Life lessons happen less frequently as you get older. After years of getting to know the ins and outs of the world, you find you're a pro at life—navigating your once-foreign city with ease and troubleshooting the office coffee maker. Yeah, yeah. But you're probably still loading the dishwasher wrong. Sorry.
Don't feel bad. There's a reason these are 8 common dishwasher mistakes. Plenty of people (maybe even yours truly) are still baffled by the allusive and magical dish cleaning machine.
Make sure to avoid...
1. Leaving too much food on the plate.
Yes, top-of-the-line dishwashers have gotten crazy good at dissolving food. But even the best machines have trouble with tons of stuck-on gunk.
Fix: Rinse your plate just like your Mama told you!
2. Overfilling it with too many dishes.
Your dishwasher can't clean between plates that are thisclose. Plus an over-stuffed dishwasher can cause lasting damage as glasses bang together.
Fix: Space 'em out.
3. Running the dishwasher half-filled.
Yeah, we know. You can't win. But there is an ideal load size for every machine. If you run your dishwasher partially filled, you're wasting water and risking breakage as your dishes bump around. Plus, if you're constantly running half-full loads, it either means you should hand-wash more or you need to buy more plates.
Fix: Conserve water and only run the dishwasher when it's full.
4. Washing things that aren't "dishwasher safe."
If you like it enough to clean it, you probably don't want it damaged. Make sure that everything you put in the dishwasher is going to come out looking better and not worse.
Fix: Check our list of 5 Things You Should Never Put in a Dishwasher.
5. Putting the wrong 'ware on the wrong rack.
Trust us, it matters. Some things are only dishwasher-safe on the gentler top rack, while others need the rigorous cleaning from the bottom rack.
Fix: Cups, glasses, bowls and big utensils go on the top rack. Plates, pots and pans stay below.
6. Allowing your utensils to "spoon."
Do you constantly have dirty utensils? Chances are, your spoons are spooning. If your forks or spoons nest together during a cycle, they won't get the washing they need.
Fix: Alternate putting your silverware in head-first or handle-first.
7. Blocking the sprayer.
In order to get squeaky clean glasses, you need your dishwasher's sprayer to reach every corner of it's cavity. That's tough to do with last night's saucepan covering it up.
Fix: Find your dishwasher's sprayer(s) or sprayer arm and make sure not to cover it.
8. Using too much detergent.
Extra detergent doesn't mean extra-clean dishes. Using too much of the soapy stuff can leave a yucky film on all of your stuff.
Fix: Read the box or bottle and use only what's recommended.
(Images: Design Decisions Wiki, TwoHearts Together.com)
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I have a neat trick for filling the refrigerator which also works for dishwashers. I tried several different efficient ways to fill my fridge then had an idea. Look at the product photos. I looked at the manufacturers photos for the best place to put drinks, casseroles, cheese, veggies, meat, and shelf alignment. Then from there I made a few changes according to our diets, less meat more veggies. Now everything stays well organized and seems to be in the right place, veggies not to close to the refrigeration, etc. The same can be done for filling your specific dishwasher. The manufacturer spends lots of time and money developing an efficient way for the appliance to work.
I was just away renting a house this weekend in Vermont. We had 12 people, so we did about two loads a day with all the dishes and pots and utensils and etc.
Although I've lived predominately in apartments where I've had to hand wash everything for the last eight or so years, I'm surprised at how incapable people are of loading a dishwasher. I became crazy dishwasher guy when people didn't put the bowls properly in the top rack. Drives me nuts.
quick thought, lets encourage people to use a scrapper or rubber spatula to scrape food off the plate before loading into a washer....this way it would save water.
@dphil2047
Well, if you're working with food that has a thick sauce, the spatula won't necessarily get that all off.
Especially if you're like most people, who load up the dishwasher after dinner and then don't start the load until you go to bed.
I scrape off major pieces of food, do not rinse anything except cereal bowls, may not run the dishwasher for a day or two, and 99% of the time everything comes out sparkling! I have a 2yo Bosch but I did it with the old Maytag too. And I snuck a few dirty dishes into my dad's oldish dishwasher that came out great.
I think people have hangups about leaving dirty dishes in the dishwasher and can't imagine a machine can clean all that gunk. Try it--it really does work!
I'm trying to convert my family to "no rinse"--imagine all the water wasted by everyone's steadily running faucets--but it is like telling someone to not wipe their shoes on the doormat. My grandmother practically washes them all by hand before putting them in the DW.
elusive