What is a dishwasher and what is it used for?

Washing dishes is a chore not everyone looks forward to. Often after a meal, we invariably wish that someone or something could do the dishes for us. Turns out there is a machine that does exactly that, and it is called a dishwasher.

What is a dishwasher?

A dishwasher is an appliance that automates the task of cleaning dishes. You feed the dishes into the machine, add detergent, and set a washing cycle. The dishwasher does the rest and offers you sparkling clean dishes. A dishwasher comes with different wash cycles to clean our utensils. These wash cycles adjust water, temperature, and time according to your utensils.

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How does a dishwasher work?

When you start the washing cycle, the dishwasher takes the water needed for cleaning from the connected hose and places the water at the bottom of the dishwasher. The water gets heated to the required temperature. The higher temperature of the water helps detergent to dissolve and remove food particles.

The pump at the bottom pushes the up water into the spray arms. These spray arms move back and forth, spraying water on the dishware. Some spray arms rotate to cover a wider area. The water being spread is mixed with detergent. It removes food particles from the plates. The washed food particles are caught in a filter which you can dispose. The remaining water is drained after the cleaning is done. The last task the dishwasher does is to dry the rinsed plates. The appliance has a heater at the bottom which dries the wet dishes.

Advantages of a dishwasher

Along with washing dishes, dishwashers offer advantages like energy efficiency, less use of water and much more.

Cleaning utensils effectively: No matter how greasy or oily your plates are, they will come out clean and oil-free by the end of the washing cycle. With its different wash cycles, the dishwasher matches up to the quality of cleaning dishes by hand. It takes similar care for glassware as we do.

Saving time and energy: Washing dishes multiple times in a day drains you both physically and mentally. With a dishwasher, you don’t have to do much other than loading dishes, feeding detergent, and selecting the washing cycle. The dishwasher does all the labour of cleaning dishes efficiently.

Being energy efficient: Many tend to keep the tap water running while cleaning plates with their hands. You waste a lot of water in this process. On the other hand, a dishwasher requires very little water to work. For every wash cycle, the appliance fills itself with a small quantity of water. With less water use, you can save money on water bills.

A dishwasher’s cost can be an issue for some. The electricity the appliance consumes will increase your electricity bill. But the cost is worth it for all the features the appliance offers. It comes as no surprise then that dishwashers are steadily becoming popular in households.