Bosch Survey Finds Top Five Reasons Your Dishwasher Is Making Noise in Your Marriage

IRVINE, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 1, 2012) - Bosch home appliances is coming clean about why your dishwasher could be ruining your marriage. While infidelity and financials are frequently cited causes, a new culprit is creating tumultuous relationships in homes across the country -- the dishwasher. A national survey fielded online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Bosch home appliances in June among over 2,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older found that more than 40% of Americans fight about loading the dishwasher.

Is loading utensils into a dishwasher becoming a knife through the heart of your marriage? Is the bond between you and your mate disintegrating faster than a plastic container on the bottom of a dishwasher? As the quietest and most efficient dishwasher brand in North America, Bosch dishwashers are engineered to bring peace and harmony to the home.

"Loading the dishwasher has become a highly contested subject in households across the country, but at Bosch, we believe that a dishwasher should make your life easier," said Micaela Shaw, brand manager for Bosch home appliances. "That's why our dishwashers are engineered to not only be the quietest on the market, but also include features that help ease the tension when it comes to cleaning your dishes." 

The top five reasons men and women admit they fight about when loading the dishwasher include:

1. 61% fight over whether dishes should be pre-rinsed or not
Nearly two thirds of all men and women cited this issue as their leading cause for argument, proving the pre-rinse, rinse debate to be a universal annoyance. The truth is that you should not pre-rinse as the detergent needs to cling to food to avoid scratching your dishes.

2. 41% clash about separating dishes or cramming as much as possible to tackle a larger load
Perhaps a case of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, Women (48%) are more likely to fight about doubling together dishes than men (33%).

3. 39% argue over placing sharp knives point down or point up
Out of the group of women who were concerned with this issue, 43% argue about whether knives should be placed point up or down, compared to 34% of males. Using safety as your guide, the final say is to load knives point down for safety, while forks and spoons can be placed either handle up or down. A third rack on the Bosch 800 Plus dishwasher separates utensils to make it safer and easier to clean, load and unload.

4. 34% insist on placing cups on the top rack and plates on the bottom rack while their mate believes it's every dish for themselves
The biggest division in the dishwasher deliberation comes in the form of organization: nearly one third (32%) of all females who fight about loading the dishwasher insist that cups be placed on the top rack and plates on the bottom rack, not mixed. Like any good relationship where each person needs their space, each dish should be separated by a dishwasher's tines. Often, couples can keep the peace by splitting up large loads of dishes into smaller loads. A half load option on Bosch dishwashers tackles smaller loads so dirty dishes don't sit in the dishwasher.

5. 30% debate about placing plastic containers on the top rack to prevent a major plastic meltdown, or placing containers wherever space is available
You may think that loading the dishwasher could smooth over a fight, but your efforts could have the opposite effect if your dishes are ruined in the process. If destroying an entire collection of plastic storage containers has plagued your marriage, Bosch dishwashers feature a concealed flow-through water heating element to prevent plastic containers from dissolving, no matter where they are placed. 

The survey also revealed that almost four out of ten men who have a dishwasher (38%) admit to finding excuses for getting out of loading the dishwasher altogether. Perhaps a tactic for avoiding the dreaded dishwasher dispute, the most common excuses included deferring the cleanup because they cooked the meal and demand chore equality (16%), blatantly admitting to being too lazy to clean the dishes (12%), and feeling as though they are too busy and their time is too important to be spent loading the dishwasher (10%).

For more information about how Bosch dishwashers may help save your marriage, visit www.bosch-home.com/us, like Bosch at Facebook.com/BoschAppliances or connect on Twitter @BoschAppliances.

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Finn Partners from June 11-13, 2012 among 2,140 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Heather Gordon (Heather@FinnPartners.com).