Some neighbours opposite have had major building work done on their house, scaffolding up for weeks, skips full of rubble etc,which must have included a brand new integrated kitchen. 2 weeks before Christmas there was a forlorn slimline dishwasher sitting in their driveway with a note, "Please take me and give me a loving home" taped to its door.

Always a sucker for a rescue (and with a dishwasher-shaped hole in our lives) I managed to persuade it into our garage but there it sat in the cold and dark; there was no plumbing for it in our kitchen - had a friend of a friend's plumber's mate come to look who sucked his teeth and said he couldn't do it before Christmas (or Easter, it seems - hasn't got back to us!). Oh how we cursed as we scrubbed the greasy pans on Christmas and Boxing Day!

Got a local "Hired Hands" handyman chap in to do it in the end, so finally we have a dishwasher of our very own! I think we are going through every piece of cutlery and crockery in the house and throwing it in, from the sheer novelty of seeing it come out clean without having to do it ourselves.

Any seasoned dishwasher owners got any tips?
I am sure they clean more than just dishes, what else can you throw in for a decent scrub-up?

PS: The dishwasher will be composing a little note about its happy new working life, to be attached to a Thank You card to its previous owners, from us.

There's never much room in ours for anything too out of the ordinary (2 adults and 2 teens keep it pretty full) but I do wash the racks from the cooker in ours - it's great with baked on grease, and what doesn't come off in the dishwasher just flicks off if you use a dry green scrubby pad thingy. 

The dog bowls also go in when I have the space and the water bowls, usually a bit crusty with scale, come up gleaming after being put through the dishwasher.  I've also put the shower head and hose through it and it did wonders for the scale on those too...

My washing up brushes last longer if I sling them in the dishwasher every so often. 

Following on front the recent discussion about OdourFresh - I clean my dishwasher with it.  I spray it round the gunky edges then leave half a glass full of it in the cutlery basket and put the dishwasher on for a full wash.  It cleans and deodorises :)

Have fun - the DW is one bit of kitchen equipment I'd hate to be without and when we moved to this house (having previously fitted an integral one in our last kitchen) we bought a secondhand one from a nearby village to collect on the day we moved in.  My husband had it fitted by breakfast on day 2!

Always had a dishwasher and then moved into this place which also had one until it died.. I was without one for a few months, oh gosh even with just me I struggled with doing the washing up!!!

The new one has been fitted and is in good working order, smells all nice and new too :-)  I like the 3in1 tablets and will continues to use those..

I do like a good rescue story
as for what you can do with it. Well apart from the obvious washing up you could cook your dinner in it!
turkey? :http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1235634/Turkey--la-dishwasher--How-ignite-love-affair-festive-bird.html
Salmon;http://www.winexmagazine.com/index.php/wine/vieweat/dishwasher-salmon/
and there are several other ideas here : http://www.divinecaroline.com/33669/86930-don-t-say-twenty-two-unique-uses

When we had horses unknown to my husband we did all the bits and stirrups in the dishwasher! 

yep basically anything that is washable goes in ! In the past I have cleaned childrens plastic toys , regularly use it you oven and grill parts even if it doesnt clean thorughly some things it does soften the dirt which makes life easier to clean by hand

OK, sell it to me.(Not literallyLOL) What I mean is my folks wouldn't be without a DW but I can't see the point? I feel it's a whole lot of effort filling it and then waiting for it to do it's thing and then unloading and putting away.   I could've washed the dishes in half the time and be sitting with my feet up!
Am I worng?  Have I missed something?

We fill the dishwasher over the day and run it after dinner in the evening (there are just two of us - if the family visit it is run a bit more often). It really doesn't take long to put things away :) Dishwashers are more economical on water than washing up several times a day too :) No drying of dishes either. No running out of space on the draining board. Hygienic - we put the dogs stainless steel bowls in too :)

Rented a property once with d/w and sooooooooo miss it. :-(
It washes far more hygienically than I can!
If only I had more space in my kitchen now........ <sigh>

We've had dishwasher wars in this house for past couple of years.  The kids will fill it, but it's the open the door and chuck the stuff in method which means restacking it all before washing then it's the 'not my turn' to empty it cry afterwards.  We have gone back to hand washing as it gets done immediately after dinner before they escape from the kitchen!  I do prefer how the kitchen stays tidier as used cups are put straight into the washer and not left sitting around.  My teenage daughter swears when she has her own place it'll be paper plates and plastic cutlery!

I wash Kongs and Nylabones in my dishwasher but was advised by someone at The Company of Animals to put the Kongs straight in the fridge after washing, whilst they are still warm, to prolong their life.

Congratulations on your rescue. I'm a complete convert to them ( it was that or paper plates) and I'm probably on my 5th, I even got one as a Christmas present! I put the dog bowls in twice a day, also BBQ grills, kitchen cloths and brushes, my dog tattooing instruments, dog kongs, any other rubber dog toys, the only thing that I wash by hand are posh glasses.

> any other rubber dog toy

That has just remminded me of an episode of CSI where they were investigating a crime after a swingers party. the toys in the dishwasher weren't for the dogs !!!!!

Mine caught light overnight and set the kitchen ablaze!

However, when we rebuilt the kitchen we had another (same make) put in, it didn't put me off.

I would also advocate the dishclothes going in daily as it keeps kitchen germs at bay.

Karen

Not something I've tried myself, but do not be tempted to use washing up liquid in your dishwasher.

Search on youtube to find out what happens if you do! ;-)

Not something I've tried myself, but do not be tempted to use washing up liquid in your dishwasher.

NEVER we distroyed a dishwasher like this, with surprisingly little washing up liquid.. I had run out of tablets and used Fairy instead, disaster, the foam never cleared and ruined the inside plumbing :(  had to replace it!

> I wash Kongs and Nylabones in my dishwasher

Thanks for that tip :)

Years ago we were staying in apartment in France that had a dishwasher. I hadn't brought any tablets so gave a squirt of fairy liquid and then we went out.

We were met by suds as soon as we opened the front door when we returned. It was like a foam party!

> I can't see the point? I feel it's a whole lot of effort filling it and then waiting for it to do it's thing and then unloading and putting away.&nbsp;&nbsp; I could've washed the dishes in half the time and be sitting with my feet up!

I'm the same, don't see the point in them.
My friend has one, but her kitchen is usually littered in dirty dishes as nobody can agree who's turn it is to fill the dish-washer up!

>I can't see the point? I feel it's a whole lot of effort filling it and then waiting for it to do it's thing and then unloading and putting away.   I could've washed the dishes in half the time and be sitting with my feet up!

Exactly my feelings too. Plus I'd run out clean crockery before it was full, so I'd have to wash it all by hand anyway!

Its great for counter surfers!!!
We replaced ours and it worked for 3 months out of the 11 that we had it!!!! it was replaced by them at their expense, but in those 8 months intermitantly where it wasnt working we has to wash as we went as I have a counter surfer Rottie, and it you left anything with a slight bit of food on it when you went out it would be smashed on the floor!!!
I Cannot live without hours. its put on at night and emptied in the morning by my 16yo. We put stuff in it as we use it.
And with 4 near as dammit adults in the house, we use alot of stuff :) :)
Toothbrushes are another thing to put in them to keep them hygenic :) :)
Oh and I copuld never get things as clean washing by hand as I do in the dishwasher :) :)
(Glad I am not the only one that washes dog bowls in them!!!)
Lea :) :)

I just could not contemplate life without mine. I too fill it through the day and it goes on in the evening. Keeps the kitchen sooo tidy!

My Mother used to work for a celebrity and he was having some excavation work done. A skelleton was found and passed by the coroner to be old and not of interest so the "Celeb" could keep it. Mum found my Stepfather loading it into her DW.....he and the bones were dispached with great haste, later that day she lost SF and went looking for him only to find him watching "Celebs" DW working..and yes you guessed it full of bones! Came out lovely and clean and now are in pride of place in a glass cabinett. "Celeb" commented on the hours of work it must have taken SF to clean the bones up so wel :-)
Aileen

OMG :o :o :o :o
Aileen, you have the 1 st PRIZE for the WEIRDEST thing to be put in there!""!!! PML
I dont think ANYONE can beat that PML
I never ever thought that working out whether to be buried or cremated should actually need a decision as to whether you minded your bones being washed in the dishwasher 100 years after your death :o :o :o
Lea

Oh and that must be the WEIRDEST thing I have ever read on CD!!!!! PML
That will be a tale to tell people!!!! PML
Lea :) :)

Could be older than that the house is 12th century !
They no longer work for him...they retired and did not get fired ! :-)
Aileen

PML :D
Bless em :) :)
Lea :)

> Oh and that must be the WEIRDEST thing I have ever read on CD!!!!! PML

Absolutely! LOL

It's still the honeymoon period but I LOVE it and it's changed our life for the better already. I live with my elderly mum, I do all the cooking, but I hate washing up, always have done. So she has been doing the washing up but bless her, the DW was needed from a hygiene aspect as her washing up skills aren't what they once were!

We no longer have stuff in the sink or on the drainer all the time; the counters are more tidy as even Mum knows to put stuff in the DW (I may re-arrange it later but I don't mind). It's a real pleasure to put all the fresh, clean shiny dry stuff away every morning. Likewise, and even greater pleasure to take something out to use and know it's not been put away with dried up bits stuck on it somewhere or greasy on the back/bottom. The dog's bowls have never been cleaner, and the plastic containers I use to thaw/store their raw food in can be hygienically cleaned as well.

I have been doing a long full wash every day this week (to get ahead and get everything cleaned) but today have tried the shorter quick wash. My mother's friend up the road has the same model DW and that's the setting she uses most often.

Being a family of 6 we couldn't be without ours, we don't get arguments over who loads it as, as each item is used that person puts it straight in the dishwasher when finished. it goes on last thing at night then I unload it first thing every morning, takes all of 5 minutes - definitely not worth arguing over!

When we first had the children their bottles went in there as it sterilises everything.  I put a lot of my cut glass in there and it comes out sparkling clean!

When we had our new kitchen fitted this was the first item we looked at when buying a new one....lol.  The kitchen was built around the dishwasher.

> I put a lot of my cut glass in there and it comes out sparkling clean

Yes - but be warned, over time it will dull and/or get covered with small scratches. The only glass we have never had a problem with are the 'free' glasses that we got with Esso (?) petrol over 30 years ago - they seem to be immune which is the reason that we use them day-to-day :) :) Pyrex wears eventually, but does take a long time to get 'spoiled' and is cheap/easy to replace :)

Been doing it for the past 11 years and still sparkling ;-)

> Been doing it for the past 11 years and still sparkling

:) Is it lead crystal ?? There is some lead crystal now that is dishwasher safe, but most decent lead crystal will mark in the dishwasher :)

Couldn't do with out mine. With 6 adults in the house I already have my hands more than full with housework without washing up too. Its great for all sorts of things.

I think with dishwashers its a case of what you've never had you don't miss but once you've had one there's no going back.

There aren't any arguements in our house about loading and unloading as I think I must be the only one who knows where it is ;-)

Just discovered another side-benefit to our wonderful new household helper :)

I have been loading the machine, as it does take a bit of practice - and also unloading (such a pleasure to see how sparkly everything is!).

Think I mentioned I do all the cooking, and Mum previously did all the washing up.... that also included the putting-away. Well... she hasn't been well lately & I've noticed over the last few months that often I can't find certain things, or find items in odd locations - things that have lived in their own places for decades or more. (I've only been here for 18 months so I learned where everything was fairly quickly).

Not any more! :) I do the putting-away, with pleasure, and now everything is found where it is meant to be :)

(It also means I can more fully appreciate how stuffed the cupboards are with things that never get used from one year to the next, but that's another story....)

> I do the putting-away, with pleasure

I find that I don't mind this job either.  However I do prefer to handle the contents whilst they are still slightly warm :)

Our dishwasher is in our utility room so I always lift the entire top tray out in one go and carry it through to the kitchen - it'll be a slower job if I ever get doddery...