# Seniors living alone



## gloria (Feb 15, 2021)

seniors living alone do you use your dish washer or wash them by hand.?


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## hawkdon (Feb 15, 2021)

what is a dish washer??


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## Aunt Bea (Feb 15, 2021)

I don't have a dishwasher but when I did I rarely used it.

I wash dishes several times a day by hand and don't give it much thought.


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## twinkles (Feb 16, 2021)

when i use to have a dish washer the only time i used it is when i had a lot of company---other than that i washed them by hand


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## RadishRose (Feb 16, 2021)

gloria said:


> seniors living alone do you use your dish washer or wash them by hand.?


I used my dishwasher (old) until it broke about 6 months ago. I hate washing dishes.

The dishwasher uses less hot water and less water overall.

I'd run it once or twice a week, but washed the occasional crispy roasting pan or casserole by hand.

I'd like to say I have better things to do than stand at the sink washing dirty dishes, but I don't.
I just dislike doing it and plan on replacing it a some point.


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## funsearcher! (Feb 16, 2021)

Dishwashers use less water then hand washing and get to a higher temperature so I would run it a couple of times a week


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## Pinky (Feb 16, 2021)

I fill our dishwasher, usually over 2-3 days. When it's full, I run it.


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## Judycat (Feb 16, 2021)

Wash by hand. I use the same dishes every day. Takes about 10 minutes. Dishwasher uses too much electricity. I haven't run it for years.


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## Packerjohn (Feb 16, 2021)

Mostly I wash by hand so I only use the dish washer about once every week when I run out of coffee cups.


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## oldiebutgoody (Feb 16, 2021)

Never had a dishwasher in my life.  Same with laundry machine.


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## terry123 (Feb 17, 2021)

I hand wash my few dishes as I go. But once a week I run the dishwasher to sanitize them.  Just makes me feel they are really, really clean. Now if I have company for a meal we use heavy paper plates but if we use regular dishes we run dish washer before they leave.


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## hollydolly (Feb 17, 2021)

oldiebutgoody said:


> Never had a dishwasher in my life.  Same with laundry machine.


No washing machine ???


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## Ruthanne (Feb 17, 2021)

I do both.  I use the dishwasher about once every 2-3 days and then hand wash dishes in between.


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## Pecos (Feb 17, 2021)

I am the main dishwasher in this household, and that machine is a big friend of mine. I run it every night and empty it in the morning.

LOL, a man's work is never done!


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## funsearcher! (Feb 17, 2021)

I do cooking and baking regularly so the dishwasher is necessary


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## Gaer (Feb 17, 2021)

I've never owned a trash compactor or a dishwasher.  Didn't even own a washer and dryer until I was 60 years old.


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## dobielvr (Feb 17, 2021)

I use my dishwasher once every 2 weeks.

I use paper plates a lot, or hand wash something if I need to.


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## Butterfly (Feb 17, 2021)

RadishRose said:


> I used my dishwasher (old) until it broke about 6 months ago. I hate washing dishes.
> 
> The dishwasher uses less hot water and less water overall.
> 
> ...


I hate washing dishes, too.  I use my dishwasher for maybe a couple of loads a week, but  also it's a place to put dirty dishes so I don't have to wash a few at a time all the time or look at a pile of unwashed dishes in the sink.  I run it when it gets full.


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## Jondalar7 (Mar 3, 2021)

With seven women in the house some like to wash by hand but I now insist that everything goes through the dishwasher to be sterilized. I have had two gals that could not see well and they would miss stuff and dry it off and put it back in the cupboard thinking they were saving use of the dishwasher. Not fun when you pull something out to use it and you have to decide, Do I just chip it off with a finger nail or rewash it?


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## katlupe (Mar 19, 2021)

I wash by hand. No room in here for a dishwasher.


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## Chet (Mar 19, 2021)

I wash by hand and wear rubber gloves. If you wash a dish after you dirty a dish it's not a problem. If you wait until you have a pile, it's a formidable task and you don't even want to start.


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## RubyK (Mar 21, 2021)

I use the dishwasher 2 or 3 times a week.


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## Kathleen’s Place (Mar 21, 2021)

oldiebutgoody said:


> Never had a dishwasher in my life.  Same with laundry machine.


Say what????  You wash all your laundry by hand?????


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## oldiebutgoody (Mar 22, 2021)

Kathleen’s Place said:


> Say what????  You wash all your laundry by hand?????



yup - the old fashion way


We are not allowed to have wash machines in our apartments and I  am not willing to use the laundry machines in our laundry room.  There are not supposed to be any children in our building. But people do laundry for their children and grandchildren.  This often leaves the laundry machines contaminated with human waste from those kids.  Yuck.

Because of this, I have no choice.  Yup, a man's work is never done ...


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## cookiei (Mar 22, 2021)

oldiebutgoody said:


> yup - the old fashion way
> 
> 
> We are not allowed to have wash machines in our apartments and I  am not willing to use the laundry machines in our laundry room.  There are not supposed to be any children in our building. But people do laundry for their children and grandchildren.  This often leaves the laundry machines contaminated with human waste from those kids.  Yuck.
> ...


Do you do your laundry in bathroom sink or bathtub?  I used to do laundry by hand when I was young.  Due to joint pain it would be difficult for me to extract water from clothes so a washing machine is a must for me.  I also have degenerative discs and can't bend or sit on a low chair for over 15 minutes at a time.  Do you use dryer in the laundry room or hang dry you clothes?

Although my dishwasher is new and was bought when my house was built several yrs earlier I haven't used it.  In my previous house I also bought a new dishwasher when that house was built but didn't use it either.  I prefer doing the dishes by hand.


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## Devi (Mar 22, 2021)

You might check Amazon (or elsewhere) for a tabletop clothes washer. That might work for you, since you're already washing clothing in your apartment. From what I can tell, they're not huge (nor expensive), but it may be that anything can help.


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## Remy (Mar 22, 2021)

Dishwasher. I'm in California and a water miser. I dry the dishwasher in the eco cycle. Once drying starts I dab dry all the over turned stuff like coffee cups. I don't run it until it's full, usually about every 4-5 days.

Also when I soak anything I never use clean new water. I'll wash my hands over the pot or dump the cat's water (changed twice a day) into the container.


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## Remy (Mar 22, 2021)

oldiebutgoody said:


> yup - the old fashion way
> 
> 
> We are not allowed to have wash machines in our apartments and I  am not willing to use the laundry machines in our laundry room.  There are not supposed to be any children in our building. But people do laundry for their children and grandchildren.  This often leaves the laundry machines contaminated with human waste from those kids.  Yuck.
> ...


Years ago I used the communal apartment washers and never gave it a second thought. I never got sick or any other issues. However today, I think it would gross me out a bit. If I had to I think I'd find another way to wash dishtowels at least.


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## Jules (Mar 22, 2021)

Dishwasher every couple of days.  Pots and pans are done by hand.

I swear every time I turn around the dishwasher is waiting to be unloaded.


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## oldiebutgoody (Mar 22, 2021)

^ I use both the sink & tub. Thereafter I hang dry and use a large electric fan to speed up the drying.  Yes, it can be painful to my arthritic hands and back but I don't really have a choice in this matter.


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## Kathleen’s Place (Mar 23, 2021)

oldiebutgoody said:


> yup - the old fashion way
> 
> 
> We are not allowed to have wash machines in our apartments and I  am not willing to use the laundry machines in our laundry room.  There are not supposed to be any children in our building. But people do laundry for their children and grandchildren.  This often leaves the laundry machines contaminated with human waste from those kids.  Yuck.
> ...


Well more power to ya!!! .  The wasging I wouldn’t mind doing to awfully much, but the drying would be a pain, just space wise if nothing else


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## Giantsfan1954 (Mar 23, 2021)

gloria said:


> seniors living alone do you use your dish washer or wash them by hand.?


Never owned a dishwasher, frankly, they seem like a PITA to me


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## Nosy Bee-54 (Mar 30, 2021)

I have a dishwasher and couldn't tell you if it still works.

I wash by hand when I dirty any dishes. (I'm one of those people who don't like dishes sitting in the sink). Take breakfast for example. A cereal bowl, a spoon and a tea mug. Now how hard is that? Dinner: A steamer, plate, fork, knife, and maybe a couple of other things. Again, how hard is that? How many minutes really does it take to wash so few items? Key is not to let things pile up.

I don't see it as a chore plus I already spend too much time sitting on my rear end in front of an electronic device or book.


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## bilzin (Apr 7, 2021)

hawkdon said:


> what is a dish washer??


dishwasher dishwasher ??   I thought that that was why I had a dog !!


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## Junebug63 (Apr 14, 2021)

gloria said:


> seniors living alone do you use your dish washer or wash them by hand.?


I live alone, but as an old fashioned man, I manually wash my dishes, wipe and pack them myself. When ever my grandson is visiting, we do it together over a conversation and before you know it, we are done.


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