I have never lived in a house with a dishwasher, so I really don’t know what I am missing. But I imagine it’s pretty great having a machine do all the work for you. I have talked about getting a dishwasher for as long as I have talked about getting a new kitchen. When we decided to paint our 1960s kitchen cabinets, installing a dishwasher was no longer an option. We just don’t have the space. Plus, there are weird floor height issues (that involve removing asbestos flooring), which also made my dishwasher dream impossible. I am a little disappointed that we have to continue living life without a dishwasher. Fortunately, I am thrilled with how everything else in our kitchen has turned out.
So how do we manage the day to day chore of hand-washing dishes for 7 people? It is not easy, but we successfully tackle this daily task with a few simple rules. Below are my top tips for living life without a dishwasher.
Do not buy a million dishes
Do not buy more dishes to make up for the fact that your dishes are always dirty. This will just bring more chaos into your life. I recommend only having enough place settings for the number of people in your house.
Soak your dishes immediately
After using a plate or bowl, place it in the sink and fill it with water. This will drastically cut down the time you spend scrubbing your dishes. Nothing is worse than cleaning dried-on food off of your dishes and cookware.
Do dishes after every meal
If you followed my first tip, you’ll quickly realize why it’s important to do the dishes immediately after each meal – you won’t have any dishes left! This is a great motivator to get the dishes washed in a timely manner.
Wash as you go
When I am cooking a large meal, I try to wash bulky items as I dirty them. I’ll usually immediately wash items like mixing bowls, sauce pans, cutting board, etc. This helps make the load of dishes more manageable.
Make washing the dishes a family chore
Doing dishes multiple times everyday can get old fast. In the past, I always cleaned the dishes during the day, while John washed the dinner dishes. Recently, we hired our older children to wash the dishes. This has been a game changer in our house. I really appreciate having more help around the kitchen.
So there you have it! Living life without a dishwasher isn’t as hard as you might think. It just takes a little discipline. And after a while, you might even start to find it relaxing.