Don't handwash at all. It uses 5x the amount of water than using a DW does and still doesn't sanitize.

The most ergonomic location for a DW though is the side opposite the dominant hand if you rinse (which you shouldn't do very much of). Either side works fine if you don't rinse.

If I am in a Christian household, it's left to right.

If in a Kosher household, it's right to left.

:)

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!!

Doc

Dish drain is to the left of the sink. I wash on the right side, rinse on the left. (I am right-handed.) I tried going left to right a couple of times when I was setting my new layout to see if the dish drain could go on the right, and it didn't work for me at all. My arms kept getting crossed.

I wash dishes every day and run the DW too. I use a lot of things that can't go in the DW.

Doc--seriously??? It's a religion issue? Huh. Never heard of that.

My old kitchen was DW left of sink. Being very right-handed, I was used to that directional movement and felt it made ergonomic sense. Then, while working my new kitchen layout, the DW would have needed to be on the right. I was worried, but read lots of posts here saying that neither placement is "correct" and that you easily get used to whichever side yours is on. True. It took me about two weeks to not feel awkward while loading the DW in my new kitchen.

*Caveat. I have never used hand washing as the way to clean the majority of my dishes. Growing up I had a DW and have had one in every residence since college. My hands have always been sensitive to water which felt hot enough to come remotely close to cleaning dishes well, and I dislike standing at the sink for so long being wet. Isn't that what a DW is for?

breezy, I think Hebrew is read R to L. It's a joke.

not everyone has a dw. I haven't had one for over 20 yrs. The one I have now isn't hooked up yet. don't know when it will. I'm still doing them by hand myself. There are things I will continue to do by hand even when the dw is hooked up.

It's right to left here, but left to right south of the equator.

Omg, nerdy kitchen humor. My holiday is now complete! Awesome.

I am a righty and DH is a lefty, so we get all mixed up. He cleans more, so we both use the right side to wash and the left side to drain. Though our GD is on the left, so that makes things interesting. Our DW is to the right of the sink.

One each here. Have discovered that it makes absolutely no difference whatsoever.

My DW is to the right and it never seems wrong (also right-handed). However, I wash a lot by hand and drain is on the left, but that might be due to my prime prep area being on the right.

Speaking of handedness, while it seems natural to have my faucet handle on the right, generally I am holding whatever I'm filling in my right hand and I have to cross over with my left to turn the faucet off. Not a horrible situation, but I think the handle in the middle would be better.

I've had the dishwasher on the right in the last house & DW on the left in this house. Doesn't make a whit of a difference. Only important thing is that there IS a dishwasher.

I'm right-handed. When I hand wash, it's L to R. And I hand wash a LOT because I have NEVER had a dishwasher that cleans as well as I do. It ain't rocket science folks! I can't believe so many people are so hopeless at such a simple menial task. And there is no reason to use 5x the water as a modern dishwasher uses. JUST TURN OFF THE TAP!!!!

And have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Thank you for this delightful and enlightening discussion.

I've had it both ways and don't find one way particularly better than the other. However, we are going to have soapstone countertops and I was planning on having runnels, so I have to commit one way or the other or forego the runnels.