Does it seem to you that the dishwasher is always running? Mine is. Sometimes at our house it can run as many as 3 times per day, depending on the activity in the kitchen. How many times a day do you run your dishwasher?
No matter how much we run it, somehow we feel badly that we need to run it again. We think we should be able get it done in two times per day at most. And the cost of dishwasher soap keeps going up, so we feel extra guilty. So we stack it full, even when it seems full before dinner. We have to make sure we wait until dinner is over and dishes are available to squeeeeeze as many of them as we can in to those two or three leftover “spaces”.
But the reality is that if you are attempting to keep your kitchen even remotely clean and/or running smoothly, you’re going to need to let there be space available and simply run it before dinner starts. In our attempt to maximize the use of space in our dishwasher and put those two or three dishes in from dinner, we have created a back up of dishes in the kitchen. Now the rest of those dinner dishes won’t get washed until the morning, unless you plan to stand at the sink and hand wash the rest of them — doubtful!
So what is the option? Run your dishwasher more often! This amazing kitchen appliance was created to help make your life easier, not more difficult. So use it to its fullest potential. It truly is the key to making your home more available to having guests. Especially when I am expecting company to my house, I unashamedly run my dishwasher more. It’s a super easy way to keep your kitchen in tip-top shape and to keep stress low. The trick is to run it a few hours before your company shows up so it doesn’t look like you’ve worked last-minute to clean up. Empty it as soon as you can, and then you have room to throw those inevitable dirty dishes, the ones that show up as you make your final preparations, somewhere besides you sink or kitchen counter.
If you need to save money on dishwasher soap but need to start running your dishwasher more, try to keep your costs low by buying your soap in bulk or buy what’s on sale or available with coupons. If you’re looking for the best dishwasher soap that I’ve recently fallen in love with, I highly recommend the Finish dishwasher soap. It blows away the competition — hands down.
Give yourself a break. Use your dishwasher more, and let there be space for one more glass. You will thank yourself in the morning when you wake up to a clean kitchen. There is no better way to start your day!