Which is better, hand washing your dishes or using the dishwasher?
· Dishwashers use less water than washing dishes by hand. Energy Star appliances use as little as 4 gallons of water per cycle. Hand washing uses 27 gallons.
· Energy Star appliances also use less electricity.
· Dishwashers can heat the water hot enough to disinfect your dishes.
· Sponges can store a lot of bacteria in them.
· Best option is to wait until your dishwasher is full before you run a load of dishes.