EUROPE-WIDE SURVEY REVEALS CONSIDERABLE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
26 March 2007 - University of Bonn (Universität Bonn)

"What was probably the most surprising result for us was the wide range of washing-up methods we were able to observe," Professor Stamminger explains. "Whether it be a housewife or a househusband, a German or a Pole, a Spaniard or a Turk, they all have different ways of doing the washing-up." Energy and water consumption differed correspondingly. Whereas the most economical test-persons managed with below 20 litres, the absolute extreme was 345 litres. Energy consumption ranged from just under one to more than twelve kilowatt hours. "Differences between individuals tended to be greater than between the different countries, although in this respect, we were also able to identify trends," the home economics technologist states, summing up the results. For example, on average, the German and British test dish-washers used resources significantly more economically than their Spanish and Turkish colleagues. However, the Spaniards were the ones who got their dishes cleanest of all. Here, the performance of the Germans, who are alleged to be so particularly clean, was no more than mediocre. Incidentally, the average washing-up time for the 140 pieces of crockery that had been made dirty according to scientific rules was one-and-a-half hours.

"We were able to characterise three entirely different types of dish-washer," Professor Stamminger explains. There was the super-dish-washer, who attaches considerable importance to a good result, the dish-washing economiser, who tries to manage with as little water, energy and cleansing agent as possible and the carefree dish-washer who doesn’t bother about anything, neither the amount of water or energy used nor the result. "Interestingly enough, dish-washing economisers can score results that are just as good as those of persons who are not so resource-friendly," the home economics technician explains. "And we were only able to detect a weak relation between the time needed for dish-washing and the cleansing success rate."

The average consumption of all dish-washers was 88 litres of water and 2.4 kilowatt hours of energy. "Modern dishwashers manage with 15 litres and one kilowatt hour," says Professor Stamminger. He has a few tips for all those who do the washing-up by hand: "Never let the dirt dry on, and always soak the dishes before you wash them!" Also, the two-baths method has proved its worth: "A hot-water bath with washing-up liquid for the main wash and a cold one for rinsing, that was the method our test-persons scored the best results with."

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