Yet millions of people over many generations have survived (and still do!) just fine with handwashing....

I must have GREAT defenses..... :) I hand washed for 2 years now.... and don't think, I have gotten sick from it yet.

Moni

This reminds me of our local mattress company that has bought tv ads to say that any mattress 6 or 8 years old is full of absorbed body moisture that has doubled the mattress weight and full of bug mites that attack you as you sleep. Buy our new mattresses!

And it also reminds me of the spice companies that say to throw out your herbs and spices every year and buy new ones.

We haven't had a dishwasher for over 20 years and rarely do we get sick. We also stay home a lot and aren't exposed to a lot of germy people, so that might be why. :)

I almost never get sick, literally have not been to a doctor in over 8 years...I really do not spend any time worrying about germs. I squirt some dish liquid on a scrubby and scrub the dish and rinse. We do not stay home and we are exposed to many "germy people" and germy animals too! LMAO!

I DO believe that dishwashers, with HIGH water temps, do kill a lot of nasties. On the other hand, I didn't have a dishwasher until my 4 kids were 8-18 yrs. old and nobody got an E. Coli or Salmonella infection. I still handwash the good plates I use for holidays and no one has gotten sick after a meal for 30 years. Hmmmm

I think really hot water is important too. I just bought a new dishwasher and bought a "turbo wash" but I keep my water hot enough that you can't keep your hand in it...every one complains...but I don't understand why you wouldn't want it scalding hot...

Well my dishwasher would come closer to killing you. The stuff comes out worse than it went in, which is why I never use it. I would never own another Kenmore ever, and it's one of the top of the line models maybe 4 yrs old. I detest it. My water is scalding hot and I hand wash every thing. I want my wonderful Kitchenaid from my previous home.

Germs are everywhere, I worked in a sterile environment in the lab and even in there we would have a contamination on occasion and believe me the sterile protocol was intense. It will make you become a bit ocd about hand washing and what you touch. But you can't expect to live life in a sterile environment. I lived a great deal of time in one for many years daily and it's not a real fun place.

I work as a cook in a child care center, and wash the dishes by hand, but then they go through a VERY hot water sanitizing machine. Much like a dishwasher, but without the wash cycle.

Dorothy, don't worry about it. It's nice, that you think of us, we just don't buy in to the hype.

Moni

My dishwasher cleans everything including greasy car parts, the bird feeders, garden tools, whatever needs cleaning. But then he washes his hands really good before starting the dishes. We rarely get the usual nasties that are passed around.

We can all thank the creator for filling our stomachs full of hydrochloric acid so strong it could dissolve cars! It's really miraculous that it doesn't dissolve our stomach!!!
Joann

With all the nasty animals I handle and all the poop I clean on a daily basis....if a germ bit me, it would die.

I don't own a dishwasher and it is at least 20 or more years ago that I had the stomach flu. I am not germaphobic either. My antibodies are spectacular!

Doesn't fear based drama post plus brand name dropping indicate Spam? I'm not here often enough to recognise the posters name. Anyway, if we have to seriously worry about death by dishes I suppose there is no reason to get out of bed. Anyone heard of North Korea?? Lol

As grandparents, we have found the Typhoid Mary in our midst is the cute preschooler grandson. We used to never get sick, and then preschool started.

sheilajoyce -- Absolutely! Grandchildren! Gaaahhh! Kissy, snuggly, germ-ridden MONSTERS. They CAN love you to death. LOL

Amy, Dorothy_Oahu, the original poster is not new to the KT. I suspect she just wanted to share something with us.

Jodi-

Actually even sanitary certified dishwashers have been found to not clean all microscopic germs away. there are so many ways for germs to invade that saying sanitized is now a catch phrase at best. EVEN autoclaves don't do 100% w certain germs as recently found at NIH, to their own shock, as well as the deaths of several patients! Chlorine gas & super concentrated hydrogen peroxide are about all that still kills 100% and that is only in lab conditions w lab quality. there are sooo sooo many ways for germs to evade our efforts that lately researchers are finding many of the tried and true ways of sterilization are not 100% anymore. evolution at it's best! all of the preventive measures people try to take on really only add to the likelihood that they are adding to that very germs' ability to build it's resistances up to what you are trying to use as a weapon. some of the recent deaths' in hospitals ie NIH, are being contributed to the impervious coating evolutionized to beat autoclaves, sanitizing sprays (hand gels) & soaps etc...along w the germs ability to survive all known currently prescribed antibiotics there are no treatments nor preventions left for some germs. the NIH had a couple of cases treated w an antibiotic from the 50's that were banned because it kills off your kidneys & liver, two survived i think but their organs did not.

you can not ever outsmart microbiology & virology...they will be the death of Homo sapien in the end. ~ liz

Saying HELLO to Dorothy_Oahu!

Long time no see! Glad to see you posting.

OK, Dorothy - you're not spam - you come recommended! In that case, enjoy your dishwasher - I bet if I had an expensive nice one like that I'd be singing the praises of my appliances too. :)

I do notice the article is on a dishwashers webpage, of course they would play up the "dangers" of hand washing.

I remember learning in High School that one of the most effective sales technique was FEAR. Dorothy, you played right into their hands and bought it hook, line and sinker!

My son used to get a lot of infections when he was little. We washed our hands, didn't drink after him, etc., but my daughter and I kept catching whatever he had, too.

So I declared a family rule that everything that came out of a kitchen drawer or cabinet must go in the dishwasher. Absolutely no hand washing dishes. My daughter and I quit getting sick.

Maybe it was coincidence, but it's nearly 18 years later and we still put nearly everything in the dishwasher.

You mean that I, who told a while ago of my small ones that hang just below my wrists, who are unenthusiastic enough about washing that they only get motivated to do it a couple of times a week, if one is lucky, have an even greater problem?

That when they're through ... my life may be at risk, due to the critters ensconced in the sink??

So ... lacking a manufactured dishwasher, what am I to do ... take the dishes out into the yard - and spray 'em with the garden hose?

ole joyful

You take the dishwasher salesman too seriously.

Even tho the dishwasher sprays your dishes with hot water at the force of a fire hose (that's why I will not wash my bone china in my Bosch dishwasher), minute food particles will cling to the innards (hoses, etc).

I wash by hand in my stainless steel sink, which gets a rinse of white vinegar poured in it and down the drain after washing.

I have a 5-year old dishwasher which has never been used. I soak/hand-wash my dishes in very hot water with 1/4 cup of bleach - works for me.

When you look into the facts of dishwashers, a lot of people have quit using them. Of course there's a place for them, and PROPERLY USED they can be a valuable tool. But therein lies the problem. So many people think they can put them in there, then try to save money by turning down their electric water heaters to the point that Legionella can grow. Then they use that underheated and bacteria-infested water in their dishwasher to splash day-week old food around, not totally unlike a petri dish, and then disable the dryer to save money on the economy cycle and sit in there until the next use. Now anyone who has even basic grade school science background may remember that bacteria grows well in warm, moist surroundings. Hmm. Where would that be?

There's a lot of differing opinions out there. I've read many of the arguments on both sides of this and have formed my own opinions. Hand washing properly can be better than machined improperly and vice-versa. But to say you won't get sick using a dishwasher isn't using much common sense but I certainly understand the sales pitch.

I haven't had a (mechanical) dishwasher in over 25 years. The doctor visits I've had were primarily for broken bones and other things that certainly were not caused by handwashing dishes.

If you like dishwashers, good for you and enjoy using them. Just don't get caught up with all the misinformation that is available on the internet. The internet, like the dishwasher, PROPERLY USED, can be a valuable tool, but there's so much misinformation out there, plus outright lies that believing everything can cause you a lot of trouble.

And Dorothy is certainly not spam. A couple seconds of checking, even just looking at a member page should have removed that question. But some just seem to want to...

A salesman told me hand dishwashing uses a lot more water than an electric DW, especially if you let the tap run for hand-rinsing.

My dishwasher has a temperature boost button. If we turn down the hot water heater, the dishwasher will heat the water to hot enough.

If you run your dishwasher after every meal, you will use more water than if you quickly hand wash.
If you don't run your dishwasher until it's full - not every day....that storage of dirty dishes in the unused dishwasher is a breeding ground for germs - you save money on your water bill and get more germs in your house. Those germs nest and multply in the minute cracks in non-glazed dishes and glasses as they age.

Ahhh, preschool... a new germ pool to share...

PS. Also, if you have any dishes that have chips in the glaze, toss them as there is a break in the protective glaze.

Unglazed ceramic is great at soaking up all kinds of stuff.

o j

Well, I didn't mean to start a war here. Just with all the new things and germs floating around now It makes sense to use HOT water. Heck since I'm almost 72 there were a lot of years that I didn't have a dishwasher and I've even been camping as a kid where we sometimes had to use river water to clean the dishes and I'm still alive.

I did get a very bad case of dysentery from swimming in Lake Washing when I was a senior in high school. So did a LOT of people that weekend according the the newspaper on Monday. Oops, too late to warn the public. I was hospitalized for 10 days. That's hard to loose that much time in your senior year. But I still graduated in honor society.

And yes, I agree the worst years were when I had 2 girls in school. Man, they bring home everything that's going around and I always caught it. My sister-in-law is getting that now that she i babysitting her grandson in preschool.

I rarely get a cold or anything now. Today I read about the 5 big stores that will be going out of business soon. But I don't want to start another argument.

Oh, and just to let you know I'm hardly a newbie here. I was at the decorating forum when I saw the announcement about the KT opening and I came right over. That was the SECOND day and I've been here ever since. I don't post a lot anymore but I'm here.

Hand washer.
I guess since I grew up watching mama wash dishes it seemed like the best way to do it? In any case, I'm not leery of hand washed dishes. On the other hand I'm not leery of dishwasher washed dishes either. lol

The human immune system will beat lots of those bugs. My Grandma always told me you have to eat a peck of dirt before you die.Then again, if you've ever had food poisoning...