Let’s say you’re about to clean your dishes, and you want to do it in the best way environmentally possible. So do you use your energy-efficient dishwasher, or do wash your dishes by hand? It might seem like a simple question, but man oh man there are a lot of answers (and a lot of other websites which have covered this question, with one result or the other). I’ll try to look at both sides of this surprisingly heated debate.
Water Use
A modern dishwasher will use less water than you would if you hand-washed your dishes. But this is assuming that you hand wash your dishes several times a day instead of leaving them in the sink for a “big wash”, which I always end up doing. This also assumes that you don’t use too much water pre-rinsing the dishes. So basically, it all boils down to efficiency of scale (doing a large load is more efficient than doing many smaller loads of dishes). If you only do large loads and moderate your water use, hand-washing is more efficient. But the smaller your loads are and the more water you use, the bigger the advantage of using a dishwasher.
Energy Use
Most of the energy for washing dishes (whether by hand or by dishwasher) comes from heating up the water (unless you like to wash your dishes with ice-cold water). Obviously, the dishwasher uses some electricity on top of that, so hand-washing wins this battle.
Time
Dishwashers will save you time. Just put in some dishes, turn it on, and walk away. But sometimes you open the dishwasher when it’s done, and some of the pans and dishes are still dirty. The more that happens, the smaller the time advantage that dishwashers have.
Overall Environmental Impact
Hand-washing wins this one. There are phosphate-free soaps available for dishwashing or handwashing, but the energy and materials used to make a dishwasher is considerable. Plus, dishwashers take more energy, sometimes use more water, and sometimes even take more time. So unless you are doing a huge load of dishes (or unless you work in a restaurant), then hand-washing is the way to go. So put on them yellow gloves, fill up a pot with hot, soapy water, and get ready for some good ol’ hand-washing.
October 19th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
[...] came across this post – Dishwasher versus Hand-Washing – and thought it was worth sharing. I hope you find it interesting too and take the time to read [...]
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
[...] Dishwashing vs. Handwashing [...]
April 4th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I’ve pondered this same question, so I looked at other sites with scientific evidence. The dishwasher seems to win hands down.
May 14th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I don’t know if this will help anyone or if this actually helps as much as I think it does but here is what I do. I have a two basin sink and a tupperware tote that I use to do a big wash.
1. Dry whipe all the crud you can get off the dishes with a cloth towel.
2. using a refillable spray bottle with soap and water spray all the dishes and place them in the tub. this gets them soapy and wet for the next step.
3. Fill the first sink with warm water (not much) and sponge clean the dishes. you generally dont need to add soap and you really dont want to or it will take more water to rinse.
4. Fill the last sink with cold water. This saves energy and helps them dry quicker. This is the rinse sink. You can add some alcohol for sanitizing them if you want, but I don’t and havent had any problems. This step is simply to rinse. As this sink gets soap you can transfer the water to the other sink. I have also experimented with whiping of the soap first before rinsing. This keeps the soap out but also adds to your work.
5. I then use this sink water for the spray bottle for my next batch. I keep it in the fridge to keep any nasty things that may have gotten in from growing.
key points: there shouldnt be any food matter in most of the water since you have whiped it all off. This keeps the water cleaner. I imagine it only takes me a few gallons to do this process. I do this all the time with out any ill side effects.
May 14th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Also I clean off as much of the crud I can get off the towel in the dirty sink water left in the wash sink. That way I dont have to worry too much about the towel getting food or anything like that in my clothes washer.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Assuming that most people rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, I have no doubt that handwashing (without keeping the water running, of course) uses less fossil fuel energy, and probably less water too. If the dishes were just used, they need not be soaked, and so a sponge with some soap and water works great. Filling up the sink is not necessary.
If one has a large load, the dishwasher might well be better, or at least more efficient.
October 25th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
It looks like scientific research is on the dishwasher side, but they usually don’t consider the materials used to make it and the disposal of it. I can see that if you follow the best method in an Energy Star dishwasher how it can be better, but living in an apartment – the dishwasher is very old.
When the machine is older; it’s not as functional, definitely doesn’t do a good job and I think has a worse effect on the environment. You usually have to pre-wash your dishes, then to run the machine – more work and more energy wasted. I find in this case I was by hand and then place the clean dishes in the dishwasher to air dry. That way you don’t need to buy a rack and I don’t get spots on my clear glass dishes. And I’m buying an aerator to limit my water usage tomorrow. Great information from everyone.
December 10th, 2008 at 1:01 am
You're right. "Handwashing wins" is based on opinion and guesstimates. Methodical studies show otherwise. Two things never mentioned by people who say handwashing is best as long as you do one batch and leave the dishes soaking all day: if you do the equivalent of a dishwasher load, you'll have to change that sink water at least once; and don't people ever RINSE dishes? that running water (at least warm or most people) undoes all your handwashing savings.
December 10th, 2008 at 1:29 am
It all depends on how new (and efficient) the dishwasher is, and how the dishes are washed by hand. If you leave the water running the whole time you're rinsing dishes, then yeah, that definitely uses a lot of water.
December 31st, 2008 at 8:25 am
It seems like everyone is forgetting to mention the cost of soap. Dishwasher detergent is far more expensive than dish soap, and you use more of it also. That is the main reason we started handwashing all of our dishes.
Also, most of these studies are assuming that you will put all of your dishes in the dish washer and never have to hand wash. Unless you buy a top of the line dishwasher, there are some things that will just never get clean in your dishwasher and you will have to wash them by hand any way. Even if we did use our dishwasher, we would still have to hand wash every day to clean the really caked on stuff, so why not wash them all while we're at it.
January 7th, 2009 at 6:28 am
After reading I want to know is there any study that show hand washed is cleaner than machine washed? or vise verse .
When it come to our old apartment washer ;it doesn't do a good job. so we end up pre wash and clean some glasses or dishes that have been already washed by the washer.
In addition the dish washing liquid or gel for the washer is more expensive than the dish soap .
I prefer to hand wash but if its not as sanitized as the dishwasher .I might go back the the dish washer even though is as time consuming as the hand wash.
January 10th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Let me be more specific with the article.. draw your own conclusions (energy efficiency, etc.), but I think that it is pretty disgusting to keep dish water around, seriously germs are one of the things that cleaning is about and adding germs to your dishes is less than ideal. To be honest, I do both though, with small loads wash by hand, medium-to-large loads I use the dishwasher.
OK, enough discourse, here is the link:
http://www.landtechnik.uni-bonn.de/ifl_research/i...
January 31st, 2009 at 7:57 pm
what about the true cleanliness of the dishes? which is healthier to eat off of? I'd bet the dishwasher kills more germs –which is why if there is some sick in my home I use the dishwasher. Just wonder if anyone has done a study ?
May 26th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Wow, you based the handwashing/dishwasher decision on the cost of the soap? Do you realize how many loads you get out of either purchase? It comes down to mere cents per load, whichever way you go. So, science shows that a dishwasher is more efficient, but it's worth $0.08 per load to you to stand at the sink for 30 minutes instead?
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:05 pm
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December 27th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
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January 14th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
Has anyone calculated the full environmental cost of using a dishwasher–the materials used ot manufacture it and then disposal of the machine when it breaks down–considering that most kitchen appliances are now made to last for about 5 years or less? If you do not scrape or rinse your dishes before putting them in, the dishwasher breaks down even sooner. I would like to know if hand washing is more environmentally friendly than using a dishwasher given the planned early obsolesence of dishwashers.
January 15th, 2010 at 1:19 am
That's a good question — I didn't think about that side of its environmental impact, but it'd definitely affect its "greenness". Kudos to you, KTL, for pointing that out.