Dishwashers losing popularity in US Homes???

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I can go either way, washing dishes by hand doesn't bother me and I have ceramic pots/pans/sheets that require hand washing. I'm not some lazy, weak delicate flower that's incapable of manual labor nor do I have disabilities with limited factors in that area. I do believe having a machine washing at a bare minimum of 140F produces better results, especially when grease and oil are involved. A sani rinse is icing on the cake.
 
I think Louise Jefferson and the interfering "Mother" Jefferson had this debate 50 years ago on a episode, where Louise says, I think the dishwasher washes them better!

My mom now 98, is a devoted dishwasher user of 60+ years. Just like a Self-cleaning oven, she says I can't imagine getting on my hands and knees with a can of Easy Off. As mentioned upstream, physical limitations come into play, where these conveniences and one-time luxuries are part of everyday life and are often viewed as a necessity.

-LP
 
Mom's first hands-on dishwasher experience was a KDI-17a installed in the 1964 house in circa 1975. The same model was already in the next house. The KDI-17, of course, performed nicely w/o prerinsing so that's not a factor. It was replaced by a GE PDW7800 sometime in 2002 or 2003. The household by that point was comprised of only the parents (other than family gatherings when the machine(s) were run) and usage was curtailed due to mom's reluctance to have dirty dishes accumulating over a few days to justify running a load (not because of lack of dishware, or cookware, supply). The sister and SIL, I don't know what's their objection. The other (youngest) sister does use her dishwasher, household of one ... so there's that.
 
My Mom only had a DW that worked for about 2 months in 1962, a 1956 Westinghouse DW that was in the home we moved into a just 6 weeks before my Dad died in an auto accident. Shortly after his death the DW stopped working and we had far more pressing financial issues than repairing/replacing a DW. She never had another DW.

I didn’t have a DW until I was 36 when we bought our first condo, a BOL ‘87 GE that was the best DW that we ever owned. It finished a cycle in 60 mins and everything was spotless.

After moving to our present home in ‘94 there was a BOL ‘92 Whirlpool DW that was loud as hell, but again finished a load in 60 mins and the dishes were spotless. We replaced it with a new MOL Maytag in 2000 and it was pretty good, but the racks started to rust after 2 years. We replaced it with a new GE MOL in 2012 and it was a POS, took over 2 hrs to complete a load and I often had to rewash at least 1 or 2 items. After 7 years it began to leak so we replaced it with our current Whirlpool DW, a no frills model that has a 60 min cycle but that cycle isn’t as thorough as the longer cycle.

When it stopped working 1 mo before the warranty was up I had it repaired, but it took over 30 days to get the part (new pump) from Whirlpool and by that time I’d found that I actually prefer doing the dishes by hand anyway. It is calming for me, the dishes are done in less than 10 mins and put away and I don’t have to schlep back into the kitchen to unload and put the dishes away later on or in the morning when I just want to read the newspaper and have my breakfast. Plus, I never have to stop and wash a pot, pan, or bowl that I need and it’s in the DW So now the DW makes a great storage area.

Different strokes for different folks. Plus, doing the dishes is also a togetherness chore, I wash and David dries, a chore we both enjoy doing together.

Eddie
 
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