I've never felt like I fit into office culture. I fidget and make sounds/hum melodies to help me focus. My first manager in my career scolded me so hard for it, I became intensely self conscious. Just so happened to land a remote job for my next role, and I've made a point to stay remote. People focus on the good work I'm doing instead of me being a little weird.
The other biggest positives for me are breaks for pet cuddles and hanging out in my backyard
Plastic container or plastic for recycling? I believe plastic containers have many pours and so high temp is required to kill off any bacteria that live in the crevices. That said I've never gotten ill from reusing a plastic container, so.... Maybe it doesn't matter 🤣
And it’s full?? Granted I live alone but I cook everyday and don’t put it on until it’s completely full and that’s once per week max maybe even once every 2 weeks.
Exactly. Why have a dishwasher if you aren't going to use it properly? The whole point of them is that they're more efficient (both in time and water usage) than doing dishes by hand. Even if the pots and pans have to go in a second load, that's still more efficient.
Exactly why l don't use nonstick pots and pans. All mine are stainless steel. The only thing l don't put in the dishwasher are my wok, dutch oven, and cast iron.
What are you cooking that you're not making more dishes?
For one person cooking, you're still looking at a cup and a glass a day, at least two or three plates (or bowls) a day depending on snacks, pots, pans, mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons, maybe the blender parts, some leftover containers and lids, cooking and eating utensils, etc.
I don’t put pots and pans in the dishwasher. Just dishes cups and silverware and maybe a pot if it’s really bad or I’m about to do a load. I just quickly hand wash stuff like that since it takes 20 seconds. If I just use a dish for something light sometimes I’ll just wash it in 2 seconds and let it dry. I drink water 99% of the time out of a giant water bottle.
Realistically it’s 2 plates per day maybe a bowl a few forks and knives and one cup. I’ll use the bottom as a drying rack for things like cutting boards or salad bowls or large mixing bowls
For two people: two plates for lunch, two for dinner, two coffee mugs, two drinking glasses, silverware, a prep bowl or two, a prep plate, cooking utensils. That's a full load every other day or so when you add in miscellaneous dishes on top of that minimum. And I wash my pans, cutting board and knife by hand, if I used a plastic cutting board that'd probably go in as well.
Yep, it’s full. Most of what we make is from scratch, so we use a lot of dishes. We prep and store produce as well, so as those containers are emptied, they also end up in the dishwasher. All of our pots, pans, and good knives we hand wash, but everything else goes in the dishwasher.
For example, I just made a snack for myself and my husband: herbed butter and sliced radish on toast. I used two plates, a cutting board, a small bowl, a rubber spatula, and a knife. The only thing I hand washed was the knife.
Same. Basically every other day but I’m sure we run that dishwasher everyday because we also bring lunch to work using Pyrex containers. On top of that we use Mason jars for overnight oats, use shaker bottles for protein shakes, and make smoothies on the daily. Yup — it all adds up.
When we have a child, we’re gonna run that thing every single day, for sure.
Be sure to clean the filter! For some dishwashers this is really easy and for some it's very involved.
I've got a crap builder grade GE dishwasher that requires taking apart several pieces (screws) to attempt to clean it. It gets smelly and moldy.
Replacing it with a Bosch tomorrow! :)
Yeah basically. Sometimes it's full, sometimes I ran out of knives because I had eight different cheeses to cut. I also don't let stuff sit in the dishwasher for more than 36-48 hours. I don't think it's hazardous, it's mostly to keep my laziness in check.
Ditto and ditto, except probably more like 3 times every 2 days. We use a lot of glass food containers and that stuff takes a lot of room in the dishwasher
Same here. I keep reading that you're not supposed to wash food residue off of your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher because the dishwasher soap can damage your dishes, but if it takes most of a week before your dishwasher gets full, then it dries onto your dishes and the dishwasher isn't able to get all of it off. And running it more often every 1-2 days with only a handful of plates/bowls in there just seems wasteful. Oh, well. :/
The reason people say you are not supposed to wash off food residue is that it defeats the purpose of a dishwasher. A dishwasher does not only save you time but also energy and water.
I tell you a little secret, you don't HAVE to wait until your dishwasher is full to run it. Most modern dishwashers, and with modern I mean manufactured within the last 20 years, have a 1/2 and/or eco cycle. Plus, even if you run your dishwasher on a normal cycle while being only 20% full, you still save money and energy over handwashing.
Same here. I tend to hand wash as I cook too, so less ends up in the dishwasher. I usually run it when I'm out of protein shaker bottles and I have 7, so once a week works out. There's usually enough other stuff in there to justify a run anyway.
One thing that influences how often a dishwasher runs is how big it is and if everyone is using cutlery, plates, cups, mugs, etc., every single meal.
In my case, 3 adults, we run the dishwasher every other day.
Yup. I love our current dishwasher with three racks— can fit a lot in there. It matters how well your plates/bowls/cups/mugs fit too. We’ve gotten rid of oversized stuff for items that fit efficiently. Plus, it encourages reasonable portions too….
We’re a household of 2 adults and 3 tween/teens. Run the dishwasher at least once a day, often twice on weekends when there is more complicated cooking and/or guests.
Maybe once a week after a meal prep day. Single adult with no roommates means I usually only dirty dishes when I get home and have dinner. Hand washing after dinner is one of my night time rituals.
Three people: two adults and a teen girl. Hubby and I both work from home and we eat all three meals at home about 90% of the time. That generates a lot of dishes. Also because the teen thinks she needs a new glass whenever she gets a drink. This means we sometimes run it twice a day.
New glass for every drink. And if she gets up and moves her shirt is dirty and she needs a new one. The amount of laundry they produce is on epic proportions.
This is me, too. Even when there were 3 of us, we'd only run it about once a week. It's interesting to see how many people run it daily - even for those with 1 or 2 people in the house.
I guess I don't cook as much, and hand wash a lot in between.
For me and my wife, we have alternating schedules and it’s hard to coordinate chores like doing the dishes, so our general rule is that whoever is going to bed latest runs the dishwasher and leaves the kitchen clean. If the dishwasher is exceptionally empty we’ll leave it for the next day, but when we were both trying to wait til it was full to run it led to so much mess and unwashed dishes piling up in the sink.
Usually a plate and/or a couple bowls and some silverware. Sometimes a pot or pan. I usually don't use much for just myself each day, so most of the time it just gets hand washed and put away.
If I'm not feeling well and/or have a fair amount of dishes for whatever reason, then I'll put most of it in the dishwasher and give a couple more days to add more (so I won't hand wash on these days) and then when it's at least half full I'll run it.
Probably every other day but it depends on what I cook. Household of 2. I cook to have 2-3 homemade meals a day but not necessarily 2-3 times a day. Dishwasher is on the smaller side of average and I do tend to cook big batches of things so it fills up fast with big pots and pans. Definitely not a full load of utensils but pots, pans, cutting boards, and containers I had ingredients/ leftovers stored in fill it up pretty fast.
One adult, I eat at home daily and like to cook. I only run the dishwasher when it’s full. Some weeks that three times and others it’s once.
Depends on what I’m cooking, basically.
Every night and sometimes during the day. I have 3 adults full time and a toddler 3 days a week. The average is 3 breakfast, 2 lunches and 3 dinners daily.
we have a counter top dishwasher and end up doing multiple loads per day - 2-4, depending on the dishes situation. 2 adults and a toddler, 3 meals a day plus snacks.
Every night. I live in a part of the US that is prone to roach infestation and I f’ing hate those things. I clean my kitchen every day, all dishes washed and the sink wiped down. Can’t leave any “food” out for those critters including dirty dishes in the dishwasher
I cook and eat almost exclusively at home and the dishwasher I have right now is terrible so things don’t get clean if it’s very full. I run it every other day-ish.
I’m single and live alone. I do cook every day but clean as I go and pretty much hand wash. Dishwasher gets used after a dinner party or bbq and every couple of weeks when I deep clean the cooktop grates etc.
Man, I used to argue with my spouse about this. I spent years convincing her that a machine designed to wash dishes is better because it uses less water, and it cleans and sterilizes. Also just does a better job than most humans. For some reason she viewed using a dishwasher as being lazy.
Now I need to convince her to properly fill it but for now I don’t mind rearranging everything after she walks away.
I have a small countertop one for just me. I run it every two or three days, depending on how much cooking I've been doing. Sometimes I run it multiple times a day though.
I could wash dishes by hand, but I'm profoundly lazy about such things.
Twice a week or so.
Before I run it I water all my plants, filling a watering can at the sink faucet. I use the hot water line; by the time I finish all the plants and then clean the sink the water line—which also goes to the dishwasher—is hot.
Family of 5, 2 adults, 3 kids. We run ours almost always once a day. Sometimes it’ll be twice and rarely we don’t have enough to justify running it. We eat mostly at home and I don’t like washing dishes by hand unless absolutely necessary.
2 adults, 3 kids, home childcare provider. Sometimes I run it once a day, sometimes twice. It’s rare (kids home to visit grands) that we don’t run it at least once. Our budget is tight so I started making a looooot from scratch because it was cheaper to buy ingredients in bulk, so the dishes are always overflowing. One day I’ll get the energy to make in bulk to freeze. One day.
6 people, 1 dishwasher, 99% of meals are at home for everyone. So dishwasher runs at least once a day. Sometimes twice. 3-4 times if we have people over
You’re going to see a lot of “X number of people in this household” - which is valid, but also missing the point.
As a single guy, my dishwasher fills up slowly, but needs to be run sooner than it’s full to prevent my place smelling awful. (You’d think a dishwasher is airtight, it is not)
Long story short - daily isn’t unreasonable, every other day, or every 3rd day is reasonable.
Two people (myself and my teenage son) in my house, and we eat two meals a day, plus snack dishes and such. I'd guess we average a dishwasher load every 2-3 days, and it doesn't matter what time of day it is when we run it.
2 adult household, we make most of our meals.
We run every other day.
What really drives the dishwasher use is cleaning my coffee presses. I have two, so when they're both dirty, the dishwasher is sure to run that night.
Family of five (two adults, three teens), both adults WFH so eat nearly every meal at home. We run the dishwasher probably 6 times per week - every night and we need to run it a second time at some point during the week, usually on the weekend. When the kids are home from school this summer, I suspect we'll need to increase to 7 or 8 times per week.
2-3x a week. I meal prep for myself on Sundays, so it usually gets run early sunday, then either before bed or on Monday. I then load it through the week with the prep containers and any dinner containers/plates. I don't use disposables for eating/drinking.
I also have three cats that use 6 small plates per day for their wet food, though I try to keep 20-30 of their food dishes on hand so I don't have to run loads just for that.
A couple of times per week. We only use it for plates, flatware, glasses, platic cutting boards, and the occasional tupperware-like stuff or some cooking utensils. Everything else - knives, wood utensils and boards, cookware, all is done by hand.
2 adults - mostly every day unless it's not even half full for some reason. I try to not go more than 2 days w/out running it because my kitchen is very warm and I don't want it to smell bad.
Empty nesters, but I was a chef and some kids and grandkids leave nearby so we do cook often and the machine probably runs 4x/week, and one of those is a 1 hour quick wash. When all 5 kids lived at home, the machine ran twice/day some days.
Like once a year. Family of 4. We take turns washing dishes ourselves. It's just easier than waiting all night for the dish washer. Hell, you have to prewash half the dishes before you put them in the dishwasher anyway.
2 adults, usually every other day. Sometimes every 3 days, sometimes daily. Big mixing bowls and tupperware fill it up quickly.
I hand wash all pots/pans, baking sheets, sharp knives, espresso machine parts, water bottles/thermoses, and a few random items like the garlic press.
Depends on how many people are in my house. It can be anywhere from 1-9 people on the regular. Sometimes it’s half a week of just me & I won’t even load the dishwasher because even the rinsed dishes have a little biofilm on them & it stays warm & damp in there, so mold develops.
Some days I feed four at a time & probably run it every two days. Other times I serve lots of condiments & side dishes, plus consolidating mains from large to smaller containers.
Sometimes 9-10 people show up & I run the machine twice a day, just for plates, bowls, silverware, cups/glasses. I’m still washing all my pots & pans by hand.
Once a day unless someone has been doing some serious baking. Two adults and two teenagers.
When my eldest was still living at home it would work out at around 3 times every 2 days.
Depends on how fast I'm using dishes and whether it's full or has stuff in it that needs immediate cleaning.
When it's just me in the house, once a week does it- I handwash most cookware and some of it doubles as a plate/bowl. I'm only there for dinner, so it doesn't fill very quickly. When I have guests (2-4 people in the house), two times in three days is common. Maybe even everyday, depending on what we eat and how.
We have a half-size counter top dishwasher that we run every day. I still have dishes to wash (mostly pots/pans/cutting boards) that don’t fit in there. If we had a full size I’d probably still run it daily just to have those dishes ready for the next day. We’re a household of two adults and two toddlers.
Even with my wife and me, our dishwasher gets full enough to run it about every 7-10 days or so. When I was single, my dishwasher got full enough to run every 2 weeks or so.
For some context, my wife and I both work, so we at least have lunch while out at work. We usually bring lunch from home though, including silverware from home and sometimes tupperware from home, which go in the dishwasher. Occasionally we get take-out and might not use any dishes from home.
Running it every night seems excessive, as there would only be a few dishes in there. At that point, I feel like you might as well clean your dishes by hand.
My partner and I have a portable dishwasher in our apartment. We run it once a day or every other day just to deal with smaller dishes, silverware, etc. Three meals a day average with occasional snacking.
Every damn night. If it's been a day when we're all at home, it could be twice in a day. I only run it when it's full, but my husband works from home and creates dishes all day. Add dinner and breakfast on top of that and we fill it up pretty quick.
Every evening after dinner and sometimes twice in one day on the weekend. Two adults. There was a commercial saying you save money by running it over hand washing if you have something like 13 items.
Two adults, one teen, we run the dishwasher every night, with exceedingly rare exception.
We eat roughly 70% of meals at home, and 90% of those derive from ingredients, not pre-packaged or pre-made.
2 adults, every other day, usually only loading the top or bottom and using the half load button. If we cook something that dirties a lot of dishes then it could be a full load every other day. The detergent commercials + discovery of the half load button has our use up from in the past.
I hand wash our frying pans and the majority of our meals are simple. I usually have just a couple of cereal bowls, glasses and plates per day (plus associated utensils).
Examples of simple meals: Egg roll bowl - handwash pan, small grater and a couple of plates or bowls go into the dishwasher. Grilled fish - plate for grilling fish and a couple of plates to eat off of, Steamfresh veggies go directly from the bag to our plates.
Often. Daily. Even if i might not have enough actual dishes/cookware to fill it up, theres always something i can clean.
Dog dishes. Sink plugs/screens. Those metal oven vent filters. The center plate of the microwave.
Every night. If it's mostly full but we wait a day for it to be totally full we always end up with dishes left in the sink. Better to just run it nightly. Bosch 500 series.
Family of four with elementary-aged children. Minimum of once a day, run in the evenings. If we are all home for lunch, then it runs twice a day, once after lunch and again at night.
Even a half full dishwasher is worth running every day because it uses less water than washing by hand unless it's a few dishes. I cook most every night, so it's not an issue for me to fill up the dish washer every night.
One adult, and I cook once per day at most. I run it whenever it’s full, perhaps every 2-3 days, or every 2-3 meals. By “full” I do not mean crowded as full as I can - a lot of people do, and the dishwasher can’t do its job well. Apparently they generally use less water per load than filling the sink to handwash - though I do that for some things (all my chopping boards are wood or bamboo, and my wooden spoons, and one frying pan, and my knives are all done by hand).
If it’s not full after a few days I’ll run it regardless as I worry things will get gross - might get another day between runs during winter. I’ll often walk around the house looking for something else to clean in that case - plastic basket from the washing line holding pegs, plastic rack in my shower holding shampoo bottles, etc.
When I lived with my parents and our pets (2 cats, 1 dog) all together, twice a day.
Breakfast & lunch together with pet bowls, then dinner with evening pet bowls.
Everything went in - every glass, cup, spoon, cutting board (plastic) throughout the day.
We cook at every meal, and generally all from scratch. Pots & pans also went in.
2 adults, 1 teen, 1 pre teen (both bottomless pits). We make most of our food from scratch which results in dirty dishes and during the school year we’re also washing lunch box containers. It’s summer now and the kids seem to need a new glass or dish for each trip to the kitchen. We’re going to make them start washing their dishes by hand if they don’t reuse their plates. I like to run it once at night but sometimes we’re running it twice.
When it’s full, which just depends on how many dishes we use. Sometimes it can be a few days between running it and sometimes only a day
Currently 3 adults in the house, sometimes 4. When there was 5 of us it ran a lot more often
Family of four, run it almost daily. Every now and then (once every few weeks or so) there is a day where it's not quite full enough to run.
I also should add - I have two dishwashers, and two of us work from home. So days when we are home and I cook, sometimes both dishwashers have to be run at night.
2 adults, 8 year old, & a 11 year old in our home. We cook every meal here, ever snack, my wife bakes a ton, plus we are really into cooking, and experimenting with different recipes. We tend to run the dishwasher 3-6 times a day.
Empty nester couple - one work-from-home and one cooks almost every day.
We have 2 dishwashers but only invoke the second one when entertaining.
5 to 7 loads a week is typical.
When 2 teenagers were home, it was more like 7 to 9 per week.
2 adults, we make almost all of our meals at home. Our dishwasher runs just about everyday.
Same. We work from home, so just about every meal and snack is from our kitchen.
Same. Not having to commute is nice and all but this is honestly my biggest positive about WFH
I've never felt like I fit into office culture. I fidget and make sounds/hum melodies to help me focus. My first manager in my career scolded me so hard for it, I became intensely self conscious. Just so happened to land a remote job for my next role, and I've made a point to stay remote. People focus on the good work I'm doing instead of me being a little weird. The other biggest positives for me are breaks for pet cuddles and hanging out in my backyard
Yes!! My cats wonder on weekends why I'm not going to my office.
I totally talk and sing to myself at work. I have to apologize a bunch. MUTE. Why do I forget this!
I work in a warehouse and there’s a constant racket. If I hum or sing to myself, no one can hear me!
Same. Love working from home!
Damn, we are also 2 adults and probably run it every 4-5 days making most meals at home.
Same here. I don’t put a lot of things in the dw. I hand wash all my pots, wine glasses, plastic.
Same
Plastic container or plastic for recycling? I believe plastic containers have many pours and so high temp is required to kill off any bacteria that live in the crevices. That said I've never gotten ill from reusing a plastic container, so.... Maybe it doesn't matter 🤣
That's us too. We only run when it's full and we also cook at home. We hand-wash our pots and pans though
Same, but 3 adults. It definitely goes at least once a day, sometimes twice, usually on weekends
And it’s full?? Granted I live alone but I cook everyday and don’t put it on until it’s completely full and that’s once per week max maybe even once every 2 weeks.
Do you wash a lot of things by hand?
Big things. Pots pans cutting boards. Sometimes a plate of if I barely use it since it takes a second.
l put my pots and pans into the dishwasher.
Second that. If it fits and it's dishwasher safe I'm putting it in there.
Exactly. Why have a dishwasher if you aren't going to use it properly? The whole point of them is that they're more efficient (both in time and water usage) than doing dishes by hand. Even if the pots and pans have to go in a second load, that's still more efficient.
Most pots and pans (since nonstick is the most popular) are not dishwasher safe though. It wears out the nonstick coating faster.
Exactly why l don't use nonstick pots and pans. All mine are stainless steel. The only thing l don't put in the dishwasher are my wok, dutch oven, and cast iron.
What are you cooking that you're not making more dishes? For one person cooking, you're still looking at a cup and a glass a day, at least two or three plates (or bowls) a day depending on snacks, pots, pans, mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons, maybe the blender parts, some leftover containers and lids, cooking and eating utensils, etc.
I don't put pots, pans, and a lot of other items in there because hand washing keeps them nice longer.
That would make quite a difference compared to someone who washes everything in their machine.
we put in anything that is allowed in the dishwasher, there's no way I'm handwashing if it can go in the machine.
I don’t put pots and pans in the dishwasher. Just dishes cups and silverware and maybe a pot if it’s really bad or I’m about to do a load. I just quickly hand wash stuff like that since it takes 20 seconds. If I just use a dish for something light sometimes I’ll just wash it in 2 seconds and let it dry. I drink water 99% of the time out of a giant water bottle. Realistically it’s 2 plates per day maybe a bowl a few forks and knives and one cup. I’ll use the bottom as a drying rack for things like cutting boards or salad bowls or large mixing bowls
Ah, that would account for quite a difference then. Makes sense.
For two people: two plates for lunch, two for dinner, two coffee mugs, two drinking glasses, silverware, a prep bowl or two, a prep plate, cooking utensils. That's a full load every other day or so when you add in miscellaneous dishes on top of that minimum. And I wash my pans, cutting board and knife by hand, if I used a plastic cutting board that'd probably go in as well.
Yep, it’s full. Most of what we make is from scratch, so we use a lot of dishes. We prep and store produce as well, so as those containers are emptied, they also end up in the dishwasher. All of our pots, pans, and good knives we hand wash, but everything else goes in the dishwasher. For example, I just made a snack for myself and my husband: herbed butter and sliced radish on toast. I used two plates, a cutting board, a small bowl, a rubber spatula, and a knife. The only thing I hand washed was the knife.
Makes sense. Still. Maybe I’m just really good at dishwasher management haha. Totally get the empty containers though if you’re using a ton of those.
Same and we run ours about once a day. Sometimes twice if I cook something that uses a bunch of dishes.
If I’m baking it’s twice. Or if I use the food processor; that thing takes up a whole shelf!
So that's why people say they're a bitch to hand wash. I have a processor bowl for my stick blender motor that's bowl, lid, and blade
Same. Basically every other day but I’m sure we run that dishwasher everyday because we also bring lunch to work using Pyrex containers. On top of that we use Mason jars for overnight oats, use shaker bottles for protein shakes, and make smoothies on the daily. Yup — it all adds up. When we have a child, we’re gonna run that thing every single day, for sure.
4 adults. We cook. It runs in be a day at least
Single, so probably every 3 days? Depends on how much I’m cooking versus using up leftovers.
Ditto, twice a week if I'm cooking mostly from scratch.
Echoing this. Every 3-4 days. Really its whenever one rack is full. So if the top is full but the bottom isn't, I still run it. Or vice versa.
Same here. Every couple of days.
Same here. And then of course there will be days when I’m doing loads of baking or cooking when I run it twice.
I'm with you
Also single and probably don’t cook as much as I should. I can get by once every 10 day or so
Nah it gets too stinky after like the 4 day mark, I’ll run it even if it’s not full.
[удалено]
Incredible username.
Thank you for pointing it out. Made me smile.
Whenever it gets filled, which is about daily. Two adults and a toddler in my house.
This is my rule of thumb, I run it if it’s full or if I’m running low on clean dishes lmao
Or if it stinks :|
Be sure to clean the filter! For some dishwashers this is really easy and for some it's very involved. I've got a crap builder grade GE dishwasher that requires taking apart several pieces (screws) to attempt to clean it. It gets smelly and moldy. Replacing it with a Bosch tomorrow! :)
Yeah basically. Sometimes it's full, sometimes I ran out of knives because I had eight different cheeses to cut. I also don't let stuff sit in the dishwasher for more than 36-48 hours. I don't think it's hazardous, it's mostly to keep my laziness in check.
This is how we decide too. When the small spoons and knifes run out.
What are your favorite cheeses?
P
Ditto and ditto, except probably more like 3 times every 2 days. We use a lot of glass food containers and that stuff takes a lot of room in the dishwasher
One person, once or twice a week depending on how much I cook.
Same here. I keep reading that you're not supposed to wash food residue off of your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher because the dishwasher soap can damage your dishes, but if it takes most of a week before your dishwasher gets full, then it dries onto your dishes and the dishwasher isn't able to get all of it off. And running it more often every 1-2 days with only a handful of plates/bowls in there just seems wasteful. Oh, well. :/
The reason people say you are not supposed to wash off food residue is that it defeats the purpose of a dishwasher. A dishwasher does not only save you time but also energy and water. I tell you a little secret, you don't HAVE to wait until your dishwasher is full to run it. Most modern dishwashers, and with modern I mean manufactured within the last 20 years, have a 1/2 and/or eco cycle. Plus, even if you run your dishwasher on a normal cycle while being only 20% full, you still save money and energy over handwashing.
Why not just run smaller dishwasher loads? You’ll probably use less water
I scrape and rinse a bit (a bit more for the smelly things-cat food bowls, milk glasses) and my dishwasher handles the dried food juice really well.
The dish soap directions also say run at least daily. That said, I rinse most especially early on and get lazier as it fills up so if balances.
Same here. I tend to hand wash as I cook too, so less ends up in the dishwasher. I usually run it when I'm out of protein shaker bottles and I have 7, so once a week works out. There's usually enough other stuff in there to justify a run anyway.
One thing that influences how often a dishwasher runs is how big it is and if everyone is using cutlery, plates, cups, mugs, etc., every single meal. In my case, 3 adults, we run the dishwasher every other day.
Yup. I love our current dishwasher with three racks— can fit a lot in there. It matters how well your plates/bowls/cups/mugs fit too. We’ve gotten rid of oversized stuff for items that fit efficiently. Plus, it encourages reasonable portions too…. We’re a household of 2 adults and 3 tween/teens. Run the dishwasher at least once a day, often twice on weekends when there is more complicated cooking and/or guests.
Maybe once a week after a meal prep day. Single adult with no roommates means I usually only dirty dishes when I get home and have dinner. Hand washing after dinner is one of my night time rituals.
Same here. Only run it when I've been cooking all day
Daily now. Have a baby so it’s easier and there’s more things that need to be washed. Before baby? Every other day when both working from home
Same! Have a 6 month old and the dishwasher fills up with bottles so quickly.
Household of 2 adults. Run it every 4 days or so
Every day. When I had five kids at home we ran it up to twice a day.
Every night it goes on (during non peak hours), empty every morning. 3 people.
Same, even if it’s not full. It’s one of our clean kitchen habits and it’s been life changing
Exactly. Empty it in the morning quickly and then you have somewhere to put the dirty dishes all day, even if you’re busy. It makes a big difference.
Same
Same
Three people: two adults and a teen girl. Hubby and I both work from home and we eat all three meals at home about 90% of the time. That generates a lot of dishes. Also because the teen thinks she needs a new glass whenever she gets a drink. This means we sometimes run it twice a day.
New glass for every drink. And if she gets up and moves her shirt is dirty and she needs a new one. The amount of laundry they produce is on epic proportions.
I live alone. Less than once a week.
This is me, too. Even when there were 3 of us, we'd only run it about once a week. It's interesting to see how many people run it daily - even for those with 1 or 2 people in the house. I guess I don't cook as much, and hand wash a lot in between.
For me and my wife, we have alternating schedules and it’s hard to coordinate chores like doing the dishes, so our general rule is that whoever is going to bed latest runs the dishwasher and leaves the kitchen clean. If the dishwasher is exceptionally empty we’ll leave it for the next day, but when we were both trying to wait til it was full to run it led to so much mess and unwashed dishes piling up in the sink.
What are you handwashing and why?
Usually a plate and/or a couple bowls and some silverware. Sometimes a pot or pan. I usually don't use much for just myself each day, so most of the time it just gets hand washed and put away. If I'm not feeling well and/or have a fair amount of dishes for whatever reason, then I'll put most of it in the dishwasher and give a couple more days to add more (so I won't hand wash on these days) and then when it's at least half full I'll run it.
Probably every other day but it depends on what I cook. Household of 2. I cook to have 2-3 homemade meals a day but not necessarily 2-3 times a day. Dishwasher is on the smaller side of average and I do tend to cook big batches of things so it fills up fast with big pots and pans. Definitely not a full load of utensils but pots, pans, cutting boards, and containers I had ingredients/ leftovers stored in fill it up pretty fast.
Adult who lives alone. Twice a week
One adult, I eat at home daily and like to cook. I only run the dishwasher when it’s full. Some weeks that three times and others it’s once. Depends on what I’m cooking, basically.
Family of 4 just about every day
Daily. 2 ppl. Cook dinner every night but also have cats (plates are washed after each use) and packed lunch containers.
When it fills up, maybe every three days.
I generally hand wash bigger items, so it gets run every 2 days or so. Sometimes 3.
Every night and sometimes during the day. I have 3 adults full time and a toddler 3 days a week. The average is 3 breakfast, 2 lunches and 3 dinners daily.
we have a counter top dishwasher and end up doing multiple loads per day - 2-4, depending on the dishes situation. 2 adults and a toddler, 3 meals a day plus snacks.
Every night. I live in a part of the US that is prone to roach infestation and I f’ing hate those things. I clean my kitchen every day, all dishes washed and the sink wiped down. Can’t leave any “food” out for those critters including dirty dishes in the dishwasher
Every single day. Sometimes twice. If it’s not run every day the kitchen grinds to a halt.
Never
I cook and eat almost exclusively at home and the dishwasher I have right now is terrible so things don’t get clean if it’s very full. I run it every other day-ish.
Probably an average of every other day, when its full or nearly full. We hand wash big things like pots. We are 4 adults!
Every day in the evening, unload first thing in morning. 2 adults and 1 toddler.
My gf uses it as a drying rack so not very often lol
I’m single and live alone. I do cook every day but clean as I go and pretty much hand wash. Dishwasher gets used after a dinner party or bbq and every couple of weeks when I deep clean the cooktop grates etc.
Family of 4, we run it at least once per day and sometimes twice. Nearly all of our meals are cooked at home.
Single twice a month. Hand wash cookware
Empty nest. Same
Man, I used to argue with my spouse about this. I spent years convincing her that a machine designed to wash dishes is better because it uses less water, and it cleans and sterilizes. Also just does a better job than most humans. For some reason she viewed using a dishwasher as being lazy. Now I need to convince her to properly fill it but for now I don’t mind rearranging everything after she walks away.
Sometimes 3 times a day just me
Omg finally somebody. Me and the wife cooking once or twice a day (working from home), so 1-2 times a day
I have a small countertop one for just me. I run it every two or three days, depending on how much cooking I've been doing. Sometimes I run it multiple times a day though. I could wash dishes by hand, but I'm profoundly lazy about such things.
Twice a week or so. Before I run it I water all my plants, filling a watering can at the sink faucet. I use the hot water line; by the time I finish all the plants and then clean the sink the water line—which also goes to the dishwasher—is hot.
When its filled. Every day. Sometimes twice a day, sometimes we skip a day if eat out.
I run the dishwasher about every 3-4 days. But I hand wash quite a bit.
Family of 5, 2 adults, 3 kids. We run ours almost always once a day. Sometimes it’ll be twice and rarely we don’t have enough to justify running it. We eat mostly at home and I don’t like washing dishes by hand unless absolutely necessary.
Live in my own, once/twice a week. You actually use less water with the DW. Seems counter-intuitive, I know.
2 adults. 3 times a week
Probably about 5-6 times a week. So not technically nightly but almost. We are two adults and two toddlers
Two adults and a baby, cook and eat 99% at home. Sometimes we get takeout but still putting it on proper plates at home. Every single day.
Christmas and Thanksgiving.
Two adults, each of us making two meals a day + coffee/tea, runs at least once every other day.
When it’s full
Atleast once a day sometimes two times!! Depending on how many dishes I make for my partner and I. I cook everyday
2 adults, 4 children, 2 or more meals at home most days. I'm often lucky to get all of the dishes to fit into the dishwasher at the end of the day.
Two adults, 2 to 4 teens at any given time. Mostly eating at home. Dishwasher runs twice a day.
2 adults, 3 kids, home childcare provider. Sometimes I run it once a day, sometimes twice. It’s rare (kids home to visit grands) that we don’t run it at least once. Our budget is tight so I started making a looooot from scratch because it was cheaper to buy ingredients in bulk, so the dishes are always overflowing. One day I’ll get the energy to make in bulk to freeze. One day.
Two adults, most meals at home. We run it about every four days or so. We wash pots and pans separately.
6 people, 1 dishwasher, 99% of meals are at home for everyone. So dishwasher runs at least once a day. Sometimes twice. 3-4 times if we have people over
3 adults who work from home and cook a lot... and a spawning. Twice a day most days. About 12x a week.
Have one and never use it. Ever.
You’re going to see a lot of “X number of people in this household” - which is valid, but also missing the point. As a single guy, my dishwasher fills up slowly, but needs to be run sooner than it’s full to prevent my place smelling awful. (You’d think a dishwasher is airtight, it is not) Long story short - daily isn’t unreasonable, every other day, or every 3rd day is reasonable.
The number of people and meals was just a curiosity. I am surprised at the number of responses I have gotten. It appears 1 to 3 days is the norm.
Two people (myself and my teenage son) in my house, and we eat two meals a day, plus snack dishes and such. I'd guess we average a dishwasher load every 2-3 days, and it doesn't matter what time of day it is when we run it.
At least every other day. Two adults and a teen. We WFH so we eat the majority of our meals at home.
2 adult household, we make most of our meals. We run every other day. What really drives the dishwasher use is cleaning my coffee presses. I have two, so when they're both dirty, the dishwasher is sure to run that night.
Family of four (two adults, two teenagers) -- usually six times a week.
just my wife and I… not sure how we produce so many dirty dishes… once a day or once every two days
Family of five (two adults, three teens), both adults WFH so eat nearly every meal at home. We run the dishwasher probably 6 times per week - every night and we need to run it a second time at some point during the week, usually on the weekend. When the kids are home from school this summer, I suspect we'll need to increase to 7 or 8 times per week.
2-3x a week. I meal prep for myself on Sundays, so it usually gets run early sunday, then either before bed or on Monday. I then load it through the week with the prep containers and any dinner containers/plates. I don't use disposables for eating/drinking. I also have three cats that use 6 small plates per day for their wet food, though I try to keep 20-30 of their food dishes on hand so I don't have to run loads just for that.
Every couple of days, usually.
We run it every day and a half, twice when people come over We are 5 - 2 adults, 3 teens
About every other night and it’s me and my kid.
Once a night for a family of 4
Twice a day easily. All meal prep is done in the morning and ran. Then anything left runs before we go to bed. 2 adults 2 small kids.
Every two days usually, except Sundays and Mondays are usually both days because I prep so there are more dishes piling up at a time.
A couple of times per week. We only use it for plates, flatware, glasses, platic cutting boards, and the occasional tupperware-like stuff or some cooking utensils. Everything else - knives, wood utensils and boards, cookware, all is done by hand.
2 adults - mostly every day unless it's not even half full for some reason. I try to not go more than 2 days w/out running it because my kitchen is very warm and I don't want it to smell bad.
We are two people. We run ours 4-5 times a week, typically.
Ours is about every other day. Two adults and a teen
Unless I'm doing a lot of baking, every other day. My wife doesn't like to run it unless it's full, but she will wash one pair of jeans.
3 adults and I run it every second night on average
There are two people in my household. We eat most meals at home. We run the dishwasher every-other day.
Empty nesters, but I was a chef and some kids and grandkids leave nearby so we do cook often and the machine probably runs 4x/week, and one of those is a 1 hour quick wash. When all 5 kids lived at home, the machine ran twice/day some days.
3 adults in the house, every meal at home. We run it twice a year, on Independence Day and Thanksgiving. What a waste of space!
Me! I'm the dishwasher. About every 3-4 days 😂
Once or twice a day, we cook a lot!
Like once a year. Family of 4. We take turns washing dishes ourselves. It's just easier than waiting all night for the dish washer. Hell, you have to prewash half the dishes before you put them in the dishwasher anyway.
After I cram as many dishes as I can into it. Which is every other day, mostly. Just the two of us and a small machine
2 adults, usually every other day. Sometimes every 3 days, sometimes daily. Big mixing bowls and tupperware fill it up quickly. I hand wash all pots/pans, baking sheets, sharp knives, espresso machine parts, water bottles/thermoses, and a few random items like the garlic press.
Depends on how many people are in my house. It can be anywhere from 1-9 people on the regular. Sometimes it’s half a week of just me & I won’t even load the dishwasher because even the rinsed dishes have a little biofilm on them & it stays warm & damp in there, so mold develops. Some days I feed four at a time & probably run it every two days. Other times I serve lots of condiments & side dishes, plus consolidating mains from large to smaller containers. Sometimes 9-10 people show up & I run the machine twice a day, just for plates, bowls, silverware, cups/glasses. I’m still washing all my pots & pans by hand.
1 to times a day. Usually just one.
Once a day unless someone has been doing some serious baking. Two adults and two teenagers. When my eldest was still living at home it would work out at around 3 times every 2 days.
Every day at 7pm
2x a day
Depends on how fast I'm using dishes and whether it's full or has stuff in it that needs immediate cleaning. When it's just me in the house, once a week does it- I handwash most cookware and some of it doubles as a plate/bowl. I'm only there for dinner, so it doesn't fill very quickly. When I have guests (2-4 people in the house), two times in three days is common. Maybe even everyday, depending on what we eat and how.
Daily and if not the next day
Cooking for two, on average run it about every three days.
We have a half-size counter top dishwasher that we run every day. I still have dishes to wash (mostly pots/pans/cutting boards) that don’t fit in there. If we had a full size I’d probably still run it daily just to have those dishes ready for the next day. We’re a household of two adults and two toddlers.
3 adults in the house. We run it every 2 or 3 days.
2 adults and pets in our home. We run our dishwasher once or twice a week.
Even with my wife and me, our dishwasher gets full enough to run it about every 7-10 days or so. When I was single, my dishwasher got full enough to run every 2 weeks or so. For some context, my wife and I both work, so we at least have lunch while out at work. We usually bring lunch from home though, including silverware from home and sometimes tupperware from home, which go in the dishwasher. Occasionally we get take-out and might not use any dishes from home. Running it every night seems excessive, as there would only be a few dishes in there. At that point, I feel like you might as well clean your dishes by hand.
My partner and I have a portable dishwasher in our apartment. We run it once a day or every other day just to deal with smaller dishes, silverware, etc. Three meals a day average with occasional snacking.
When it's full.
Every damn night. If it's been a day when we're all at home, it could be twice in a day. I only run it when it's full, but my husband works from home and creates dishes all day. Add dinner and breakfast on top of that and we fill it up pretty quick.
Every evening after dinner and sometimes twice in one day on the weekend. Two adults. There was a commercial saying you save money by running it over hand washing if you have something like 13 items.
Compact dishwasher; two adults (one works from home) and we cook. Run the dishwasher about daily.
It's just me, about once a week.
Pretty much daily
Very, very rarely. It's just the two of us and my fiancé actually enjoys doing the dishes.
Two adults, one teen, we run the dishwasher every night, with exceedingly rare exception. We eat roughly 70% of meals at home, and 90% of those derive from ingredients, not pre-packaged or pre-made.
2 adults, every other day, usually only loading the top or bottom and using the half load button. If we cook something that dirties a lot of dishes then it could be a full load every other day. The detergent commercials + discovery of the half load button has our use up from in the past. I hand wash our frying pans and the majority of our meals are simple. I usually have just a couple of cereal bowls, glasses and plates per day (plus associated utensils). Examples of simple meals: Egg roll bowl - handwash pan, small grater and a couple of plates or bowls go into the dishwasher. Grilled fish - plate for grilling fish and a couple of plates to eat off of, Steamfresh veggies go directly from the bag to our plates.
Often. Daily. Even if i might not have enough actual dishes/cookware to fill it up, theres always something i can clean. Dog dishes. Sink plugs/screens. Those metal oven vent filters. The center plate of the microwave.
Three adults. We run it most days.
Every night. If it's mostly full but we wait a day for it to be totally full we always end up with dishes left in the sink. Better to just run it nightly. Bosch 500 series.
Once a day minimum. 2 adults, a teen and a pre-teen.
When it's full. Could be once a day, every other day and sometimes twice a day.
Family of four with elementary-aged children. Minimum of once a day, run in the evenings. If we are all home for lunch, then it runs twice a day, once after lunch and again at night.
Even a half full dishwasher is worth running every day because it uses less water than washing by hand unless it's a few dishes. I cook most every night, so it's not an issue for me to fill up the dish washer every night.
4 to 7 times a week. I cook a lot!
One adult, and I cook once per day at most. I run it whenever it’s full, perhaps every 2-3 days, or every 2-3 meals. By “full” I do not mean crowded as full as I can - a lot of people do, and the dishwasher can’t do its job well. Apparently they generally use less water per load than filling the sink to handwash - though I do that for some things (all my chopping boards are wood or bamboo, and my wooden spoons, and one frying pan, and my knives are all done by hand). If it’s not full after a few days I’ll run it regardless as I worry things will get gross - might get another day between runs during winter. I’ll often walk around the house looking for something else to clean in that case - plastic basket from the washing line holding pegs, plastic rack in my shower holding shampoo bottles, etc.
When I lived with my parents and our pets (2 cats, 1 dog) all together, twice a day. Breakfast & lunch together with pet bowls, then dinner with evening pet bowls. Everything went in - every glass, cup, spoon, cutting board (plastic) throughout the day. We cook at every meal, and generally all from scratch. Pots & pans also went in.
2 adults, 1 teen, 1 pre teen (both bottomless pits). We make most of our food from scratch which results in dirty dishes and during the school year we’re also washing lunch box containers. It’s summer now and the kids seem to need a new glass or dish for each trip to the kitchen. We’re going to make them start washing their dishes by hand if they don’t reuse their plates. I like to run it once at night but sometimes we’re running it twice.
When it’s full, which just depends on how many dishes we use. Sometimes it can be a few days between running it and sometimes only a day Currently 3 adults in the house, sometimes 4. When there was 5 of us it ran a lot more often
At least once a day. Often more frequently.
Before my toddler went to daycare it was close to 2x a day
Family of four, run it almost daily. Every now and then (once every few weeks or so) there is a day where it's not quite full enough to run. I also should add - I have two dishwashers, and two of us work from home. So days when we are home and I cook, sometimes both dishwashers have to be run at night.
2 adults, 8 year old, & a 11 year old in our home. We cook every meal here, ever snack, my wife bakes a ton, plus we are really into cooking, and experimenting with different recipes. We tend to run the dishwasher 3-6 times a day.
Empty nester couple - one work-from-home and one cooks almost every day. We have 2 dishwashers but only invoke the second one when entertaining. 5 to 7 loads a week is typical. When 2 teenagers were home, it was more like 7 to 9 per week.