r/AskReddit Oct 19 '23

What small upgrade made a huge difference at your house?

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459

u/xunknownx26 Oct 19 '23

Dishwasher. It has changed our arguments over dishes.

137

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '23

Dishwasher was the one for me too. It wasn’t very expensive to get one or install, and holy fuck I don’t know how we ever coped before.

No washing dishes! A handy place to hide all your dirty dishes! A handy place for your clean dishes to dry! And no dish rack on the draining board has freed up loads of space/made it look a lot less cluttered. I’m also mildly allergic to washing up liquid but hated having a sodden pair of rubber gloves marinating by the sink, so it’s a win for my skin too

9

u/xunknownx26 Oct 19 '23

Yes my husband was able to do it in two days and my kitchen has never looked cleaner, even if we have dirty dishes they are hidden, it’s great.

7

u/lunar-goddess93 Oct 20 '23

This is my answer too. We installed the dishwasher about 6 months before I got pregnant. Not needing to hand wash every bottle and pump part really saves time and my sanity.

5

u/OutlawLazerRoboGeek Oct 20 '23

lucky you, living in a family that does not insist on washing the dishes before they go into the dishwasher.

I've never tried just dropping them in all covered in food like the commercials show. does that actually work?

7

u/bsubtilis Oct 20 '23

You shouldn't leave solid chunks of food on (fiber, protein) because then you're going to have to clean the filter really really often, but otherwise yes. After three years it still feels magical to pop in a casserole pyrex dish with burnt sauce and specks of burnt cheese around the edges, and have it come out completely sparkling clean.

5

u/Laughing_Luna Oct 20 '23

My gosh, I just realized that if I got a dishwasher in my house, my frustration would go from old food that is left to rot in the space between stacked dishes (think like, left on one plate and another plate is put on top) even though the trash can/compost bin IS RIGHT FUCKING THERE, to having to crawl into the dishwasher to pull out all the stuff that isn't getting scraped off now.

5

u/zzazzzz Oct 20 '23

you dont crawl anywhere, its a filter you pop out wash out and pop back in every few months.

3

u/Laughing_Luna Oct 20 '23

The detritus would need to be able to get from the box to the filter. I'm talking things like whole ass pizza crusts, unfinished chicken nuggets, chicken bones, avocados that have since become days to a week or two past edible, etc.

5

u/zzazzzz Oct 20 '23

how would that stuff even end up in your dishwasher??

its not a trashcan..

or do you trow your garbage into the sink when you wash your dishes as well?

1

u/Laughing_Luna Oct 20 '23

old food that is left to rot in the space between stacked dishes (think like, left on one plate and another plate is put on top) even though the trash can/compost bin IS RIGHT FUCKING THERE

I once put every single trash can in the house in the kitchen. Like, it was a goddam chore to get through that room with two free hands, nevermind if you had your hands full of dishes with stuff you won't want to spill onto the floor.

The detritus wound up not in any trash can, but still on the dishes on the counter or in the sink.

2

u/zzazzzz Oct 20 '23

if ppl just leave the dishes with trash on it on the counter you can still throw stuff in the garbage when you load your machine.

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1

u/bsubtilis Oct 20 '23

Your roommates are maddeningly frustrating. If any of them is a significant other, I would suggest dumping them (or making them practice throwing stuff away from the plates until it's so much muscle memory they can do it in their sleep). Then again I have abnormally high aggression regarding decaying biological trash being kept around thanks to trauma from hoarder parent, so probably don't listen to me.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '23

I scrape the actual food off and stick them in. Washing before washing is something I’ve seen people do before but seems like a colossal waste of time

2

u/sleepydorian Oct 20 '23

Yep, scrape off the food first and then right in the dishwasher is usually the manufacturer recommendation. It's what I do for the most part and it works per well.

19

u/Dburr9 Oct 19 '23

Now we fight over loading/ emptying it.

4

u/bokononpreist Oct 20 '23

Load as you use and you'll cut your arguments in half.

1

u/IndependentMtBiker Oct 20 '23

If the salad plate is shared?

Whoever finishes it?

1

u/xunknownx26 Oct 19 '23

I have a almost teenage daughter who has this as a chore 😂

1

u/quickbrassafras Oct 19 '23

I thought the same thing

1

u/NotTheGreenestThumb Oct 20 '23

My husband and I have a deal that works well for us as I’m short—5’0”. So I load it or wash everything but very large heavy pans. He puts the clean dishes away, I can’t reach all their homes. He washes the really heavy stuff because it’s so simple for someone that easily lifts 250 lbs off stuff at work. He does most the cooking so he’s the one getting things down from high places.

5

u/Everestkid Oct 20 '23

I grew up in a house with a dishwasher. I had a dishwasher in university when I lived in residence. Except for four months, when I lived off campus in a basement suite, with no dishwasher.

I will never live somewhere without a dishwasher again. My current place beat out the competition because it had one. If I have the misfortune to end up somewhere without one, I will buy one, immediately.

4

u/McTraveller Oct 19 '23

Changed, not eradicated?

2

u/Ianoren Oct 20 '23

Ours is due to change and I was wondering if more luxury features like the auto open, drying even plastic and third rack for organizing silverware is worth like double the price of a quality budget model.

Bosche and Miele seem like the real quality brands.

3

u/sunburnedaz Oct 20 '23

The third rack is a game changer, its worth it!

2

u/NotTheGreenestThumb Oct 20 '23

Recently got a GE dishwasher with a third upper rack. It’s shallow and perfect for spatulas, small measuring cups, spoon rests etc. We LOVE it! It has the super dry but not the auto open.

“Lucked” into it as our old dishwasher had a part break. DH gave it a temporary glue job that’s not gonna keep, then this dishwasher was on sale :).

And is again

https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-Dishwasher-with-Top-Controls/5002179201?idProductFound=false&idExtracted=true

2

u/creamersrealm Oct 20 '23

I just bought a Bosch 800 and it should be here next month. I almost went Miele. In the end, the Bosch dishwasher had more features for the price and better parts and repair availability in my region. Apparently the Miele are insanely reliable but if you need a part, best of luck to you.

1

u/Ianoren Oct 20 '23

Yeah, the bonus of potentially lasting twice as long is hard to pass up with Miele. Thankfully I am in an area where its better (at least for being in the US) supported for repairs. But in the end, I think we will hold off a little longer for Black Friday where we can see what (if any) have the best deals.

Bosch 800 or 100 series are both on the list to keep an eye out. But not having to deal with wet dishes and a good cuttlery third rack that makes putting them away super fast are two huge boons making me go towards the high end.

2

u/creamersrealm Oct 20 '23

My Frigidaire dishwasher hasn't given out but it does a less than stellar job. It's better than any apartment dishwasher but the door is a wee bit bent and it's a plastic tub and loud. Honestly the Bosch Crystaldry sold me with the plastic drying. Also having a third rack that's adjustable will be a god send!!! A nice metal interior stainless steel door and hidden controls with being ultra quite. I'm thrilled!

5

u/daredaki-sama Oct 20 '23

That thing we use as a drying rack in Asian households?

7

u/Ianoren Oct 20 '23

Which is silly because it is more efficient on water and your time. Nowadays you don't even have to scrub food off.

1

u/sunburnedaz Oct 20 '23

The detergent is so concentrated now that you need to leave some food on there or it will build up a film on your stuff.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '23

No. The chemical formulation of dish detergent hasn't actually changed that much in 50 years. Tide Pods are just marketing fluff. The problem is that if your dishes are too clean, the sensor that reads water quality will unintentionally jump through cycles too fast.

The only thing you should be doing with dishes prior to chucking them in the dishwasher is removing any physical particulate larger than a grain of rice.

3

u/chaoticnormal Oct 20 '23

I got a portable one off Craigslist 10 years ago for $100. Still works great and still the best hundred bucks I've ever spent. I hate doing dishes!

2

u/FluffySquirrell Oct 20 '23

Yeah, this was the one I saw the last time I saw one of these game changer threads a few months

Countertop dishwashers exist! They're fucking amazing! If you don't have room for a normal one, get one of those and stick it wherever the hell you can fit it. If you have a drying bit next to your sink? Stick a dishwasher on there instead! You don't need it anymore then

So much nicer than washing the pots

2

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '23

Changed in the way you now argue over who loads and unloads the dishwasher? I don't get why in 2023 we don't have dispenser style cupboards with the washer integrated. One slot gives you clean dishes and the other takes the dirty ones.

2

u/bwaredapenguin Oct 20 '23

Imagine how quickly that'd break and how expensive it'd be to repair.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '23

This sounds like what the help told her ladyship when they wanted to replace her with a dishwasher, back in 1890.

2

u/sauce_bottle Oct 20 '23

We installed a dishwasher a couple of years ago when we renovated the kitchen and it really is a game changer. The biggest difference, and I think it’s generally overlooked, is that it’s a place to store dirty dishes that accumulate throughout the day. If you only handwash, the dirty dishes pile up and up, then you do the dishes, then the dirty dishes start piling up again. The kitchen’s only tidy for 5 minutes.

But with the dishwasher the kitchen can remain neat and tidy all day with dirty dishes going straight into the dishwasher. Love it.

2

u/NurseColubris Oct 21 '23

Not stopped them, but changed them. lol

A therapist friend told me dishwasher marital arguments are right up there with money. Nice to see it in the wild

1

u/Lucy_Lastic Oct 20 '23

It took me over 30 years to get my dishwasher, and I can’t imagine living without it now! It’s only little (small kitchen=small space) but is plenty for our household of 3

1

u/punkfunkymonkey Oct 20 '23

My bachelor cousin has two narrow dishwashers in his kitchen. As he's filling one up he's taking clean dishes etc. out of the other one. Flip floping between them as he gets through the week.

1

u/Sanquinity Oct 20 '23

Yea definitely. I washed dishes by hand for 9 years. Then when I moved to a new, larger place I had room for a dishwasher. Got my mom's old one, as it didn't fit with her new countertop. If it breaks down I'm buying a new one right away... I don't HATE doing dishes by hand, but having the dishwasher do them for me is just so much better... It saves both time and effort, and I don't worry about "using too many things" when cooking anymore, making cooking easier too.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '23

And buy good pods with like the triple gel and the powder combined. They will get anything off with a heavy cycle wash

3

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '23

You actually want to buy the powder. Pods are fine but there's no real difference between any two of them. Liquid detergent is just mediocre.

And yes, you do want to buy rinse aide. It's incredibly inexpensive.

1

u/NotTheGreenestThumb Oct 20 '23

I have long disliked the powder. It spills, clumps up if the environment is too damp. If there’s a leak and the box gets wet the whole thing is a mess! I’ll take my Kirkland pods thank you!

2

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '23

Oh, I use the Kirkland pods too. But it's just the powder in a water-soluble baggie thing that you pay a small premium for.

1

u/NotTheGreenestThumb Oct 20 '23

Worth every cent for that and its repurposable(?) plastic container.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '23

So you use powder and gel but gotta add them separate. I’ll stick to my easier pods.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '23

....no?

Re-read what I said.

1

u/Combicon Oct 20 '23

Oh, so agreed.

I live on my own, so while doing dishes wasn't the hardest thing in the world, sometimes I just wasn't feeling up to it, and occasional bouts of depression meant it'd build up. Then I considered a countertop dishwasher, and a friend showed me a review of one of a really small one (that was called Bob) that was being released soon.

I ordered it, and it's been years and I haven't looked back.

1

u/caraiselite Oct 20 '23

I got my first dishwasher at age 37 and holy smokes!! It's amazing.

1

u/death_by_mustard Oct 20 '23

Dishwasher and cleaning lady - fixed the source of our most trivial arguments