Guests who won't use the dishwasher?

[Laura2592]

This one has me flummoxed.

We used to say in our house rules not to put food items down the sink and that we prefer guests to use the dishwasher when cleaning plates. Some guests totally ignored this and after a few times of finding a full dish rack of drying dinner plates, we hid the dish rack and worded our rules more strongly-- please do not hand wash dishes after meals as food items get clogged in the sink we and we don't have a disposal, etc. Came in recently and once again there was a full array of plates, bowls and cups drying on the counter.

It is really starting to be a problem as we have had a few clogs. I can't for the life of me figure out why people insist on hand washing dishes when we have a nice, easy to operate standard dishwasher for their use. We always re-wash the hand washing because we want it super hot scalded clean between guests. I understand when its a coffee cup drying because a guest wanted to clean up before leaving. But these are clearly the entire complement of their dishwasher during their stay.

Does anyone have any insight into why this might happen? These are American guests, usually a bit older, and the behavior is equally common in both couples  and singles of any gender. Our dishwasher is fully functioning and working normally too, so its not a matter of the darn thing being broken in some way.

Yes I will probably have to break down and install a garbage disposal.

[Lisa723 · Accepted solution]

@Laura2592 as you note, as well as resulting in cleaner dishes modern dishwashers also use much less water than hand-washing. Do your instructions include this information? People might mistakenly think they are doing you some kind of favor. Presumably you supply only dishwasher detergent? Can you install some kind of drain screen that makes it impossible to put food down the drain and to collect water in the sink?

[Laura2592]

@Lisa723 we do have drain screens but they are removable. When guests hand wash and drain the water they take them out. All the debris clogs the drain unless they have scraped their stuff properly. We do supply detergent. Maybe I need to put something in the house manual about why using the dishwasher is better for a variety of reasons.  That's a good suggestion. Or maybe even have  a cute sign made to put up in the area.

[Lisa723]

@Laura2592 Right, I meant an unremovable screen. And don’t supply dish soap other than dishwasher detergent. I don’t like resorting to signs but in moderation they can be effective without being off-putting.

[Sarah977]

@Lisa723  The water usage would depend on how one is accustomed to hand washing dishes. I was curious, so I just looked it up and it says the average energy saver dishwasher uses about 4 gallons of water for a cycle. There's no way I use more water than that to wash dishes. All the things I read online that compared dishwashers to hand-washing said hand washing can use 27 gallons, which is absurd- they must have been assuming that people wash all the dishes under constantly running water, which would indeed be wasteful, but no one I know does dishes that way.

[Marie82]

@Laura2592I have the same issue, but what i do now on my last message, a night prior to guest check out. I ask them to leave all the dishes inside the dishwasher. I don't even ask them to wash just ask them to place them inside.

I don't have any plumbing issue but I simply don't trust some of the guest washing and prefer to make sure everything is wash properly inside the dishwasher a place back by my cleaner so I am sure it is clean and won't have any complaint from next guest.

[Laura2592]

@Marie82  yes, one of my earliest guests dinged us on kitchenware saying that his dish "smelled and (he) did not think they were clean" ...he stayed after a guest who had hand washed most of the dishes in the place. After that we have been super careful to make sure everything is run through the dishwasher if we find it hand washed. So basically we have double the water usage after hand washing guests, which is another issue.

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592   You must not be offering cast iron or non-stick cookware, which is no big deal. But it can't be possible that all the cooking implements you provide your guests are dishwasher-safe, because surely one thing you are offering is knives. Nothing is going to dull a knife faster than putting it in the dishwasher, which ultimately makes it less safe to use (not to mention, the biggest annoyance to enthusiastic cooks).  Kitchen knives should always be washed carefully by hand, no matter what the dishwasher manufacturer says. For this reason, I have to disagree with @Lisa723 's suggestion to deny the guests handwashing detergent.

Also, while you probably have an efficient model that potentially uses less water and energy than a typical manual wash, this is only true if you wait until you have a full load to run it. Personally,  I find it pretty gross to open a dishwasher and see crusty dishes slowly accumulating, but it would be wasteful to run the machine for just a couple of plates and glasses.

All this is to say, I'd encourage you to communicate your preferences strongly but not completely remove the option of handwashing. Especially for knives.

[Laura2592]

@Anonymous  yed as I said I don't   mind someone rinsing a cup or a knife. I just don't want every single dish, pot and pan used during the stay to be hand washed. It creates issues that are expensive to repair. Replacing my modestly priced knives would be far less costly than calling a plumber after each guest so I'm even willing to sacrifice those to the dishwasher cause. 

I had no idea there was such resistance/controversy  around this topic!  Its really eye opening  

[Lisa723]

@Anonymous Except for cast iron, on which no soap should be used, everything in my kitchens goes through the dishwasher and I have no problem with my knives. (It is important not to use too much detergent, which most people do.) @Sarah977 My Bosch dishwashers average 2.9 gallons per cycle, and I would like to see you get a full load of dishes clean with 3 gallons of water. (I could never persuade my own mother either; she always insisted her own hand washing must be more efficient than any dishwasher in the face of all contrary facts.)

[Laura2592]

@Lisa723 yes I spent a good few hours looking at all the evidence about how dishwashers outstrip hand washing in killing bacteria,  water efficiency,  time, etc. Even magazines like Good Housekeeping which tend to be a bit conservative in their approach to technology have articles stating that using an energy efficient dishwasher is much better than handwashing in all categories.  But is does state "some people just like it." And though that blows my mind as I can think of few things less pleasant than sticking my hands into a pool of dirty dish water, I cant ignore that for a certain group of guest as this seems to be the case. But unfortunately this is a costly pleasure in our cottage  and we really prefer that guests follow our house rules. 

[Susan151]

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@Laura2592 wrote:

we really prefer that guests follow our house rules. 

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So, your house rules actually state:

"Please do not put food down the sink as the house is on a well and does not have a disposal."

I assume what you actually mean is "the house has a septic system and does not have a disposal." You might wish to add, "guests are asked to use the dishwasher and not wash dishes by hand."

All I can think of. Good luck!

[Laura2592]

@Susan151 we mention the dish washing in our check in instructions and again on our check out instructions. I have not added it to our forward facing rules on our listing,  because I never anticipated that there would be resistance to using a dishwasher LOL. But this seems to be an oddly loaded topic so maybe I will consider that. 

[Susan151]

@Laura2592  This would all be so easy if it weren't for those complicated and pesky humans!

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 

I have never had a dishwasher in my life. I would be one of the guests who hand washes my dishes. Call me crazy, but I actually love washing dishes. I hate loading the dishwasher at the house where I nanny. I've never had a garbage disposal or a problem with the sink clogging in either my home, apartments, or Airbnbs (no dishwashers or garbage disposals anywhere.) Aren't people accustomed  to rising the dishes off in the sink before putting them in the dishwasher? As opposed to putting dishes with caked on food in there? Maybe regardless of the handwashing there is too much food going down the drain and you have a sink that just can't handle it. 

But if you are trying to get people to follow your rule of using the dishwasher, I would hide the sponge and dish soap under the sink. In its place I would put a frame with a typed note that asks guests to put all used dishes in the dishwasher to be cleaned and sanitized. Hopefully, people will change their routines if a reminder is staring them in the face. 

[Laura2592]

@Emilia42 according to some articles I was reading, apparently you are not supposed to pre-rinse dishes for the energy efficient dishwashers. Which was news to me!

I lived for one short period of my adult life without a dishwasher in an otherwise glorious old apartment. I can't say that I found washing dishes enjoyable and if I had owned that place, I would have put one in (I even had my eye on some colored vintage look appliances that would have been perfect. Still want them.) I think a sign is in order. We have resisted signage but in this case, its probably the most cost effective thing to do.