Well, it is only a dishwasher. Doesn’t the automobile have to be cleaned and oiled? Why should the dishwasher be expected to polish silver. Yet we do solemnly think that the dishwasher attached to the plumbing of the house, so that the fresh water comes in unlifted by the operator and goes out unheeded, is the only dishwasher to buy, regardless of how it is worked--by hand, by water force or by electricity. This is only one type. Some of the best dishwashers are made unattached to the plumbing so that they can be wheeled into the dining room and be stacked as they leave the table. This is a rather perfect type for some homes, but you must have it fixed so that when it arrives dish laden in the kitchen or pantry it can be attached to the water supply and emptied through the sewer. This is the only way to get maximum comfort, unless you or your cook enjoy hauling pails of water. Yet we can imagine many women who would rather haul water than handle dish water. And here is where the “unattached” dishwasher wins out over the old-fashioned style of washing dishes. The chances of breakage are less where the dishes are not washed separately and rehandled for drying separately. Dishes handled when dry do not slip so readily, to fall or break. For the most part these machines are equipped with a motor which propels a fan or paddle to spray or “swish” and whirl the water about among the dishes. The efficiency depends not only on the speed the water travels but on the direction. For example, one of the most interesting of dishwashers is not run by hand or electricity, but it is attached to the drain and water supply. The hot water is distributed and so forced against the dishes that, without soap, they are washed noiselessly. No soap is required with this machine. It has taken us a long time to be sold to this dishwasher, but we are convinced that it is the type to use when one has to do one’s own work. If it is possible to use very hot water in your dishwasher, you can leave the top of your machine off and the dishes will dry without handwork. Of course, there will be no polish on the glass and silver, but they will be dry. The following is advice given by those who sell dishwashers: 1. You must have hot water--really hot water--to use an electric dishwasher successfully. 2. Use the soap powder the manufacturer supplies or recommends. Remember that suds are unnecessary for cleansing and are hard to rinse off, anyway. You need an ash powder which will cut grease. [Illustration: _Courtesy of Whirlpool Mfg. Co._ A WAY TO KEEP OUT OF “HOT WATER”--THE PORTABLE DISHWASHER] 3. Dishes covered with egg, flour mixtures, etc., should first be held under cold water. Hot water boils these mixtures and makes them stick closer to dishes. 4. Follow the manufacturer’s directions as to placing dishes, silver, etc. Get the knack--which is easily acquired--of putting in the dishes with the fewest motions possible.