Stop Hand-Washing Your Dishes!

How many times do you get to the end of your day, just to find a pile of dishes waiting to be washed? If that’s not a good enough reason for you to stop handwashing your dishes, here’s a few more.

1. Your dish sponge is gross!

It's handy, it's versatile, it's always within reach... but do you know just how many germs your dish sponge harbours? Studies show that every square inch of your dish sponge contains approximately 10 million bacteria. So, using a sponge to clean your dishes may actually leave them even dirtier than they were before. Also, contrary to common beliefs, soap and water won’t kill germs – they’ll only wash them away. 

2. Dishwashers simply clean dishes better than you can

In order to effectively kill germs, water needs to reach 70°C, but most water heaters aren’t set that high… and for good reason. Such a high setting would be dangerous, not to mention the spike in your energy bill. But dishwashers run at high enough temperatures to ensure that the detergent is fully dissolved and any grease is dislodged, without ramping up your bills.

3. It might be the reason your energy bill is so high

When it comes to energy efficiency, hand washing dishes may seem like the ideal option for cleaning up after dinner. But you might just be surprised. For starters, modern-day models such as the Whirlpool PowerClean Pro Dishwasher are highly efficient and even optimise the washing cycle based on the load (using 6TH SENSE technology). Today's dishwashers can save around 5,000 gallons of water a year over hand washing thanks to improved appliance standards. That's a lot!

Bonus Tip: You don’t need to pre-rinse your dishes before placing them in your dishwasher.

4. You could be doing something else

Think about how long you spend each day washing your dishes by hand. 45 minutes? An hour? We’re pretty sure you’ve got a dozen other chores you’d rather get done instead… laundry, ironing, vacuuming and the list goes on. Most innovative dishwashers will not only wash your dishes, but dry them too, sparing you the work and giving you more time for what truly matters.