nice for US, not company, and we do it because it makes US feel better. I want them to have a healthy attitude about a clean house not a clean because company just rang the doorbell, or because you HAVE to.

By: Bramble

Bramble — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:13:14 +0000

we are about to be without a dishwasher so this will definitely be a good time for them to larn!

By: AA

AA — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:09:44 +0000

I enjoyed hand washing dishes as a kid. Now, not so much.

My mom taught me a very specific order though. First, any pots and pans that weren’t washed as she cooked (the more you can wash while cooking the easier it is later!), then serving dishes and serving silverware, plates, glasses, and silverware always last. The reasoning? Start with the stiff that doesn’t touch anyone’s mouth and work towards the stuff that touches people’s mouths. I think it’s probably a leftover from the days when they used one bucket of water to do the dishes.

These days .. I LOVE my dishwasher (:

By: mom, again

mom, again — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:38:40 +0000

we didn’t have a dishwasher until we moved to a new place when the girls were 13 and 15 years old. You’d think that would be old enough to appreciate not having to handwash. But no, it took approximately 1 day for them to whine about having to fill, and empty the dishwasher.
(whether or not older washers save water depends on your washing and rinsing style. If you are a rinse under running water person, your better off using a reasonably new (10 years or so) dishwasher.)

If you need sanitized dishes, including baby bottles or preserving jars, the dishwasher and the heated drying cycle will do the trick more easily than boiling them.

By: Angela

Angela — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:57:54 +0000

I just got a dishwasher after not having one for 2 1/2 yrs… I need a dishwasher, I am a crabby person without one. My oldest loads it and unloads it and it washes, it is great. Having no dishes to do helps me keep the rest of my house clean. There is just something about a clean sink that makes me want a clean house.

By: rapunzel

rapunzel — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:18:16 +0000

One of my fondest memories is washing dishes with my then-mother-in-law after a big Sunday dinner. She’d wash, I’d dry, and we’d chat. Since no one else wanted this job, I got to have her all to myself which was rare in a huge Irish-Italian family!

I do quite a bit of handwashing because the dishwasher is just much too hard on painted items and especially on my vintage glass & cookware! My 1960s Pyrex never sees the dishwasher! *shudder*

By: Jia@ColorMeUntypical

Jia@ColorMeUntypical — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:22:11 +0000

I used to wash dishes with my Grandfather every night after dinner. Now that I’m grown and he’s gone, those are the sweet memories that I remember, and I find that I enjoy washing by hand because it still gives me that sense of accomplishment and pride that I felt as a child.

By: bridgett

bridgett — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:22:45 +0000

No dishwasher. It busted years ago when we were broke (some things never change) and so we tore it out and put in much needed cabinet space. Dish time is good talking time.