Small Talk: We'll Be Right Back

[Browncoat]

There's just me in my house -- it would take forever to generate enough dirty dishes for me to justify running a dishwasher.  Not that I own one, mind you, but if I did.  I only wash dishes by hand about two or three times a week as it is.

[Ohwell]

I own a dishwasher but only use it about twice a year, just to see if it's still running.  I'm weird in that there's something about washing dishes by hand that relaxes me. 

[Spunkygal]

Dishwashers are not just for dishes! Some of the items I wash and items that moms in the neighborhood wash in the dishwasher (of course, not at the same time, and items that are top rack safe) are:

Drainage tray from Keurig

sponges, dish scrub brush

stainless steel tongue scraper (yes, my dentist has me wary of mouth bacteria)

soft sided lunch sacks (I just wet sponge mine out but one of the moms has very messy kids)

flip flops (this surprised me. I just hose mine off outside.)

baby bath toys 

Dog bowls

I don't mind hand washing and do a fair amount of hand washing but I love taking something out of the dishwasher knowing that it has been cleaned in scorching hot water. Having said all this, since it's just me, I usually only run it once a week unless it's around the holidays.

[Prevailing Wind]

I've been sick with a freakin' cold & haven't felt like doing anything. I finally got around to rounding up all the dirty dishes I'd created over several days. Took two loads of the dishwasher to get 'em all done. For me, it's a lifesaver during the times I'm sick, which happens all too often. I need a sinus transplant.

I remember reading that the comic Paula Poundstone, before she adopted her kids and was living alone, kept take-out menus in her dishwasher.

[Annber03]

Hope you get to feeling better soon, @Prevailing Wind!

[Prevailing Wind]

Thanks. I actually got dressed today. I must be improving. LOL.

[Annber03]

Hey, baby steps, right :D? Good to hear that. 

[bilgistic]

The dishwasher is also a highly effective sanitizer for, ahem, "marital aids"*.

*Silicone, glass or stainless steel and waterproof only. Rubber may melt.

[peacheslatour]

15 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I own a dishwasher but only use it about twice a year, just to see if it's still running.  I'm weird in that there's something about washing dishes by hand that relaxes me. 

I feel the same way about ironing. There's just something about a series of neatly hung, freshly ironed shirts and a stack of pressed folded linens.

[Silver Raven]

I've seen recipes for cooking foil wrapped packets of fish in dish washers.

[Spunkygal]

16 hours ago, bilgistic said:

The dishwasher is also a highly effective sanitizer for, ahem, "marital aids"*.

*Silicone, glass or stainless steel and waterproof only. Rubber may melt.

You are always thinking ahead! 

[riley702]

I have always fed my cats on paper plates, but since moving in with my brother and his wife, she always uses china plates and then washes them in the dishwasher. She was pleased when I introduced her to bleach tablets, as you can just toss one in and sanitize everything. As I had lived alone, it would take several days to fill the dishwasher and I always worried about germs. You can also use them in the washer. A bottle lasts a good while and are beside bleach in the laundry aisle around here. When my SIL's niece was staying with us, she fixed a lot of seriously stinky food and stored them in plastic containers. They often still smelled after hand-washing, so the bleach pills in the dishwasher fixed that, too!

ETA: A girl at work washed her clogs in the dishwasher, too.

Edited April 5, 2018 by riley702

[ebk57]

We grew up with no dishwasher.  My first 2 apartments had no dishwasher.  Until I moved into this house with Mr ebk, I always did dishes by hand.  I love the dishwasher!

When my dad finally bought his first and only condo, it had a dishwasher, but he rarely cooked and never used it.  However, someone told him he should run it every so often so the belts didn't dry out.  So my dad, with OCD, had a piece of paper taped to the wall and every 2 weeks, he religiously ran the dishwasher, then made a note on the paper on the wall.  He also had boxes of new shirts in the closet, and when he had to take out a new one to use, he crossed out the number left in the box that he'd written on the outside and noted the new number.  I take after him in a lot of ways, but fortunately, not in that way.  He died 14 years ago and I do still miss him.

[Bastet]

All you people who love doing dishes by hand can take turns coming to my house and doing mine each night in exchange for as many as you want of the drink of your choice.  I have no dishwasher, and won't have one until I remodel the kitchen (one of the few things I have left to do to the house, and something I will probably do in the next 3-5 years); the first night I can just shove dishes in the dishwasher and go to bed, I will do the Dance of Joy.  I hate having to either do dishes after each meal or have dishes sitting in the sink.  Breakfast/lunch isn't as bad to let the dishes sit and wait, but dinner pots, pans, bowls, plates, etc. MUST be done, as I cannot wake up to that shit.  And after more than 10 years - after a lifetime of having a dishwasher - of washing dishes at least once a day, I'm totally over it. 

[crazycatlady58]

15 hours ago, riley702 said:

I have always fed my cats on paper plates, but since moving in with my brother and his wife, she always uses china plates and then washes them in the dishwasher. She was pleased when I introduced her to bleach tablets, as you can just toss one in and sanitize everything. As I had lived alone, it would take several days to fill the dishwasher and I always worried about germs. You can also use them in the washer. A bottle lasts a good while and are beside bleach in the laundry aisle around here. When my SIL's niece was staying with us, she fixed a lot of seriously stinky food and stored them in plastic containers. They often still smelled after hand-washing, so the bleach pills in the dishwasher fixed that, too!

ETA: A girl at work washed her clogs in the dishwasher, too.

The bleach  tabs don't  pit the stainless  steel?

[riley702]

No, you toss them in as you start the machine and they promptly dissolve. The rinse water removes the last trace of it.

[QuinnInND]

I would die without my dishwasher. I like everything sanitized. Eating off dishes that haven't been run through the dishwasher makes me twitchy.  

[Wings]

13 minutes ago, QuinnInND said:

I would die without my dishwasher. I like everything sanitized. Eating off dishes that haven't been run through the dishwasher makes me twitchy.  

I don't give a shit about that.  I get twitchy at the thought of doing them by hand.  It seems so archaic, kind of like beating your clothes with a rock on the rivers edge.   :^)

Edited April 6, 2018 by Wings

[peacheslatour]

14 minutes ago, Wings said:

I don't give a shit about that.  I get twitchy at the thought of doing them by hand.  It seems so archaic, kind of like beating your clothes with a rock on the rivers edge.   :^)

The only thing I insist being hand washed is my set of antique Haviland china.

[AuntiePam]

20 hours ago, riley702 said:

ETA: A girl at work washed her clogs in the dishwasher, too.

My eyes saw "dogs", not "clogs".  I'm all WTF?

My mom bought us a portable dishwasher when the four kids were small and I was working full-time.  It was much appreciated but it seemed that I still couldn't catch up.  I'd usually have to run the dishwasher right after work, before fixing supper, and by the time supper was finished and the kids were done with their homework and baths, I was too tired to run it again (or we were out of hot water).  So the cycle continued.   

[smittykins]

I had to get China into her carrier so Mom could take her to Tractor Supply's pet-vaccination clinic(the apartment complex requires her to be caught up on her shots).  I now have a thoroughly POed puddytat. 

[Browncoat]

41 minutes ago, smittykins said:

I now have a thoroughly POed puddytat.

But well-protected against any nasty germs!  :)

As for washing dishes by hand -- I don't like it.  I don't enjoy it.  I certainly don't look forward to it.  Well, maybe when it's really cold out, and I've been outside -- the hot, sudsy water feels nice on my icy hands.  But it's a necessary evil -- like cleaning the bathroom, which I hate most of all the chores.

[Spunkygal]

7 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

But well-protected against any nasty germs!  :)

As for washing dishes by hand -- I don't like it.  I don't enjoy it.  I certainly don't look forward to it.  Well, maybe when it's really cold out, and I've been outside -- the hot, sudsy water feels nice on my icy hands.  But it's a necessary evil -- like cleaning the bathroom, which I hate most of all the chores.

I will clean your bathroom if you will clean my floor. That's what I hate the most.  Isn't it funny what chore we each hate the most? I have a friend who despises dusting and I actually enjoy it! 

[bilgistic]

 I hate all cleaning. I keep things put away and don't have clutter, but I'm a terrible housekeeper. I know this is a first-world problem, but it was wonderful when I had a monthly housekeeper. Obviously, I can't afford that since I've been out of work. It shows. I'm a disgrace.

[peacheslatour]

57 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

 I hate all cleaning. I keep things put away and don't have clutter, but I'm a terrible housekeeper. I know this is a first-world problem, but it was wonderful when I had a monthly housekeeper. Obviously, I can't afford that since I've been out of work. It shows. I'm a disgrace.

Sit over here with me. I hate cleaning. I keep the kitchen clean and the bathroom but I hate dusting, window washing, vacuuming. I'd rather be baking or reading.

[Ohwell]

I hate dusting.

[chessiegal]

I hate all cleaning. I've had a cleaning service for over 25 years. I find unloading the dishwasher a chore. And I will not wash fine china, good knives, and expensive pots and pans in the dishwasher. So I tell myself "buck up buttercup" and spend the all of 15 minutes to do it. Talk about 1st world problems!

[QuinnInND]

I'm a wierdo. I love cleaning. Hard to explain why.  My house is always clean. With 2 almost 2 year old toddlers, it may not always be neat and tidy during the day, but once they go to bed, we tidy up everything. I've been told that my house would be good for a show house because it's always immaculate. I'm too OCD about it. 

[Bastet]

I love things being clean.  I do not trust anyone - no matter how much I pay them - to clean to my standards.  So I do the daily/weekly cleaning myself.  But I cannot say that I like the act of cleaning!  Keeping things uncluttered (the whole "there should be some random things left about to make it homey" thing is completely foreign to me; everything has a place, and it needs to be put in that place daily/nightly) is both easy and enjoyable, but cleaning things - dusting, vacuuming, mopping, scrubbing, etc. - is just a necessary evil.  Organizing, I like, but cleaning?  No.  I like it to be done, so I must do it, but to like doing it?  It does not compute.

Edited April 8, 2018 by Bastet

[Prevailing Wind]

I'm so tidy, my HVAC guy thought my bedroom was a guest room. He asked, "Where's all your stuff?" and I answered, "Put away where it belongs."  (He's the HVAC guy for the slumlord I used to work for, so we have a quite friendly relationship - he doesn't like the slumlord, either.)

But cleaning?  I used to do it obsessively, but once I got a fauxknee, I relaxed my standards. Now, I don't mind if you write with your finger in the dust, just don't put the date. I do manage to keep up with the "wet" rooms, the litterboxes, vacuuming and laundry, but the dusting & deep cleaning are distant memories, as is having a cleaning lady.

[janie jones]

18 hours ago, bilgistic said:

 I hate all cleaning. I keep things put away and don't have clutter, but I'm a terrible housekeeper. I know this is a first-world problem, but it was wonderful when I had a monthly housekeeper. Obviously, I can't afford that since I've been out of work. It shows. I'm a disgrace.

My husband and I agree that if/when we can afford it, we're getting someone to come in once a month.  We hate cleaning, too. 

[ABay]

I loathe cleaning (what is the point of dusting?), can't remember the last time I ironed anything, and only tidy up if someone is coming over. I certainly don't enjoy washing dishes by hand but I do it at least twice a day because almost every spring since I moved into this house there has been an ant invasion. So I don't leave dirty dishes hanging around and the cat's bowls are elevated and in a tray. I don't think I'd use a dishwasher even if I had one; they're noisy, they waste both water and electricity, and it's me and the cat so there aren't enough dishes on a daily basis. 

[chessiegal]

Dishwashers actually use less water then washing by hand. I bought a new Bosch rated at 42 dBA - you can't hear it running. It has a red light glowing on the floor to show it's running. It also has a super energy rating so it doesn't use that much electricity. You also don't need to pre-rinse the dishes. It's da bomb!

[Bastet]

When I renovate my kitchen, and finally get a dishwasher, I will definitely go with Bosch; from an informal survey of friends and family's kitchens, they are by far the quietest.

People rinsing, rather than scraping, their dishes before putting them in the dishwasher is a peeve of mine, right up there with using way too much detergent in the washing machine, but I suppose that's for another category.

[Browncoat]

27 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Dishwashers actually use less water then washing by hand.

Assuming you have a full load, that's probably true.  I will run out of dishes before I have enough dirty ones to fill even a small dishwasher. 

[mojoween]

I found my people!  I hate cleaning.  All of it.  I dusted yesterday only because I put Easter decorations away and the dust rings were obvious.  I would love to go the rest of my life without dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, bathroom cleaning and hell I’ll throw laundry putting-away in there too.

Also, yesterday I took my non-driving mom to the grocery store because my sister is ill and I got some stuff too and I remarked that while a grocery delivery service is a fine idea, a grocery put-away service would be better.

On an unrelated topic, does anyone have a good product to recommend for terrible, horrible, dry and ragged cuticles?

[ABay]

Gloves?

[peacheslatour]

Quote

hell I’ll throw laundry putting-away in there too.

Right? I don't mind throwing in a load and transferring it to the dryer but I would pay good money for someone else to fold it and put it away.

[Brattinella]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

I found my people!  I hate cleaning.  All of it.  I dusted yesterday only because I put Easter decorations away and the dust rings were obvious.  I would love to go the rest of my life without dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, bathroom cleaning and hell I’ll throw laundry putting-away in there too.

Also, yesterday I took my non-driving mom to the grocery store because my sister is ill and I got some stuff too and I remarked that while a grocery delivery service is a fine idea, a grocery put-away service would be better.

On an unrelated topic, does anyone have a good product to recommend for terrible, horrible, dry and ragged cuticles?

I find my cuticles to be horrible if I am not eating a well-balanced diet, including vitamins.  YMMV.  Otherwise, Vaseline.

[Spunkygal]

@mojoween, regarding cuticles, every night when I get in bed, I rub cuticle oil in the cuticles and then top that with a healthy squirt of neutrogena hand cream. I truly have very soft hands and the manicurist often comments on how nice my cuticles are. A friend of mine does something similar but she then puts on cotton gloves and sleeps in them. Not me. By the time I turn out the light, there's no excess to get all over my linens. The same friend wears cotton gloves to dust and do other light, non-liquid housework in!!! Again, not me!!

[mojoween]

I’m so cold all the time I would probably like wearing gloves at night; I’ll have to try the cuticle oil and Neutrogena.  I’ve been using Gold Bond which is fantastic for helping tattoos heal but isn’t doing a damn thing for my hands.

[Tunia]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

On an unrelated topic, does anyone have a good product to recommend for terrible, horrible, dry and ragged cuticles?

Rubbing in liquid Vitamin E is always a good overall healer, as well as Cortizone-10 crème.

[Prevailing Wind]

Quote

It has a red light glowing on the floor to show it's running.

And the cat is SO PROUD for catching the red dot.  Honestly, Bosco's fascinated by it. He'll sit there the whole time the DW's running, watching that red light. I do find the racks in the Bosch are difficult to load properly. I got a lot more in the old, defunct, Whirlpool, but it was too damn noisy. Bosch is a whisper. This Bosch seems to assume everything I eat off is a flat plate. Prongs are too close to the edge, so big items don't quite fit.

[janie jones]

On 4/8/2018 at 12:47 PM, Bastet said:

When I renovate my kitchen, and finally get a dishwasher, I will definitely go with Bosch; from an informal survey of friends and family's kitchens, they are by far the quietest.

My parents got a Bosch about 20 years ago, and it's quieter than some newer dishwashers whose owners claim they are quiet!  And it does good work, too.  That's definitely what I'd get if I were getting one.

 

On 4/8/2018 at 2:21 PM, mojoween said:

On an unrelated topic, does anyone have a good product to recommend for terrible, horrible, dry and ragged cuticles?

I don't have ragged cuticles, but Burt's Bee's hand salve is good when my nails get peely from work.

[Prevailing Wind]

I use Burt's Bees Peppermint Foot Cream as a mosquito repellant. They don't like the smell of peppermint. Works pretty well when I slather over my arms, ankles, neck & cheeks. Smells good, too.  I knew two people who were never bothered by mosquitoes and they both were taking Coumadin. It was as though the insects knew there was something hinky about their blood, so they left them alone.  Still, I wouldn't want to have to take warfarin as a repellant.

I was at a fancy soap store once and bought their "body butter." Since I was on a summer road trip, the shop lady put it in a ziplock bag for me, so in case it melted, it wouldn't get all over everything. I kept in my cooler. It's GREAT stuff for keeping skin soft. I looked on their website and they don't sell it online, probably because it might melt during shipping. If you ever come across a soap shop, check if they have body butter. It will probably help with the cuticle problem.

[mojoween]

Oh I like all of those tips!  Well except using blood thinners to keep mosquitos away, ha.

[bilgistic]

L'occitane's shea butter hand cream is the only thing that helps my hands in winter. It's pricey, but lasts a long time. It's not greasy and doesn't have petroleum in it. I can't stand greasy cream.

[Jamoche]

On 4/8/2018 at 3:40 PM, peacheslatour said:

Right? I don't mind throwing in a load and transferring it to the dryer but I would pay good money for someone else to fold it and put it away.

One great thing about being single - if the clean clothes never make it out of the clean hamper, who cares? It's not like you have to dig to find your own stuff - it's all yours.

Another happy Bosch owner. My house came with a cheap low-end one and before that I'd lived in rentals, so I didn't know that high-end ones have separate sprayer arms for the top rack. You can put the big bowls in the bottom rack and not worry that the top won't get sprayed!

Edited April 12, 2018 by Jamoche

[Trini]

15 hours ago, Jamoche said:

One great thing about being single - if the clean clothes never make it out of the clean hamper, who cares? It's not like you have to dig to find your own stuff - it's all yours.

Ack! I hate ironing even more than folding, so I have to fold them as soon as they're done in the dryer.

[Browncoat]

I own an iron.  I might even be able to find it in a pinch, but I have no earthly idea when I used it last.