How many times a day do you wash dishes? (by hand for those of us who are the dishwashers)

[anomaly13]

I feel like I wash dishes all day. There are 4 people in our house (me, dh, 3yo ds, 14mo ds) and we only have dishes for 6 (more in storage out of daily use) plus a dozen or so cups and another dozen mugs and flatware for probably 12. That seems like a lot of dishes for 4 people. Anyway I have tried to wash twice a day, after dinner/before bed so in the morning I have a fresh start. Then again in the afternoon either after lunch or before I start to make dinner, but then everytime I am in the kitchen there is a sink full of dishes soaking just waiting to be washed. I try to wash dishes after each meal/use but with 2 little ones it's hard.

Just curious what others are doing as I try to maximize my time doing housework to free up time to spend with my boys.

[vm9799]

my normal is twice a day, but then it's only me home during the day.....dh is at work and the kids are at school. some days i just do everything after dinner if it's been a 'light' day. i NEVER wash more than twice a day though.

[Tangled Hill]

I try to wash as we go, but with three people who really don't wash any of their dishes, and one person (hubby) who uses six or seven dishes for what should be a two-dish meal or snack, I sometimes feel overwhelmed. If I only washed a couple times a day, though, the sink would always be piled high with dishes. And, since we've switched from Correlleware (never could be certain there wasn't lead in them) to the much bulkier Fiestaware, it only takes a few dishes to make the sink look like it's overflowing. And when the sink is full, the rest of the kitchen seems to go to pot, as well. So, I wash every dish as soon as I see it. It's the only way I can feel like I'm on top of it.

[yeahwhat]

There's 6 of us. We all eat most of our meals at home. The kids come home from school for lunch. Dishes get washed at least 2x per day, usually 3 or more. Either after breakfast or after breakfast/lunch if I was busy/out in the morning while the kids were at school. (#1) Dh comes in and out between jobs and usually eats breakfast and lunch here, but not usually at the same time as the rest of us. If I didn't wash dishes after lunch, then I wash the lunch dishes plus any dh/snack accumulation while making dinner. I often end up washing a small sinkfull while making dinner anyway, because I prefer to clean up as I go while cooking. (optional #2) Then between dinner and bed, there's another sinkful to wash. (#2/#3). If I'm baking during the day, then there can be even more dishes to wash.

[kirstenb]

I wash as we use them. If I don't I find that they pile up and make the kitchen look super messy. Plus if I leave them all to the end of the day I feel like I am spending my whole night cleaning the kitchen. During the week no one is home so it's just the dinner dishes, but on the weekends we'll wash them after every meal. Breakfast and lunch are lighter meals so it usually takes less than 5 minutes to get it cleaned up.

[Ruthla]

Typically, about three or four times a day: after breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then usually the kids will leave me a mess after I've washed up from dinner, so then I need to either wash dishes before bed or wake up to a sinkful (or tableful) and wash them before breakfast. Some days it feels like I'm washing dishes 12 times a day.

This kind of reminds me of breastfeeding. I used to joke that I nursed the baby once a day, for a 21 hour feeding. Dishwashing feels kind of the same.

[hottmama]

Usually 2x a day, sometimes only once. Always after dinner, and usually in the afternoon (the breakfast and lunch dishes). We have 4 people and plenty of dishes. My oldest son is almost 7 and does the dishes sometimes, and if I cook (rare) my husband does the dishes.
Why not just get some more dishes if you want more time with the kids?
Also, so that dirty dishes don't drive me crazy, I keep a dishpan under the sink and that's where I put dirty dishes until I'm ready to wash them (or it gets full, whichever comes first).

[JamesMama]

twice. We're a family of 4, 3 of us eat 3 meals a day at home, 1 of us only 2.

Once after lunch and DH does the supper dishes the following AM.

We have been gifted various sets of dishes so we have 9 or 10 plates (several have been broken), I buy cheapie plastic bowls at WM when they're on sale so we probably have 2 dozen bowls and we've collected a ton of silverwear over the years. Cups always seem to be in short supply for some reason.

[miss_sonja]

I run the dishwasher once a day. If I washed by hand, I'd wash after each meal.

[Marlet]

As needed. I try to wash as food is cooking so that the majority of dishes are done by the time the food is done. Then that only leaves me with a couple stragglers (I'm washing stuff from the previous meal(s)). I will get out of habit though and end up getting way too many dishes and end up doing two or three washes at once (only so much room in my strainer ). It's currently just me and 2 kids.

[JamieCatheryn]

I try to keep up twice a day but often don't get it done but once. If a dish I need is dirty or I can't reach appliances I know I need to make the time to wash them all.

[littleplum]

After every meal, so...2 or 3 times a day. It doesn't take long, unless the crud dries out. And if you do them right after the meal, the crud doesn't have time to dry out.

[BunniMummi]

Sometimes it feels like all day long. :/
I try to finish a sink load whenever I'm in the kitchen (limited counter space for drying) but if I let it go for a while it piles up at an incredible rate.

I'm a clean to live not live to clean type person though. My mother once told me that she remembered my grandmother telling her that if there was one thing she could do over in her life it would be that she wouldn't have wasted so much time cleaning. Not to say chaos rules in our house (most days) but I aim for pleasantly lived in not spotless.

[dawningmama]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

Typically, about three or four times a day: after breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then usually the kids will leave me a mess after I've washed up from dinner, so then I need to either wash dishes before bed or wake up to a sinkful (or tableful) and wash them before breakfast. Some days it feels like I'm washing dishes 12 times a day.

This kind of reminds me of breastfeeding. I used to joke that I nursed the baby once a day, for a 21 hour feeding. Dishwashing feels kind of the same.

Hey, don't you have other people old enough to be doing some of those?

In our house, dishes is one of the rotating chores. I have it twice a week (Wed and Sat). On my days, I usually do the dishes three or four times. We're a family of 5 and typically, 4 of us are home for all our meals each day. The kids usually let their dishes pile up and only do them once or twice during the day.

[mamadelbosque]

We usually do dishes 2x a day - after lunch and after dinner. But, breakfast is typically cold cereal & milk or granola & yogurt or bagles & cream cheese or warmed-up waffles/pancakes/whatever. Or maybe eggs. In anycase it creates minimal dishes - a couple bowls or plates and spoons/forks. Thats about it.

Lunch is usually leftovers or sandwhiches or something super easy (mac'n cheese, hotdogs, chicken nugets, frozen pizza, etc), and thus also creates minimal dishes. Thus, I typically do dishes either right after we eat, or when DS1 is taking his nap an hour or two later. Either way, we rinse plates/bowls/etc as soon as we're done using them, so that even if they don't get WASHED immedietly, they are at least not sitting with food in them going putrid.

DH or my dad typically wash dishes right after we eat. If we're leaving right afterwards, we might not get a chance to wash them, but, once again, they are at least rinsed and stacked up ready to be washed so that theres not old food sitting around.

[mi_amor]

It seems like I'm always drowning in dishes. I usually do them once or twice a day, and have a big pile waiting for me in the morning.

Lately I've started washing them right after each meal we eat, or while DS is eating his breakfast and lunch which makes it more manageable.

Dinner is still a problem though because I don't want to wash the dishes right after I cooked.

I like the idea of at least rinsing everything so you don't have a baked on mess in the morning.

[PenelopeJune]

At least three, but sometimes four or five. We have four people, and only enough dishes for the four of us.

I wash after each meal, and then before dinner I usually have to wash any snack dishes that were used between lunch and dinner, and then while I'm cooking dinner I wash the pots and bowls and stuff. And then of course, wash the dishes we ate off of at dinner.

I only washed dishes once today. I'm going to be in trouble tomorrow morning when I can't find any bowls. "Hey kids, feel like eating your oatmeal out of coffee mugs?"

[aikigypsy]

There are currently 6 people in the house, myself, DH, DD (age almost-2), my parents and my 94-year-old grandmother. Most of us eat at home 3 meals/day, though DH takes a sandwich to work on days when he works. I am constantly putting dishes into the dishwasher, putting dishes away, or washing dishes. We run the dishwasher at least once a day (usually after dinner), sometimes twice. The dishwashing never ends, but by far the biggest dishwashing hour is right after dinner.

I can't stand dirty dishes in the sink, though I tolerate most other mess pretty easily!

[ParisApril]

3 times a day, lots of dishes each time as I cook a lot.

[HappyFox05]

Three times a day, I think. Once after breakfast or lunch, once after cooking dinner, once after dinner. But sometimes, it's just one big wash, especially if we're having leftovers for dinner. During the day, it's me & DD at home.