# Poll: Dishwasher usage **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 24, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502 "2022-11-24T19:05:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/21 "2022-11-24T20:23:53Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > I have never accused dishwashers of being miracle workers. Ads for dishwashers and/or detergents like to imply otherwise. But ultimately it’s just hot water under moderate pressure with detergent contributing some amount of dissolving power. You need to use common sense about the limits of what that can wash. I have both a scrubbing brush and a stainless steel scouring pad at the ready for use when necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/22 "2022-11-24T20:31:53Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Do you open your dishwasher while it is running? No, but I do sometimes open my microfusion reactor during its charging cycle to toss in an orange peel and used coffee grounds. The escaping electrodynamically-charged plasma and high energy gamma radiation burn a bit but as long as you do it before it gets to the Lawson criterion you don’t get enough neutron emissions to do any real genetic damage. > [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Do you wash your dishes _before_ you run them through the dishwasher? Of course! It is only polite to do that. It isn’t as if the dishwasher is some kind of mindless servant which exists only for the purpose of doing chores that are beneath my station in life. We have an egalitarian household where all appliances are valued as sapient entities deserving of freedom and labor protections. Except that fucking Roomba; it is pure evil in mechanical form, and I get great enjoyment in plugging that thing into a 240V outlet just to watch it jitter and smoke. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/23 "2022-11-24T20:39:41Z")
The only time I have opened a dishwasher was at my daughter’s house, before I figured out what light indicated it was running. Never for ours. > [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Do you wash your dishes _before_ you run them through the dishwasher? More than I should, but my parents got our first dishwasher in 1962, and I never have quite trusted them. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/24 "2022-11-24T20:41:53Z")
I’ve never asked a dishwasher to tackle a three-day-old chili bowl without at least some pre-washing/soaking. > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Of course! It is only polite to do that. It isn’t as if the dishwasher is some kind of mindless servant which exists only for the purpose of doing chores that are beneath my station in life. We have an egalitarian household where all appliances are valued as sapient entities deserving of freedom and labor protections. I, for one, welcome our new household appliance overlords. > [@Voyager](#): > > More than I should, but my parents got our first dishwasher in 1962, and I never have quite trusted them. There are definitely trust issues with those early models. The first one we got in '77 used to sneak the vodka from the liquor cabinet. We had to let it go. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/25 "2022-11-24T20:45:15Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > More than I should, but my parents got our first dishwasher in 1962, and I never have quite trusted them. You are right not to trust them. I have here a list of…fifty-seven dishwasher models that have been or currently are affiliated with the Communist Party! Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/26 "2022-11-24T20:47:21Z")
very rarely do I interrupt it but that is mainly because I set the timer for it to run overnight on the cheap electricity tarifff and set it on the long “eco” setting so it uses less resources, who cares if it runs for nearly 4 hours overnight? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/27 "2022-11-24T20:48:29Z")
The only time I’ve opening mine while running was when it was making a funny noise because something was misplaced or had shifted. Otherwise, I can wait. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/28 "2022-11-24T20:52:50Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You are right not to trust them. I have here a list of…fifty-seven dishwasher models that have been or currently are affiliated with the Communist Party! Not ours, but I know for sure that dishwashers from 1953 turned the dishes red. The Nixon model, IIRC. And they refused to testify against other dishwashers. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/29 "2022-11-24T20:57:52Z")
My dishwasher is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful home appliance I’ve ever known in my life. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/30 "2022-11-24T21:01:41Z")
Don’t let your blender hear you say that or your next smoothie will contain fingers. Yours. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/31 "2022-11-24T21:03:22Z")
Ah, but things were different back then. The kitchen was a hotbed of Communism. As Dylan sang in the rare, unpublished first version of his song: Aunt Jemima was a Russian spy Betty Crocker and that Uncle Ben guy there was only one man who was a true American John Cameron Swayzie I know he wasn’t a commie since he took a lickin’ and kept on tickin’ ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/32 "2022-11-24T21:13:18Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > My dishwasher is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful home appliance I’ve ever known in my life. > > Stranger Hey, anthropomorphizing appliances is hardly unprecedented … [https://www.cnn.com/style/article/good-night-oppy-mars-film-scn-culture-queue/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/style/article/good-night-oppy-mars-film-scn-culture-queue/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/33 "2022-11-24T21:18:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Don’t let your blender hear you say that or your next smoothie will contain fingers. Yours. Well, [it wouldn’t be the first time…](https://youtu.be/HgIgYhaqKeo) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/34 "2022-11-24T21:29:08Z")
Have you, at last, no DC setting? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/35 "2022-11-24T21:40:26Z")
I had never even heard of such behavior before reading the OP. I’d always had the mindset that once the cycle starts, you don’t bother it or interrupt until all done. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/36 "2022-11-24T22:06:58Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > I do, however, brush off anything that looks hardened and scrub any pots or pans with burned-on guck. > > Of course you do. I have never accused dishwashers of being miracle workers. You don’t need to. There is no challenge my dishwasher has not been up to, pre-washing is a waste of water and time. It’s not just low pressure water and soap, the taps also include magic _enzymes_ ✨. Dishwashers are a great contribution to peace in the household, but for the hairy subject of how to fill them _right_. There, tensions can erupt. I have learned to look the other way and shut up (see: peace in the household, above) in the face of ignorance of fluid dynamics with age. Mellowing, I am 🤐 Oh, and I voted YES, though I only do it very occasionally at the beginning of the cycle when I notice I have forgotten something or when the much appreciated servant makes strange noises. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/37 "2022-11-24T22:47:11Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I have learned to look the other way and shut up (see: peace in the household, above) Who are you telling? In the War Between The Sexes, I’m Neville Chamberlain. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/38 "2022-11-24T22:53:53Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Who are you telling? In the War Between The Sexes, I’m Neville Chamberlain. As in, you let Germany annex the Sudetenland? I’m unclear on the metaphor here but I sure down’t want to be Bohemian in your household. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/39 "2022-11-24T22:58:59Z")
Peace in the Household. At least during the day. At night, I was Winston Churchill. 😈 On second thought, make that FDR. On third thought, please forget I ever brought it up. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502/40 "2022-11-24T23:08:17Z")
My dishwasher gets so annoyed with being opened mid-wash that about half the time I have to cancel and re-start. So I don’t do that unless something is getting whacked by the spray arms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-dishwasher-usage/975502.md?page=3)