The thought of corn kernels also makes me want to vomit

The guy who showed up yesterday to install our new FiOS Internet and TV ended up being a really normal, decent guy. Which was a real plus, as he sat in our little living room with us until well past 9:30 last night, hooking all our crap up while we made halting conversation about gigabytes and high definition and dogs who are biased against people who wear glasses.

You know, if someone comes to your house to fix your toilet or install your new dishwasher, it’s one thing. They generally stay in the area of your house where the problem is: if it’s the toilet, they stay in the bathroom. If it’s the dishwasher, they stay in the kitchen. If you need your gutters cleaned, they’ll be out there on your roof, and if they’re building a deck, they’ll probably spend their day in your backyard. This guy, though, this guy had stuff to do in FOUR DIFFERENT AREAS of our house, and in case you’re new here and haven’t heard, OUR HOUSE IS PRETTY DANG SMALL. And the fact that he was doing stuff to the TV and the Internet meant that there was absolutely no background noise anywhere in the house, and therefore, it was completely silent except for our lame attempts at conversation for almost FOUR HOURS. Four hours! It was awkward cooking dinner while he stood directly outside the kitchen window fiddling with wires, and it was even MORE awkward EATING that dinner while he toiled away in our living room. I mean, was that even proper? Would it have been more polite to offer him a turkey burger and an ear of corn? Except that we only had TWO ears of corn, because I don’t know if you’ve heard, but IOWA FLOODED and two ears of corn now cost just as much as a gallon of gas these days. Should I have opened him a can of corn KERNELS?

Anyway, then, REMEMBER, there was no Internet, and I don’t know what you guys do after dinner, but that’s Prime Internet Time for me and without it, one can only entertain themselves with the 10,000 Baby Names tome for a few minutes MAX, so I went upstairs to take a (much-detested, yet also desperately-needed) shower. Except then! MOST AWKWARD OF ALL, because I forgot to take clothes into the bathroom with me, and Verizon Guy had some work to do in our BEDROOM, and what was I going to do, saunter out in a towel while he was putting our television back up on the wall? So I had to linger in the bathroom FOREVER, until I was sure he was out, but even then, even though it was past 8:30, I couldn’t just put on my comfy pajamas because he was STILL THERE and didn’t need to be privy to my see-through, braless ensemble. (See-through because it’s OLD, not because it’s SEXY, as if you needed me to clear that up.)

Regardless, all the awkwardness paved the way for two televisions that actually WORK (we’ve had a completely garbled satellite signal for about two months, which resulted in the signal blacking out about every five seconds, which you can imagine might drive a person to the BRINK OF INSANITY and also TEARS) and an Internet connection that does the same, which: HALLELUJAH. Unfortunately, Verizon Guy couldn’t do anything about our moldy, non-draining dishwasher or our leaking refrigerator, but at least we are able to entertain ourselves while we eat questionably-refrigerated food off our dirty dishes.

Which leads me to a question. So I noticed that our dishwasher is moldy all over the bottom. This is gross, and disgusting, and also UNACCEPTABLE. Dave claims this is not a big deal; that the dishes are still getting clean and that it is FINE to keep using the dishwasher As Is. Personally, the idea of continuing to use the dishwasher in its current state makes ME want to vomit. So I have been hand-washing everything and have big plans to drag my family out somewhere over the weekend to secure a replacement. But we had a small verbal disagreement about using the dishwasher, I suspect because our rule is that whoever cooks does not clean up, so that means Dave is responsible for hand-washing all our dinner dishes, which he CLEARLY does not want to do. Wait, I’m not sure any of that has anything to do with what I wanted to ask, which is: Do you hand-wash your sippy cups? Because our dishwasher has NEVER gotten them clean, to the point where I take them apart and wash them in hot water because they sometimes get crusty and moldy, which is just horrifying. And Dave says that sippy cups should always be hand-washed (even though they have all those teeny tiny parts?), and I say that if you have a dishwasher that wasn’t made in 1982 and also doesn’t HAVE MOLD ALL OVER THE INSIDE, that sippy cups should get clean. Am I the idiot or is he?

Comments

[divrchk]

My sippy cups do go through the dishwasher. They come out clean. However, they go in pretty clean too. My dishwasher has a basket that hangs off of the top rack and I put all of the little pieces in there with the cup and lid being on the top rack. Get a new dishwasher. That is just disgusting.

[Molly]

I love that your most comfortable pajamas are old and see through. I have had my favorite pj shirt (it's extra long and I wear it as a nightgown) for at least 15 years. I love it. It says "Single White Female" (promo from the movie- I guess when ever the movie came out is when I got the shirt!) and my husband makes fun of me whenever I put it on. But for some reason it always makes me feel better when I'm sick or sad- it's the shirt I reach for.

[Megan]

I have no horse in this race - I AM the dishwasher, so there is no other choice.

But I hear you on the awkwardness of having a repair-type person in your home. I usually offer them a drink, especially when it's warm out. Maybe a cookie if I've recently baked, but beyond that? Nope. That being said, my husband used to work for a guy who would do stonework and make patios and such. Some of the clients would give them lemonade, or snacks. One even gave them beer. Those clients got their projects completed a little bit faster.

[Suze]

Ewwww how awkward was the thing with the TV and internet dude - excruciating!
Dave's wrong(Sorry Dave - sort of). Totally dishwashers all the way. It's been a while since sippy cups for us, but I am totally a dishwasher type of gal.

[Karen]

Use the dishwasher for the sippy cups. Get a little wire box for the valve and top and just pop the valve out before you wash them. The little wire dishwasher boxes are for purchase at Target or practically anywhere else.
I just got a new dishwasher. Do it! Get the Kenmore Ultrawash with Quiet-Guard Deluxe but don't let your husband install it. I did and my door is all fucked up and it's crooked. They are on sale because it was last years model.
If you do decide to keep your dishwasher, run two cups of bleach in it (without any dishes) then run it again with a cup or two of citric acid. It'll clean it right out.
I hate having workers in my house! I used to have a cleaning lady twice a month but I just couldn't take it. When she started bringing my kids gifts I had to let her go. It was too awkward.

[porter]

Have you tried bleaching your dishwasher...like running a cup of bleach through a cycle? I totally agree with you...those dishes aren't clean coming out of a moldy dishwasher.
I'm having a problem with my new washing maching (front loader) and my stuff smelling like mildew depsite the fact that I never leave wet clothes sitting in the washer, I leave the door open etc.
Oh and yeah, having anyone in to do work or repairs totally sucks but I always offer them something to drink and I tend to be one of those people who offers food...maybe not to join us for dinner but something like some cookies or snack food.

[mandy]

wait, wait, wait ALL of that funny verizon guy story and you end up asking about sippy cups?? AND I was able to follow your flow of thought perfectly --love it.

I hand wash my sippy cups b/c I feel that they loose there "seal" when I put them in the dishwasher and they begin to leak - perhaps its all in my head and maybe I need to get one of those basket things at Target and get over it??

[Roxanne]

I always have lots of sippy cups to wash as I do daycare in my home. I always take the cups completely apart, putting the rubber insert in the silverware container. They always seem to come clean unless there is one that had dried on stuff (you know when the kids put their cup somewhere and it's found days later). Those always have to get soaked in the sink to get the crusties off. And our dishwasher is not the newest on the block. But we also don't have mold on the bottom. ;)

[chatty cricket]

I am horrified on your behalf for many reasons, not the least of which is your MOLDY appliance which is supposed to only present you with CLEAN. MOLDY is not HEALTHY.

We have never hand washed our sippy cups, and they have never come out of our dishwasher all crusty or moldy. No Dave, it is time for a new dishwasher. For the love of GOD, do it for the children.

[Natalee]

You're right. Dave is wrong. For health reasons, mold is BAD. Get the new dishwasher.

[Liss]

Sippy cups should come clean in the dishwasher. It's more sanitizing that way! Uh, unless you have mold in the dishwasher, I guess.

Have you checked that the drain...thing and food catcher aren't clogged? Our dishwasher was not draining properly and I discovered that someone had let a piece of plastic wrap go through a cycle and it was blocking the draining parts. Cleaning that was completely and utterly revolting, but it did result in a properly-draining, non-smelly dishwasher. (A potscrubber cycle or two of bleach later, anyway.)

[Arwen]

Our sippy cups come clean in the dishwasher, but I always take them apart and wash all the little pieces separately (in the silverware basket) because I can't imagine that they'd get clean otherwise. They're supposed to be all water-trappy and stuff, right?

And ewwww, moldy dishwasher? You are right and Dave is wrong. He should totally be hand-washing.

[Knot]

Dishwashers should not mold. It's bad and you need to get rid of it. That or don't close the door completely after washing dishes. It seals REALLY well holding warm moist air in and thus the mold.

Dude, you should have flashed the cable guy, how funny would that have been and would have turned the "awkward" table.

Knot

[Mike]

I guess a persuasive could be that if your dishwasher is moldy, that means it is leaking into the insulation and that eventually the leak will get worse and ruin your floor which will cost a lot more to fix than a new dishwasher.

[Mike]

umm, make that a persuasive argument

[amanda]

Can't speak for sippy cups yet, because we are still using bottles with our wee one, and our two-year-old dishwasher handles them just fine in the top rack. Because we are slighly OCD, we run the bottle parts through the steam sterilizer after they come out of the dishwasher also. (The parts go in one of those top-rack cages you buy in the baby store.)

I agree that mold in the dishwasher sounds like a drainage issue, which is caused by problems in the lines and not in the unit itself. Our rather new dishwasher collected dirty water for a while, and it turns out there was a snafu with the drains/garbage disposal/dishwasher connections. Glad we didn't run out and buy a new appliance!

[Kim R]

A new dishwasher would definitely get the small sippy cup parts clean (taken apart and put in little baskets). No one should have to hand wash those things. We finally replaced an old, rusty 20 year old dishwasher with a shiny new one and I have not once thought the sippy cups were not clean enough. Get a new dishwasher soon - you will fall in love.

[PaintingChef]

Hi. So I had the same problem with my dishwasher of course I didn't really notice it until it started to smell like four day old ass but since a new dishwasher just wasn't in the budget... here is what I did. And it WORKED.

1. Fill a glass bowl with bleach, set it in the dishwasher (somewhere where you can set such a thing and it won't tip over)and run one full cycle, even the drying.

2. Fill the bowl with white vinegar and do the same thing.

(This is where I should point out that you should NOT try and speed the process up by putting both the bleach and the vinegar in there at the same time. I'm pretty sure your dishwasher will blow up and then we are back to the hand-washing plan which is SO. VERY. BAD.)

3. Repeat the bleach step because it makes the dishwasher smell so much cleaner than the vinegar step.

Of course if you're replacing your dishwasher then you don't need to worry about the bleach and vinegar...

[Mel]

I've always machine-washed sippy cups and bottles even though I've always read those should be hand-washed. I just absolutely detest hand-washing dishes and avoid it at all costs if I can (my SIL who only uses her dishwasher to store just handwashed dishes until they dry was appalled when I told her that if the dishwasher is full, the remaining dishes stay in the sink until that cycle is done). That said, the grocery store sells dishwasher cleaners, or like the comment above you can make your own w/ bleach, vinegar, etc. THAT said... I'd probably push for the new dishwasher too... you're redoing the kitchen anyway right? Who wants an old dishwasher in a brand new kitchen?

[Karen]

Re: sippy cups. We have the kind with valves inside, and (when I remember, which in my defense is about 80% of the time), I take the valves out and stick them in the silverware compartment of the dishwasher. The cups and lids then go on the top.

We saved the small end of a bottle brush to get inside the valves and really clean them, and that gets done when the dishwasher is done OR if i need to wash a cup by hand, which is often, because the kids seem to use them a lot in between diswasher runs.

[Kris]

I'm also going to say get a new dishwasher. Nothing personal, since I'm new and all and I don't really know you, but yours sounds sort of gross. I put sippy cups in the dishwasher all the time, they come out super clean - and we have a dishwasher that is less than a year old. So yeah, a new dishwasher is a very good thing.

[Heather]

As far as I'm concerned if there is mold in your dishwasher than that is a PROBLEM!! YUCK!!

As for the sippy cups, I have never, ever in my LIFE hand washed a sippy cup. (Ok... possibly that one time that we didn't run the dishwasher for a week and we ran out but seriously) I just put the part from the lid in the silverware basket and close the lid over it (our silverware basket has one compartment with a lid) and then I put the cup and the lid on the top rack. They always come out nice and clean.

[JoAnna]

I had the same problem with my dishwasher and you won't believe what the solution was. I had accidentally turned the heated dry function off. Since it wasn't getting dry in there it was molding up. I ran it with some bleach a few times with the heated dry back on and it disappeared immediately.

[Kim]

This may sound weird but our dishwasher repair guy told us to put Tang, yeah the fake OJ stuff that tastes delicious, the whole container in there and do a wash cycle with no dishes. It will clean it and shine it up! The citric acid is what does it. Hopefully that will help!

[Dr. Maureen]

Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait. Wait.

All this talk of sippy cups and moldy dishwashers and awkward conversations with strangers in your living room, and no one has mentioned their blinding jealousy that you now have FiOS? While we're still sitting here, watching commercial after commercial touting the wonderous glory that is the lightning fast internet connection and crystal clear picture of FiOS but being unable to get it because it is still not available here? Damn you!

Sigh. But yeah, our sippies come clean just fine in our 2-year-old dishwasher. And yeah, mold in the dishwasher is nasty; Dave is quite obviously male. He probably also thinks you don't ever need to clean the shower, because it gets rinsed every day!