I have lived both with and without a dishwasher throughout my lifetime. Growing up we didn’t really have a whole lot of money so our dishwasher was officially either myself or my sister depending on the night, and whose turn it was. I always wished that we were wealthy like my friends. They didn’t have to fight over who washed and who dried. They simply threw their dishes in the washer and went about the rest of their night. It seemed like the perfect thing to envy. Like everything in life, sometimes what you think something is, and what it really is, is two different things.

When I started out on my own, I insisted that I had to have a washing machine in my first apartment and then in my own home. It was a way that I had to define my status and to show that I had everything that I had ever wanted. What I found is that a dishwasher was not the convenience that I had always dreamed it was. In fact, I have had such horrible dishwashers throughout the years that they were more hassle than they were time saving. I had no idea how much time cleaning your dishwasher would take.

Cleaning your dishwasher is dependent upon the type of water that you have. Even if you have the most expensive type of dishwasher, if you have water that is loaded with sediment, or calcium, it will begin to lesson the quality of wash that your dishwasher is capable of. Even if you use a product such as je dry, you are still going to experience some build up if you don’t take the time cleaning your dishwasher. If I have to take so much time cleaning it, it makes the worthwhile nature of a dishwasher much less.

There are many great products on the market that will help in cleaning your dishwasher. Since most likely the harshness of your water is to blame, there are many products that work in your system to clean while running through a cycle. Specific dishwasher cleaners target the build up to get your dishwasher back to the efficiency that it was when you first began using it. Simply turn the product upside down and run it through a cycle to get the most from your dishwasher again.

So is it worth it to have a dishwasher when they take so much care and maintenance? 

I have found that what I thought I hated about doing the dishes is nothing compared to what I dislike about loading and unloading a dishwasher. There is something that is very satisfying about loading the dishwasher, but when it comes to unloading it, it is anything but convenient or fun. In fact, there is nothing that can put a damper on the day more than seeing a clean dishwasher rack that needs to be put away. Sure a dishwasher is a nice convenience sometimes, but sometimes it is just as easy to hand wash the dishes yourself. Without cleaning a dishwasher constantly, you can do the dishes yourself and have them put away to start the new day anew.