For those of us who spend a lot of time in the kitchen (which is a lot of us – especially if we have a big family!), we might find ourselves asking the question, “is it better to use a dishwasher or handwash our dishes?”. Read on to discover some of the efficiencies of using a dishwasher instead of handwashing.
What’s more efficient – dishwasher or handwashing?
Time efficiency
One of the major advantages of a dishwasher is there is less clean up time needed after breakfast, lunch and dinner. Depending on the length of the cycle, your dishwasher may be able to wash a full load of dishes in just 30 minutes. Obviously, this depends on the number of people in your household and the size of the pile of your dirty dishes – but generally, that’s more time doing what you love, rather than spending it in the kitchen.
Water efficiency
By scraping your dishes and skipping the pre-rinse, you can help ensure your dishes come out clean and help to save up to 40L per load^.
In addition, you can put your dishwasher on an eco-wash to help save water. Eco-washes reuse the water in the machine, delivering clean dishes with less water wastage.
Just remember – never use hand soap in the dishwasher or you’ll risk an overflow of water from the appliance to the floor. Only use specially formulated detergents like Finish for great results.
^Brunton 2009. Results based on Australian testing of average water consumption 2.5 star 12-place setting dishwasher vs handwashing 106 people, Nov 2017
