How to Enjoy Doing the Dishes (Yes, Really)

We spend a shocking amount of our lives at the kitchen sink: over 4,000 hours scrubbing plates or an average of 98 minutes every week.

That’s time you could spend doing literally anything else.

For proof, here's a test. How does this picture make you feel?

Don't worry, we won't leave you hanging on to that anxiety. Here's the same kitchen, all cleaned up

That felt instantly better, didn't it?

That's how we've found joy in dishwashing: in small, easy changes that free us from the sink.

Enter the Meal Wash lifestyle: it's a tiny shift in routine that transforms dishwashing from a dreaded chore into an almost invisible habit.

What is the Meal Wash lifestyle?

Instead of waiting for dirty dishes to tower up like a sticky game of Jenga, you put your dishes in the dishwasher after you cook, and then after every meal. Stick with us, we’ll explain how this works.

But first, let us tell you why this way is simply much better than any alternative you could think of.

1. No piles of dishes = no arguments over whose turn it is.
2. No bacteria or odors = goodbye, germy sponges, funky sinks, smelly drains.
3. No dried-on food = sauces and starches never get a chance to fossilise.
4. No wasting time, energy, or water.

It’s a clean-slate mindset. Eat, wash, reset. Repeat.

Quick detour:

Let us put the focus for a bit on the fact that the longer you leave your dishes in the sink, the dirtier they get. You may think it’s not a big deal, but one of the most asked questions about dishes on Google is, “How long is too long to wait to do the dishes?” (sigh).

The science is clear:

• Kitchen sinks are already full of bacteria, even when empty! They can harbour hundreds of times more bacteria than a bathroom.
• The longer you leave a dirty dish in a humid, warm environment, the more the bacteria will proliferate.

Meal Wash + the Capsule Dishwasher: The peace-of-mind power couple

Washing by hand is time consuming and often ranks as the worst household chore.

And, traditional dishwashers are large, so they force you to hoard dirty dishes for hours (or days!) until the machine is full. By then, smells are brewing and food is welded onto plates.

Capsule dishwashers flip the script. They’re compact enough to live happily on a countertop, yet roomy enough to hold everything from a single person’s or couple’s dinner: including a frying pan. With a 15-minute cycle, it’s built for meal washing instead of dish hoarding.

Even better: loading Capsule takes an average of 4 minutes of your time. Washing by hand? About 16 minutes for the same load. That’s 4x faster on average, and far kinder on your hands.

How to Build the Habit

Treat doing dishes as a two-step cooking and mealtime step.

Step 1: Cook. Pan off the stove to cool down. Load chopping board, spatula, knife, etc. plus the pan into Capsule. Set it to wash for 15 minutes.

Step 2: Enjoy your meal. Empty the cookware from Capsule, pop in the dishes. Done again.

Stack with existing habits.

Start the washing cycle just before you sit down with tea or switch on the TV.

Or think of the last thing you do before you sit down to eat. Say it's grabbing a glass of something to drink. Then tell yourself you must do the dishes before getting a drink.

There’s something deeply gratifying about opening Capsule’s door 15 minutes later to find spotless, dry dishes waiting for you.

Make it satisfying.

Did you know…?

In Feng Shui, leaving dirty dishes in the kitchen sink is a major blunder. The sink represents the flow of wealth and nourishment, and dirty dishes block this flow, inviting stagnant, negative energy.

The trick isn’t forcing yourself to “do the dishes”, it’s reframing it as the final, effortless flourish to mealtime.

Better for You, Better for the Planet

Capsule dishwashers will not only lighten your mental load, but they’re also a win-win-win for the planet, you and everyone around you:

• Capsule saves 10x the water (yes, ten times!) and 3x the energy, compared to handwashing.
• Capsule makes your dishes hygienic at 75ºC (167 °F for our friends in the US), a temp your hands can’t withstand.
• Capsule cuts your dishwashing lifetime hours down from 4,000 to 1,000. That’s actual years of life, reclaimed.

The Bottom Line

The meal wash lifestyle isn’t about dishes. It’s about freedom. Freeing your counters from clutter, your evenings from drudgery, and your conscience from waste.

With Capsule or Capsule Solo, doing the dishes stops feeling like a punishment and starts feeling like… nothing at all. And when a chore disappears into your day that seamlessly, that’s when you know you’ve won.