# Is anyone else's dishwasher as crummy as mine is? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950 "2010-01-06T20:10:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/21 "2010-01-07T13:26:04Z")
> [@kapri](#): > > Mine doesn’t work very well, either. It’s kind of old, although I’m not home right now and can’t check what make it is. I have to wash about 1/4 of the stuff that comes out of it after washing, but I think that’s more because I live alone and run it once a week at the most, so the stuff sits in there for a while. Do you have a rinse and hold cycle? Mine has, and it is recommended if you are not going to use the washer cycle for any length of time. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/22 "2010-01-07T15:08:25Z")
What kind of rinsing are we talking about here? I rinse off the large stuff. I can still see food stuck to the plates and such but nothing big and nothing that would immediately fall off. Are people putting chunks of left over lasagna in the dishwashing and expecting everything to come out clean? My general rule is that I don’t want to have to clean out the trap every time although I don’t have a full sized dishwasher. Do modern dishwasher somehow pipe the food to the disposal or do they all catch the food in a trap? For the record - my wife is of the “wash dishes completely before placing in the dishwasher” mind-set. No amount of rational explanation is going to change that. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/23 "2010-01-07T18:44:36Z")
As I find myself rinsing and washing more and more, I’m starting to think I need a dishwasher less and less. I don’t really mind washing dishes, though, so it isn’t a tragedy. I’m about halfway between people who wash all the dishes before washing all the dishes and people who put everything in the dishwasher unrinsed. My dishwasher isn’t great, though, so that’s probably why I find myself rinsing/washing more and more. So, to answer the OP, yes, my dishwasher is somewhat crummy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/24 "2010-01-07T18:53:28Z")
I don’t have a garbage disposal so I rinse my dishes of all particulate matter before I put them in the dishwasher. I never even knew there was a food chunk catcher, but I’d rather rinse my dishes than clean out a filter full of globby old food. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/25 "2010-01-07T18:55:52Z")
I used to have a crummy dishwasher like that, and my solution was to buy a better dishwasher. I wanted to do that anyway, though - I hated the old dishwasher even before it started leaving crud on my plates, so that gave me the excuse to replace it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/26 "2010-01-07T19:52:54Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > What kind of rinsing are we talking about here? I rinse off the large stuff. I can still see food stuck to the plates and such but nothing big and nothing that would immediately fall off. Are people putting chunks of left over lasagna in the dishwashing and expecting everything to come out clean? My general rule is that I don’t want to have to clean out the trap every time although I don’t have a full sized dishwasher. Do modern dishwasher somehow pipe the food to the disposal or do they all catch the food in a trap? > > For the record - my wife is of the “wash dishes completely before placing in the dishwasher” mind-set. No amount of rational explanation is going to change that. I thought most modern dishwashers were like mine - there’s a grinder in it somewhere and the stuff goes down the drain. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/27 "2010-01-07T21:18:24Z")
Some have the grinder, some have a trap. I don’t think the grinder is more modern, though - the cheap crappy dishwashers I have owned had the grinder; the more expensive one I have now has a trap. One problem with the grinder type is if a piece of bone or something like that gets in it, it can be weeks before it is ground small enough to pass through, but in the meantime it makes a lot of noise. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/28 "2010-01-08T03:18:16Z")
> [@otternell](#): > > I have a friend that actually does this. I literally watched her with my mouth hanging open cause I could not believe my eyes. She fills the sink with hot soapy water and uses sponge to wash off every dish and then puts it in a dishwasher. She said she had always done it that way. 😕 I meant wash it and put it in the drain thing to dry, not put it into the dishwasher. I wouldn’t wash it and then put it into the dishwasher to be washed again. That’s a bit much. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/29 "2010-01-08T03:19:50Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > Do you have a rinse and hold cycle? Mine has, and it is recommended if you are not going to use the washer cycle for any length of time. Good question! I don’t know, but I’ll check. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/30 "2010-01-08T03:32:49Z")
I have a GE dishwasher that would leave some black particles, like coffee grounds, all over otherwise clean dishes. (Cascade was the only thing that cleaned perfectly, no other brand was worth squat.) I have no idea what it was, or why it happened. Then it would wash stuff clean for a while, then again, the black stuff! WTF? I asked around, but no one knew what the problem was. Then it was discovered the model I owned was defective and would burst into flames or something and GE would give me $25 off on a new dishwasher if I called a number. THEN, after the public rose up and rejected their token offer, they were supposed to just give me a brand new dishwasher. But by that time, I was washing dishes by hand and using the bum appliance as storage. I still have the article from the paper with the number to contact GE, it was quite a while ago, I wonder what would happen if I called now and demanded they pay for a replacement dishwasher? ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/31 "2010-01-08T15:39:37Z")
I thought I posted an update to this thread…anyhow, I did a really close inspection of the dishwasher, and I found a few nozzles that were clogged with some sort of chunky food particles or something. So, I unclogged them with a toothpick. I was trying to get it out, but instead it pushed it back in. The dishes did come out cleaner this time, though. I think I need to disassemble the spray arms and clean them out. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/32 "2010-01-08T18:23:04Z")
Do you have hard water? If so, that may affect how clean your dishes get. Plus whatever makes the water hard can glop up the hoses and spray arms. I have the hardest water possible (and no water softener) so I put in powdered Calgon when I use my dishwasher. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/33 "2010-01-08T20:38:38Z")
I have municpal water. It’s not super-soft, but it’s not bad. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/34 "2010-01-08T21:47:39Z")
We’ve been using our dishwasher as a drying rack since we moved in. It actually performs well at that job and helps keep the counter uncluttered. ---
**Author:** ![NoiseBomb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/49beb7/32.png) [@NoiseBomb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoiseBomb)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950/35 "2010-01-09T07:29:05Z")
> [@otternell](#): > > I have a friend that actually does this. I literally watched her with my mouth hanging open cause I could not believe my eyes. She fills the sink with hot soapy water and uses sponge to wash off every dish and then puts it in a dishwasher. She said she had always done it that way. 😕 I grew up thinking this was how dishes were done. I was grown and on my own before the “oh, Mom’s dishwasher was a piece of crap” light went on over my head. The parents have a better dishwasher now. I live in a place that doesn’t have one at all. At least I learned how to scrub plates clean years ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-elses-dishwasher-as-crummy-as-mine-is/523950.md?page=1)