I’ve mentioned to a few people that I run the dishwasher every night, and empty it every morning.
They think it’s strange to not just wait until it “needs it.”
They don’t understand because they’re normal.
I’m not.
I have to make myself run it every night for two reasons.
First, by running it at night, I’m able to empty it first thing in the morning, leaving myself no excuse to let dirty dishes pile up in the sink all day long because there’s no room in the dishwasher. Or, if I run it randomly during the day, I may or may not have the time (or the occurrence of thought) to empty it, leaving me in basically the same situation.
Second, if it isn’t a non-negotiable for me, I tend to assume that there aren’t enough dishes to fill it, and so I don’t bother to put the dirty dishes from the counters, or the table, or the computer desk, or the coffee table in it. And generally, I’m wrong.
Knowing that I have to run it every single night (because I’m a slob, and I’m compensating for how my slob-brain works) means that I go gather up every dish in the house in an attempt to fill it full. Generally, I do fill it full. Since we don’t use paper plates anymore, and as a germaphobe I don’t like to drink out of a cup if I can’t remember for sure that it was mine, and I can rarely remember if it was mine . . . we have lots of dishes at the end of a day. There’s also enough room for the bigger stuff that I used to have to hand wash because the dishwasher was completely full with cups and plates.
Occasionally, there are days when it isn’t full, and generally that’s when we’ve been gone. If that is truly the case after every last dish has been gathered, and I can justify that the next day won’t bring an overabundance of dishes, I won’t run it. But I can only make this decision after I have made every attempt to get it full. And at that point, at least there are no dirty dishes lying around!
I’m linking up to Works for Me Wednesday over at wearethatfamily.com.
I’m also linking this up at Vanderbilt Wife’s new “Why I” Fridays!
I have the same rule. Most nights it is full, sometimes REALLY full, and sometime not so full; but it gets run each night. I empty the dishwasher while I brew my morning coffee (reward). It has become a habit and I think I like it that way.
Plus the kids know that it is time to get up when they hear me unload the dishes. No need to go in and wake them up!
I'm proud you are only running it once a day. It seems with the kids home and I am creating 3 meals a day plus desserts and countless snacks, I am running ours more like twice a day.
Honestly sometimes it's like you're inside my brain LOL
I'm with you!
Yes, I think that little bit of wasted water from three open plate slots is so worth not having a huge mess tomorrow!
I have two awards for you, so stop by when you can and pick them up.
I was wondering about this since it takes me a day or two to fill mine up. My husband took away a lot of dishes because he got tired of cleaning them. It hasn't really helped us because now we run out of dishes and the dishwasher still isn't full. I wish I could install a smaller dishwasher, then I could use that space to store a garbage can or something more useful. LOL.
LOL @Lenetta….'so worth not having a huge mess.' you're SOOO right about that!
we had to replace our dishwasher a couple years ago due to various damage done by mice while we were gone (yes, we've found where they were coming in and have sealed it off). I researched and found a dishwasher that served us well, within a price point we could do, and the best water conservation. I think a full pots/pans load on sanitize uses 5-7 gallons max. That's less than I would use hand-washing.
this is a habit i'm working on getting back into. part of my problem is that i've been battling my kids about emptying it. i need to get proactive and just empty it myself for a month or so….get us back on track.
I could have written your post! I think you would be surprised how many people do this
Susan
I have just subscribed to your blog, I find it inspirational. We are a houseful of slobs…but we know it..that's the first step, right?
I run mine for the same reason. I've just started a blog for the same reason as you too – however, I've decided to be totally anal and list everything – I like ticking things off
You know, I TOTALLY get you! I think it is a great idea and helps you stay on top of things. Because I am so much that "internal slob".
Hi
I run my dishwasher everynight too…cause it's full. lol
I love your humor here.
That makes so much sense to me! I run mine about every other day, but at least once a week, I get completely behind and have a counter full of dirty dishes. Maybe I need to do it every night, too…
I'm really enjoying your writing style! Consider me your newest subscriber.
We have a tiny dishwasher, so our family of 3 needs to run it pretty much every night as well. I like to have it emptied before bed if I can so that my husband can put his dirty breakfast dishes away himself
Thanks for commenting everyone. It's so nice to know I'm not the only one!
Welcome Kacie! Thanks for subscribing.
I think I should consider doing this! Maybe if I ran some of the bigger things (that I HATE to wash) they wouldn't sit out for days. I mean, of course I would never do that. Ick.
My dishwasher is kind of old and nasty, though, and not everything gets really clean. Any suggestions?
vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher helps with ours and it’s very new.
I know this is old but I’m curious about this idea. Do you just pour a couple of tablespoons of vinegar in the very bottom of the dishwasher under all the dishes? We rent an apartment and the dishwasher is kinda old and the bottom is a little rusted and sometimes things don’t look that clean so I was wondering if this would help.
Vanderbilt Wife, I would just give it a shot and see. ANother advantage that I've found to running it every night is that things seem to get cleaner because they don't sit for as long and the food comes off more easily. Maybe that would help with your older dishwasher.
I’m going to be adopting this rule starting today. No more excuses. Like you it just slips my mind. Unlike you I procrastinate on emptying it, not on filling it. Must stop it. With six of us there are plenty of dishes and I will STILL end up washing the large pots by hand but that’s ok.
We run it every night for a different reason – ANTS! Particularly in the summer months, if we leave the dishwasher til the next day, the dishes and the inside of the dishwasher will be crawling with ants. (Ick.) So full, part full, or even nearly empty, we will run it in the evening just so we don’t have that nice little surprise waiting for us.
Oh wow… I just found you via Raising Arrows, magically found this specific page right away, and can’t believe what I am reading! I have never known anyone who ran it until it was stuffed full, but the last few days of looking at yet another growing, festering pile of dishes on the counter I started to wonder if I couldn’t just run it every night. I quickly dismissed the idea, after all I should only run it when it’s full, right? I feel so free to try this now! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!
I’m so glad you landed on this post, then! Honestly, this is THE thing that has made the most difference.
We run ours every night, too, and throughout the day! I have four children at home with me during the day (we homeschool, too) and my sink is never empty. Much like our laundry room, there’s always SOMETHING going on in the kitchen!
God bless you in your work – all of it! I enjoy your blog and regularly laugh aloud as I read your posts.
i know, i’m still WAY behind on your blog, but i can’t stand the thought of missing a single daily post!
this is so funny reading your post and all the comments. see, nony? you’re definitely not the only one of us out there!!!
i have started running mine every night…IF it’s pretty full. clarification….there are only two of us in the house most of the time, so if i know that i can go another FULL day before it is full, then i will wait till the next night. but the key here is running it at night. then you wake up to a whole bunch of clean dishes….talk about multi-tasking…. you’re working while you’re asleep!! haha!! then in the morning, i put my big mug of tea in the microwave and race to see how many of the dishes i can get put away in the 3 minutes that my tea is brewing. we have to make it fun, right? i can usually get almost everything put away….unless it is an unusually silverware-heavy load. ha!
and for those of you who haven’t tried it, you should definitely try putting your pots and pans in too!! even if they don’t come completely clean, they are usually a LOT easier to finish up by hand after the run through the cycle.
nony- you’re doing so great!!! i’m so proud of you!! you are an inspiration to so many~ thanks for being courageous enough to share!
Nony…. it’s a little late, but if you wanna remember your own glass anytime, take a colored rubberband and put it on the glass around the middle – my mom and sis and I all drink unsweetened tea, so every time we have a family get together, i use a rubberband to remember which glass is mine… it’s been working for more than 10 years!!! ( my mom has 12 matching glasses, so its easy to get confused, at home, there are regular cups, and then I have my own “straw cup” so there’s no mistaking. )
We run it even if it’s less than half full to keep a routine. It takes less time to empty too! This never happens now with so many kids so hand washing the extra dishes-uses waaay more water than one load in the dishwasher.
You can always throw in the stove top pieces , the vent/fan cover for the stove top, little glass knick knacks, toothbrush holders, soap dishes, metal soap holder thingys, coffee pot parts, glass microwave tray, sink plugs, scrub brushes, the removable beverage holder from the car, children’s plastic toys, any piece of the high chair and straps you can fit, dishwasher safe wall hangings, dishwasher safe light fixtures, containers for organizing the pantry or fridge, etc. I know someone who puts in flip flops but I can never go There.
Please, not the sponge unless you microwave it for 2 minutes after!
How pathetic is my Saturday night!!!!!
My partner and I have an ongoing thing, where she doesn’t want to run it until it’s full, and I say it has to run when EITHER the top OR the bottom is full. For us, the top is always the limiting factor, because we use a LOT more plastic stuff than glass/metal and if she waits until the bottom is full, too, we are left with a sink full of greasy plastic. This every night this sounds like a great idea.
Shanna – Why not the sponge? I thought running the sponge through the dishwasher was the way to sanitize it?
Just googled it and found an article saying that microwave or dishwasher are the best ways to clean a sponge, and are equally effective. Whew!
I’ve also gotten into the habit of running mine because, like Shirley, I like the idea of accomplishing something while I sleep AND because I do NOT unload the dishwasher! My kids do it right after breakfast every morning. I’m probably crazy, but I would rather wash everything by hand than have to unload the dishwasher, fortunately my kids do a great job and even the two year old helps.
That is awesome!
This idea has been a lifesaver. I have a 2 month old and a 2 year old. Waking up to a sink and counter full of dirty dishes was awful. I had no motivation to cook, because I had to clean everything first. I’ve started loading and running the dishwasher and doing all the handwashing before bed. My husband is so happy that the kitchen is staying clean….ish, and he is putting the dishes away before I wake up. My kitchen is clean every morning and it’s just wonderful! I cook, I have motivation, and time to do other things, like track down the 5 million duplos and return them to their rightful spot. Thank you so much!
I just had to THANK YOU for this awesome tip. We have been doing this for almost a month now and I am proud to say that it has inspired us to branch out to other chores and do other decluttering. I unload the dishwasher every morning while I make coffee and then the rest of the family adds their dishes throughout the day. The last adult to bed turns the dishwasher on. And the most amazing thing–last week I went to bed early with a horrible headache. I woke up the next morning and went to the kitchen and it was CLEAN. That has never happened before–Thanks Nony!
Yay, Sherrie! I’m so glad it has made a difference for you!
Saw the title and thought, “You have kids, that’s why!” LOL I have some MOM glasses/mugs that everyone knows are for me only. The range from a funny saying to a special Disney mug the kids got me. I do the same for the kids, too. I buy character cups at Wally’s, and everyone’s cup is different. It isn’t perfect, but it helps. When they were small we designated colors.