James and I have both become increasingly frustrated with our dishwasher. I don’t know what is wrong with it, I don’t want to fix it, and I certainly don’t want to spend money on getting a new one. So finally, after weeks and weeks of complaining about soap streaks on our plates or spotty, icky things on our glasses – we decided to stop letting the dishwasher get to us.
We stopped using the dishwasher! We’ve gone back to plain and simply doing our dishes by hand, and it has been amazing what it has done to our evening routine. We eat around the same time, we sit down at the table, then we clean up together. Normally, while I am washing dishes, James will feed the dogs, take out the trash, and pack up the leftovers. Then when he is done with those things, he is ready to start drying the dishes.
Not only is it rewarding to have a clean table and a clean kitchen at the end of the night. It’s nice to spend that time with him. We discuss things going on in our lives, we watch the news and contemplate the world, and all of this has taken place because we do a chore together. Stepping Lightly isn’t always about getting through a task quickly, but it’s about being present in the moment – even if that moment is some type of work.
I look forward to that routine in the evenings now. 
Picture courtesy of ~ http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/img/people/women/doing-dishes.gif
You realize that not using the dishwasher isn’t stepping lightly when it comes to the planet, right? Washing dishes by hand uses much, much more water than an automatic dishwasher. You might try using some rinse agent in the machine. Jet-Dry is what we use when the dishes stop looking clean.
Shell ~ I do understand that. I have bought something to run through the dishwasher to give it another try, but we are thinking there is something wrong with the way the dishwasher is piped since we have had this problem since we moved in.