Kitchen

[CrazyKittyLvr2]

I don't do dishes by hand for the same reason I don't use a metal tub and washboard for laundry and don't take my rugs out and beat them with a broom instead of using a vacuum cleaner.

The machines made for those purposes are quicker and makes life easier.

I admit it, I would have made a lousy pioneer.

My one exception is hanging laundry out, and even thoughI love the fresh smell, I'm not giving up my dryer.

[author]

I wash all my dishes by hand for the two of us, and it honestly is a relaxing calming job and I do enjoy handling all my beautiful dishes, glasses, cups, even flatware. I like seeing them lined up on my drying rack before they are put away; beautiful.

My reasons?  I am allergic to dishwasher soap, can't stand the noise in our open kitchen/family room area (it echoes!!) and maybe detergents are better now but I lost too many nice dishes and glasses to the terrible wear from that abrasive cleaner used in DW's.  

When we have company or family over (not recently of course) everyone gathers in the kitchen and helps hand wash dishes, talk, laugh, clean up.

I hang all my clothing to dry on racks, never used the dryer.  It adds allergens to clothes and degrades the fibers.  I love how my sheets smell and feel with no dryer, and they all come out like they've been ironed.  I've washed blazers and coats and they look like new with no dryer to mess with them.

I do not own or use a vacuum anymore due to serious allergies and muscle and joint  problems exacerbated by pushing one around.  We have hardwood and vinyl floors.  A broom and a swiffer work great, damp mopping w/vinegar on a microbifer cleans them, and after 27 years they all look like new.

Please be aware that many of us do these things for health reasons, or because we prefer a simpler life, but if you love dishwashers I bet they are better now and work great and will save families lots and lots of time.   They are just not for me...... 

[chrystaltree]

I'm wondering about that vacuum cleaner that is so heavy that it requires a lot of muscle power and strength to operate it....LOL    This thread is a real eye opener, I didn't know that so many women lived without dishwashers.  For me it's as strange as living without a refrigerator or television or clothes dryer.  

[Sooner]

I am surprised at a lot of things: We have a Bosch dishwasher and you can stand by it and forget it's on.  I would think hanging clothes out would be a sure fire way to bring pollen and dust in.

And today's vacuum cleaners come self propelled, or in canister versions that are light, and they have wonderful HEPA filters.

So this thread has held a lot of surprises.  Also, the old lemon detergents for dishwashers were abrasive, but the new ones don't seem to be an issue for that.  And we run ours every day. 

[Jane Anne]

I do not mind doing dishes.  I do rinse all my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, which is run about once a week for the purpose of everything coming out sanitized and sparkly.  But I hand wash many things also.

[SharkE]

I can't believe this thread has went to 15 pages over a trivial subject. LOL

If people want to do all that work let 'em, if you have better things to do then that's good too. In  my house there's no Hallmark movie  people. I prepare the meals, clean up alone and never get a thank you or "you look tired why don't you sit down for a few minutes before you tackle the clean up'.

why I'll take all the help I can get in the form  of modern appliances or hired help that I wouldn't have to pay for myself. LOL Just doing all the stuff that can't go  in the dishwasher is enough for me don't want dishpan hands all day. My fingers split at the corners in the winter time if in water all day long