Permies Poll: How often are you washing dishes?

With both people in my house having worky jobs, dishes tend to pile up before we get to them.

I may wipe out my workhorse cast irons on the daily, but the dishes tend to accumulate and we wash them in batches.

Every day!

We cook everything from scratch and if I don't do it every day it builds up into an enormous mountain that threatens to engulf the whole kitchen. The only way to keep it under control is to resist the temptation to have an endless supply of crockery and to attempt to wash up every day without fail. Of course, what I attempt to do and what I actually achieve are two different things, but if I don't manage a batch every day I end up having to have two goes another day.

In canning season, dishes get washed multiple times a day.  

During “normal times”, they are washed daily on the average.  I say average, because there have been times when we were both too tired to take on another task.  In those cases I washed them immediately the next morning . I am the morning person.

I said once a day but it's really once to maybe three times a day at most, depending on how many dishes have been used. Not right away but not letting them pile up either (which is depressing I think).

Sometimes it's twice a day and sometimes it's every three days. And sometimes I fill the dishwasher and let it do its thing and other times I handwash. When handwashing, I might only wash four things instead of the whole backlog, so I can't count that as "washing dishes" but enough instances like that must add up. It's complicated! (I chose every other day as my best guess.)

I have added a new choice for "Multiple times a day".

I don't have a dishwasher, other than myself so I was dishes after each meal.

It doesnt take much other than some hot water.

We are empty nesters and live in a small house so we do not need to do dishes that often.

We have found a nice split between doing dishes by hand and having a dishwasher, though. We originally bought a countertop dishwasher (A Danby 6 place dishwasher) when we first bought the place, but now that we renovated the kitchen ended up loving the small dishwasher so much that we made a permanent place for it in the cabinetry and hooked its connections up fixed to the plumbing.

We love it.

It does a great job of washing dishes, but is small enough so that it uses very little water. It is about 1/3 the size of a conventional dishwasher but if you stack the dishes like a hell-bent architect, you can get a LOT inside it. There is nothing I have not been able to wash, like our crock pot for instance, but even while doing so I put in coffee mugs and other items to clean. So what I am saying is, it was not like the crock pot was the only thing inside it. Oh no, it is a small workhorse.

Even with its diminutive size, we only run it twice a week because we can cram so much inside it.

Unlike many small appliances, though that are small, but very expensive, this one matches its size in price. We only paid $365 for it.

If you feel guilty about using lots of water, but hate doing dishes by hand, this might be the dishwasher for you. It does a phenomenal job at washing even stacked up with loads of dishes and uses cheap powder soap in doing so and uses very little water.

I try to wash (a really HOT rinse) my dishes as I cook & after I eat.  I "clean as I go", something I learned from my wonderful grandmother.  It takes less time & effort in the end.  My cast irons get their proper cleaning (& seasoning) as often as needed.  I hate washing dishes, so I just get them done as fast as I can.  --Tess

Something I do is I have ONLY ONE set of dishes I use daily. One bowl, one large plate, one small plate, one tea mug (not a coffee drinker), one fork, one spoon, a butter knife and then about 4 sharp knives for various needs, one mixing bowl, one cast iron skillet, the pots (lg, med. & small) with lids, then a few cooking utensils wood & metal.  

I figure this will keep me from letting dishes piling up throughout the day, and I won't use as much water to wash dishes.  

I literally have no other sets of dishes; except those I have packed away when I go camping, I have a separate set of camp-friendly dishes (those that do not break easily) for my trips.  

When I do have a gathering, those who know me know to literally bring their own dishes to eat with.  It works for me.  Keeps me from letting things pile, especially if I get into a funk.  --Tess

Multiple times a day. We have a small sink and don't use a dishwasher. We also have a minimum of silverware and dishes (and yes I have favorite bowls/spoons/plates, etc!! so they need to be clean.)

We don't wash as soon as dishes are dirtied, but I don't like to leave dishes in the sink overnight (why tempt vermin). During the day I might leave water in the sink or in a dishpan and let the dishes accumulate, especially if it's just me here in the house.

Once every day or two generally.  I'm abundantly thankful for my dishwasher, that's something I'd be hard-pressed to live without.  Obviously our cast irons don't go in there but most other things do, even so between getting everything rinced and ready and cleaning out reusible straws and knives by hand etc. there's always dish work afoot.

Last vote in apple poll was on February 14, 2026

We're 2 people with no dishwasher (I forget people have those!). We probably wash dishes about twice a day. In the morning my husband might wash whatever is in the sink from the night before. We eat breakfast and get out the door, leaving dishes in the sink. Even if I stay home we still just leave them. Then I'll wash them in the afternoon or evening, make dinner, and leave the dinner dishes for the next morning. I guess it's the opposite of what most people do! Sometimes I wash right afterward, especially if I cook something unusual, like if I use measuring cups or big bowls or big baking sheets. I want to get them out of the way so I wash as I go if I'm using a lot of stuff that would fill the sink too quickly.